A new licensing agreement between Canterra Seeds and Lima-grain could give western Canadian farmers access to more wheat varieties, including promising cultivars already grown commercially in the United States.
Officials from Canterra recently announced an agreement with Limagrain, a global seed company, that will allow the two businesses to test, develop, produce and commercialize new wheat cultivars for the western Canadian market.
The deal gives Canterra exclusive distribution rights in Western Can-ada for Limagrain wheat varieties once they are registered for commercial production.
Canterra is already conducting field tests on close to a dozen Limagrain wheat varieties, which were developed in the U.S. and viewed as potential candidates for commercial registration in Canada.
Read Also
Huge Black Sea flax crop to provide stiff competition
Russia and Kazakhstan harvested huge flax crops and will be providing stiff competition in China and the EU.
“These are finished varieties out of their breeding programs in the U.S. so it’s part of their elite material that we’re already testing,” said Canterra president David Hansen.
The varieties will be assessed for agronomic performance, disease resistance and grain quality. The most promising cultivars could be entered into pre-registration or co-op trials as early as next year.
If that happens, he said Limagrain products could be put forward for registration and approved for commercial production in Canada within three to five years.
Canterra has nine test sites in Western Canada and is hoping to add as many as six new ones within the next year or two.
“The (testing) program will expand quickly to give us even a broader geographic representation of the wheat production area,” Hansen said.
Limagrain is a farmer-owned co-operative based in France.
It bills itself as the fourth largest seed company in the world and has operations around the globe.
The company’s U.S. subsidiary, Limagrain Cereal Seeds (LCS), is based in Colorado and operates plant breeding programs, including one in North Dakota that focuses primarily on spring and hard red winter wheat varieties.
Material from that program will be tested in Western Canada.
“LCS is developing hard red spring wheat varieties for the northern region of the U.S.A. and this will be the first material that we test with Canterra,” said Limagrain spokesperson Michel Debrand.
“We believe this new alliance is an excellent fit for our company.”
Hansen described the Canterra-Limagrain deal as a significant development that will benefit both companies, as well as western Canadian farmers.
He also suggested that recent changes to the Canadian wheat breeding and grain marketing environments will result in more private companies looking at Canada.
Agriculture Canada has already signalled its intention to play a reduced role in varietal development. Industry insiders say that will likely mean reduced government funding for public breeding programs and a greater role for private sector breeding companies.
Earlier this year, Bayer CropScience announced that it is planning to establish a new wheat breeding centre in Saskatchewan.
“There’s a lot of emphasis being put on wheat on a global basis and … I think we’re going to continue to see a lot of activity in Western Canada from the private sector as they start evolving their programs and looking at this market,” Hansen said.
“Certainly, the private sector companies are going to be playing a more significant role in the development of varieties here in Western Canada.”
The agreement also gives Canterra semi-exclusive rights to distribute Limagrain barley varieties, which are mostly focused on malting markets.
Canterra controls 12 to 14 percent of the western Canadian market for pedigreed pulse and cereal seeds.
The company’s test sites are located at Carman and Portage la Prairie in Manitoba, Kamsack, Balcarres and Saskatoon in Saskatchewan and Taber, Olds and Fort Saskatchewan in Alberta.
