A group of grain companies have joined forces to seek out seed genetics and varieties for farmers.
Alliance Seed Corp. is a joint venture of Paterson Grain, Parrish and Heimbecker, Weyburn Inland Terminal, North West Terminal, Prairie West Terminal and Great Sandhills Terminal.
Dale Alderson, who oversees the new company, said the alliance will do together what the individual companies could not do alone.
“Collectively we could have a reasonable presentation to genetic suppliers that we would have a network system that would service the farmers well.”
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He said the companies involved in Alliance did not want to be excluded from the identity preserved grain business and opportunities for seed traits with extra value.
“If you don’t have access to these traits, you could be left on the outside and other players who are bigger could make it more difficult to play in the game.”
Alderson said competition in variety acquisition is good for the industry.
Alliance Seed has no plans to dominate the seed genetics field and is willing to work with organizations such as SeCan to look for traits that provide farmers with extra value and profit, he added.
Seed will be available from western Canadian retail locations and through partnerships with seed growers, which will help determine prices.
Alliance will manage bookkeeping and operate under a board of directors comprising the company partners, which will also fund the new firm.
The six companies are partners in Alliance Grain Terminal, which in 2007 bought an Agricore United terminal at Vancouver that the federal Competition Bureau had ruled must be sold after the merger of United Grain Growers and Agricore.
