Farmers should have the power to recommend which new grain varieties should be approved for production in Western Canada, says the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association.
The association is irate that Alsen, a U.S. variety with moderate resistance to fusarium, has been rejected a second time by the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain.
The association has sent a letter to federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief asking him to revamp the committee structure.
It says membership should be restricted to farmers and representatives from grain handling companies, processors and the provincial departments of agriculture.
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Variety resistance is getting more specific on crop disease pathogens, but that information must be conveyed in a way that actually helps producers make rotation decisions.
And the voting structure should be weighted to ensure producers have the final say.
“Farmers should have the majority,” said WCWGA director Rick Metzger, who farms at Redvers, Sask., and represents the wheat growers on the committee.
He said the registration system places too much emphasis on visually identifiable high-quality milling wheat, and not enough on the agronomic needs of farmers and the growing demand in the marketplace for medium-quality wheat.
“We need to change the mindset of our registration process,” said Metzger, to make it more market oriented.
Farmers could be given a numerical majority, or their votes could be weighted to give them a voting majority.
While farmers do sit on the committee, it is dominated by research scientists and grain industry officials.
The wheat growers propose that plant breeders and other interested parties, such as the Canadian Wheat Board, could make submissions to the committee but would not be voting members.
“One of the problems is that a few high-profile committee members have way too much influence over which varieties get recommended,” Metzger said, citing the wheat board as one example.
The PRRCG formally meets once a year, usually at the end of February, to make recommendations on which newly developed varieties of grain should be considered for registration by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s variety registration office.
Registration allows varieties to be sold commercially under a trade name.
