CANCUN, Mexico – Some of the big birds in the canaryseed industry are pecking away at the idea of starting up their own commodity association.
A meeting that drew about 15 key growers, processors, marketers and crop breeders was organized by the Canadian Special Crops Association earlier this year.
The consensus was that there was enough interest to investigate the idea of a levy-funded association, said Steve Foster, who sits on the CSCA’s market development committee.
Saskatchewan Agriculture special crops specialist Ray McVicar is co-ordinating two canaryseed production meetings this week where growers will be polled on their interest in such a group.
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“We need advice from the people who are actually in the business and it may progress or it could die right there,” said McVicar.
If there seems to be enough interest in forming an association, McVicar will set up a working group, which will put together some draft bylaws and discuss the priorities of the new entity.
But it would take at least three years before the association could start assessing a checkoff.
Foster thinks the idea has merit because he said it would create a better breeding program and improved varieties.
In the meantime, he’s hoping to boost sales of a once promising variety that has experienced slumping sales of late.
When Canario was first introduced it took the market by storm, but the hairless variety has “lost life” recently.
“We’re trying to rejuvenate that, especially down here in Mexico,” said Foster.
Mexico is the biggest buyer of Canadian canaryseed. Mexican importers bought $31 million worth of it in 2002, which represents 27 percent of Canada’s total exports last year.
Foster reminded a small contingent of Mexican buyers attending the association’s 17th annual convention about the benefits of the new kind of seed.
Canario is hairless, so it is less irritating to the skin during handling, one of the major complaints associated with traditional varieties. It also eliminates the polishing and oiling steps in processing. And it has the high protein content of regular varieties.
Canada produces about 75 percent of the world’s canaryseed. Growers harvested 164,000 tonnes of the crop last year, most of which was produced in Saskatchewan.
Foster said at one time Canario comprised half of Canada’s acreage, but farmers dislike buying certified seed so that percentage has dropped as the varietal purity degenerates. Seeds have to be 97 percent hairless to bear the Canario trademark.
One drawback with Canario is that it doesn’t yield as well as Elias and Keet, the two other registered varieties of canary, which are both hairy types.
