Public input sought National Farmers Union opposes move to eliminate 
field testing of forage and soybean crops
A proposal to change the way new forage and soybean varieties are registered in Canada has prompted a concerned response from the National Farmers Union.
However, others in the industry say there is no need to be alarmed by the changes, as long as independent trial data comparing varietal performance is still available.
Under changes being proposed by Ottawa, new varieties of soybeans and forage crops, including alfalfa, would no longer be subject to field testing or merit assessment before registration. If approved, the changes would allow developers of new soybean and forage lines to register their varieties more quickly and at a lower cost, supporters say.
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However, those opposed say the changes would allow more varieties of questionable economic value to enter the marketplace and permit seed companies to de-register varieties at will, regardless of their value to farmers.
“If companies are allowed to de-register varieties, they can stop farmers from accessing and using perfectly good varieties,” said NFU president Terry Boehm.
“We expect seed companies will use this opportunity to put farmers on a variety treadmill, de-registering old varieties so that the only varieties available to them will be expensive new varieties subject to patent restrictions or royalty charges under plant breeders rights,” Boehm said.
Added Ian Robson, Manitoba co-ordinator for the NFU: “Variety trials ensure that new varieties are a fit for Canadian growing or market conditions.”
The NFU is urging Canadians to voice their opinions on the proposed changes, which can be viewed online at bit.ly/11HJFEt in the Canada Gazette.
Public comments are being accepted until May 23.
The variety registration system was amended in 2009 to create a more flexible system for registering new varieties of seed crops.
Under those changes, crops that require registration were divided into three categories, with each category having different registration requirements.
Crops listed in the third category have the least onerous requirements and do not require pre-registration testing or merit assessment.
Seed developers seeking registration can apply directly to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Aaron Ivey, president of the Sask-atchewan Forage Council, said he doesn’t think placing forages into the third category will be detrimental to forage growers.
Even without mandatory pre-registration trials, forage seed developers will still benefit from placing their new varieties in comparative post-registration trials and farmers will demand performance data.
“The industry and producers themselves are going to demand that,” Ivey said.
“If you look at the canola industry, for example, those companies do a lot of field scale testing and trials … to demonstrate their products and show their superiority…. I don’t see why that’s going to be any different in the forage industry.”
Corie Arbuckle, executive director of the Manitoba Forage Council, said eliminating pre-registration trials will emphasize the importance of post-registration testing programs such as the Manitoba Forage Crop Variety Testing Program.
Arbuckle said steps should be taken to ensure that seed developers are required to place new varieties in post–registration trials.
“If (companies) don’t have to … place their new products in those trials, then producers won’t know how those products are going to perform,” Arbuckle said.
“If you are growing a crop like canola, you can find out how it performs in a year … but when you’re growing a forage variety, that’s something that’s going to be in your field for three or four years, so it can be kind of an expensive (learning process), so we really would like to keep a third party testing system.”
Discussions about changing variety registration regulations for forages and soybeans began three years ago.
The federal government says discussion documents were distributed to 1,500 seed industry stakeholders in 2010, and feedback was sought from all affected parties.
Crops affected by the proposed changes include oilseed soybeans, alfalfa, bird’s foot trefoil, bromegrass, canarygrass, all types of clover, forage-type fescues, lupins, orchardgrass, ryegrass, timothy wheat grasses and wild rye.
