As far as some Saskatchewan canola growers are concerned, Innovator may have been innovative, but that doesn’t make it good.
Yields of the canola, which is tolerant to Liberty herbicide, did not materialize and germination was patchy, they said.
Last week, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool compensated about 90 farmers who had complained. It did not disclose the amount involved. The pool distributes the seed, which was developed by Agriculture Canada and AgrEvo.
Testing found that three seed lots were not up to germination standards, said Barry Coulling, the pool’s country services division general manager.
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“Upon rechecking some of the lots, we found that we had one lot of seed where the germination had dropped,” he said. “We caught that fairly early on.”
That seed was replaced with either Innovator from a different lot or a completely different crop.
Later in summer, germination on two more lots was found to have dropped below standards. Coulling said settlements based on a Saskatchewan Crop Insurance formula were made on all three lots.
However, claims by another 75 people will not be honored, he said, because the seed was not the problem.
Punnichy farmer Brenda Shevella disagrees. She was among those who complained but were not compensated. She maintains the seed was indeed the problem.
“We had germination even after we combined,” she said. “Two weeks later it was in bloom.”
The Shevellas planted 68 acres of Innovator and harvested a disappointing eight bushels per acre with about 12 percent dockage, she said.
Wheat grown on the same quarter yielded 38 bushels, and that, said Shevella, points to the canola seed as the problem. She pegged her losses at $10,000.
Holly Rask, of the Saskatchewan Canola Growers Association, said she heard many similar complaints this summer.
“No question, (Innovator) is the dominant one, but not the only one,” she said of herbicide-tolerant canola. “We are hearing of crops side by side, Innovator crops for that matter, one is successful and one is very much a disaster, so we don’t know what is causing the problems.”
The association is recommending producers save seed and the label from each bag for their own protection. They should also have a professional check their field and document problems on paper.
Bruce Dalgarno, president of the Manitoba Canola Growers, said growers of all types of canola in that province had complaints. He said seed of the same variety but different lots performed differently, even on the same field and with the same production practices and weather.
“You could see the line right down the field,” he said.
Growers are calling for standardized seed vigor tests, which are not part of the Canadian Seed Act. Vigor tests are not consistently reliable, which is why they haven’t been legislated, said Mike Scheffel, chief of seed standards at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Brent Hextall, of Wolseley, Sask., planted 340 acres of Innovator in spring and plowed under 230 in July. He sent leftover seed from sealed bags to Priority Lab Services in Nipawin for analysis.
“The germination comes back at 93 percent,” he said. “But a vigor test shows only 11 percent. That would match what we saw in the fields.”
He estimated he’s out $12,000 on input costs and lost revenue because of lack of vigor. He, too, was not compensated by the pool.
Bruce Johnson, grain group vice-president at the pool, said staff have been examining the seed, chemicals, rainfall and other factors in determining whether claims can be substantiated.
“It’s fairly uncommon (to have so many complaints) but we do put out a lot of seed and it is a living organism,” he said. “You have to sort through and make sure you’re dealing with legitimate claims.”
Neil Arbuckle, manager of Proven Seed, which sells Smart canola, said there are always some complaints, but the problem with herbicide-tolerant canolas could be growers’ expectations.
“It’s new and people have expectations of probably 200 percent control with this technology and they’re finding themselves being disappointed,” he said.
