With the exception of a few crops and geographic regions, little certified seed is being planted in the prairie grain belt.
A study conducted by the market research firm Blacksheep Strategy Inc. shows low use of certified seed, particularly in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Between 10 and 20 percent of the wheat, barley, oat and pea crops in those provinces were sown with certified seed in 2003. That is in sharp contrast to Manitoba where the rate for all four crops is closer to 40 percent.
Blacksheep business strategy manager Russell Jeffrey said there are a number of reasons for the difference.
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“The obvious one is there’s more disease problems in Manitoba.”
Farmers are less likely to save their seed if there’s a high probability it will be infected with diseases like fusarium.
Another possible explanation is that growers in Manitoba produce higher yielding and consequently higher value crops. One of the findings of the study was that the greater a farmer’s income, the more apt they were to use pedigreed seed.
A third hunch is that there is a bigger commercial seed business in Manitoba than the other two provinces, leading to better product availability.
Blacksheep’s telephone survey of 800 farmers conducted in February 2004 was commissioned by the Canadian Plant Technology Agency, a group established by members of the plant breeding community to protect intellectual property rights pertaining to crop development.
Lorne Hadley, executive director of the nonprofit organization, said the agency wanted to determine a benchmark of certified seed use.
His members weren’t surprised by the poor market penetration of their product; instead they were motivated by the results.
“It hasn’t changed much in 30 years. It’s time we started moving forward.”
The entire industry, from breeders to seed growers, needs to promote the benefits of certified seed, he said.
One of the key messages to farmers will be that consumers are increasingly pushing for product traceability and it is hard to prove what you have unless you know what you started with.
The survey results reflect that sentiment, showing more certified seed use in identity-preserved crops than conventional crops.
“You can’t really have traceability without knowing where the seed came from,” said Jeffrey.
Oilseeds are another crop where farmers buy pedigreed varieties. According to the survey, 28 percent of prairie flax and 92 percent of prairie canola is certified.
For many herbicide-tolerant canola varieties there is a legal obligation for farmers to purchase pedigreed seed on a yearly basis, while for the expanding hybrid segment, it is a biological necessity.
Jeffrey said the flax number was a little higher than expected, attributing it to the fact that “the economics are working” for flax, which means growers can afford to buy certified seed.
Roughly two-thirds of respondents cited lower cost as the main motivation for using common seed. Another 25 percent of cereal growers felt the quality of common seed is close enough to certified seed to continue using it.
One other intriguing finding of the study is that young farmers are less likely to use certified seed than their older counterparts, said Jeffrey. He surmised that’s partially due to financial constraints, but also because of a lack of communication.
“I don’t see anyone really talking about the benefits of certified seed. It’s a boring old topic and no one is spending money to promote it.”
The sample size used in the survey provides a confidence level of 95 percent, plus or minus 3.5 percent.
