Seed distributors with herbicide tolerant canola on their shelves are moving fast to meet a spike in demand after Limagrain recalled two varieties of genetically altered canola last week.
“We’ve seen a significant late-season demand,” said Dave Sippell, manager of Proven Seed division of United Grain Growers.
One variety of their Smart Canola was sold out before the recall was issued.
But demand for the second variety, 46A72, has doubled since last week’s announcement that 60,000 bags of Limagrain’s Roundup-resistant canola, enough to seed 600,000 acres, had to be pulled from the market. The company issued a voluntary recall after tests by Monsanto found the seed contained an unregistered gene.
Read Also
Saskatchewan RM declines feedlot application, cites bylaws
Already facing some community pushback, a proposed 2,000-head cattle feedlot south of Swift Current, Sask., has been rejected for a municipal permit, partly over zoning concerns about the minimum distance from a residence.
Sippell said his company is offering farmers a $1.50 per acre rebate for buying seed and chemical from a Proven Seed dealer.
“It is unfortunate for Limagrain but the industry will come in and try to fill the need the best we can,” he said.
A program to allocate supplies of Smart Canola has also been set up, Sippell said, targeting well-suited growing regions in northern Saskatchewan, northwestern Manitoba and northern Alberta.
“We don’t have a lot available so we’ve broken it down across Western Canada to areas we think are best adapted.”
He predicted Proven has enough supplies to last about two weeks.
Other seed companies that sell herbicide tolerant canola say most of their stocks were sold out before the recall was announced.
“We were pretty much out of seed at the time and unable to take advantage of any demand sparked by the recall,” said Steve Meister, communications manager for AgrEvo, which developed Liberty Link canolas. Supplies of Liberty were getting tight by February and March, he said.
Monte Kesslering, manager of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool’s seed department, said supplies were down to a few acres worth last month.
There was, however, a “bit of a flurry” in sales of Quantum and other non-herbicide resistant lines, Kesslering said.
“You’re not going to have much luck finding herbicide resistant now,” he said.
Alberta Wheat Pool spokesperson Ray Kettenbach agreed. He said the pool is almost sold out of Quest, its Roundup Ready variety.
“We’ve seen an increase in interest, but the majority of our product has already been spoken for,” he said.
The recall shouldn’t discourage use of genetically altered canola, the companies agreed.
“As far as the technology and science that surrounds it, we’re still very comfortable with what we’re doing,” Kesslering said.
Meister of AgrEvo said he’s concerned about the reputation of the industry, but expects a rapid recovery.
UGG’s Sippell praised Limagrain’s reaction after learning of the unregistered gene.
“We’re feeling quite happy Limagrain made the difficult decision and made what we would call the right choice,” Sippell said.
“It could have been much worse.”
