GUELPH, Ont. — Canada’s seed industry appears poised for major change.
The Canadian Seed Growers Association is moving forward with an effort to implement a new strategic plan in the coming year. Linked to that is an industry-wide initiative called the Seed Synergy program.
“The primary purpose is to provide a tool to align what the national office is doing with the provincial boards, right through to the growers,” said consultant Monty Doyle, who’s helping facilitate the strategic plan process.
Doyle told the Ontario Seed Growers Association annual meeting in Guelph Dec. 13 that the strategic plan process began at the CSGA’s annual meeting in Manitoba last July. The association is encouraging growers to comment.
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A final draft, to be ready before the end of March, is to be taken for approval at the next annual general meeting in Halifax in July.
Opportunities for input will include online questionnaires and lengthier written submissions. Doyle, who is affiliated with the Ottawa-based Intersol Group, said growers can even develop a strategic plan of their own if they wish.
The proposed plan focuses on five areas, including improvements to the seed crop certification system and modernization of Circular 6, which is the regulations and procedures for pedigreed seed crop production in Canada.
Regulatory modernization will include recognizing new technologies and improving online services for growers.
Seed growers are to be supported with training so that they can fill their role in the industry efficiently and cost effectively.
Other goals are to establish a base line for competency and recognize growers with higher levels of proficiency.
There will also be an emphasis on expanding the sector. Doyle said seed production for the emerging cannabis and carbon sequestration markets are possibilities.
Development of a single sector voice in working with government is another objective rather than the “noise” of individual organizations, he said.
As well, there is to be an emphasis on organizational efficiency with solid financing to back it up.
CSGA executive director Glyn Chancey said a recognition that the status quo is not sustainable is one of the driving forces behind the Seed Synergy project.
“The biggest message from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is that they’re not going to invest in you in perpetuity.”
Chancey said the Seed Synergy project has mainly been a discussion among the executive directors of five organizations: the CSGA, the Canadian Seed Trade Institute, the Commercial Seed Analysts Association of Canada, the Canadian Plant Technology Agency and CropLife Canada.
The initial impetus for the project was to develop an industry-led plan to modernize the regulatory regime for seed production rather than relying solely on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Chancey said.
Other areas of the industry are now part of the discussion as well.
Doyle said a long-term trend in the Canadian industry has been to give the private sector more regulatory responsibility.
CSGA president Kevin Runnals said changes are necessary to build a future for Canada’s seed industry, including future growers.
Given the recent consolidation among global industry players, he sees it as inevitable that there will also be consolidation in the seed community. About 3,500 growers currently belong to the CSGA.
“We have a role here to speak up for new things like genetically engineered plants,” he said.
