(Alice McFarlane/farmnewsNOW Staff)

By Alice McFarlane

Seed Value Creation

Commodity groups upset with seed variety pilot

Feb 27, 2020 | 11:14 AM

A new pilot project will see participating farmers pay a trailing royalty to the seed developer on three new varieties.

The project is called the Seed Variety Use Agreement and was announced Tuesday afternoon by the Canadian Plant Technology Agency (CPTA) and the Canadian Seed Trade Association.

CPTA Executive Director Lorne Hadley said this will include two wheat and a soybean variety with the possibility of more.

“The prototype will allow producers to purchase seed. If they reuse that variety on their farm, those farmers will be able to direct a payment back to the breeding and distribution developer of that variety,” he said. “There needs to be more flow back to breeding institutions to incentivize more investment in breeding in many crops, virtually every open pollinated crop in Canada.”

Hadley said the plan is to run the pilot in real world situations.

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“We’ll analyze it, evaluate it and measure it. It will take two full seasons before we’re able to actually say that we know everything about how the pilot operates,” Hadley said.

Five groups, including Sask Wheat are concerned about the pilot project.

Chair Brett Halstead said the pilot was launched as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada continues its review process on a new seed royalty structure.

“We’re still waiting on the economic analysis, which is supposed to have been coming for quite a while, apparently we may get it next week. We’re a little disappointed that there’s a pilot project and I think even more disappointment if there comes a time where a public variety is announced in that trial process,” he said. “Those public varieties have been created with producer and government funds. We think setting a trailing royalty on anything that’s public goes against the intent and the spirit of producers putting their funds into varietal development.”

Halstead said the pilot imposes the trailing royalty collection mechanism on farm-saved seed of selected crop varieties through a contract agreement.

“If you keep the seed after the certified year that you purchase it, you would have to submit whatever the royalty you agreed to in the contract that you will also sign when you purchase that seed. You’re agreeing to pay a royalty if you keep that seed in future years,” he said.

There is concern the proposed trailing royalties could inhibit the adoption of midge tolerant varieties. Halstead said there are negative implications.

“Some of the rumored varieties are midge tolerant. We’re worried farmers may say, ‘I just won’t grow that variety because of that’. There’s other benefits to using midge tolerant varieties like reducing pesticide use. We think that would potentially be harmful to our industry,” he said.

The five commissions also emphasized that it is necessary for Agriculture and Agri Food Canada to provide assurance that all royalties collected through the Seed Variety Use Agreement on publicly bred varieties be returned to AAFC’s wheat variety breeding program.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF