Industry News
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People News
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Carol Baillargeon has joined Syngenta Canada in the newly-created position of cereal seeds production manager. Baillargeon will coordinate the production and distribution of Syngenta’s new cereal seed varieties from the field to the retailer. Her role includes working with seed growers to ensure the production of high-quality seed from foundation to certified levels, as well as managing the logistics of transporting seed to distributors and retailers.
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The Growmark Inc. board of directors has named Jeff Solberg as chief executive officer of Growmark. Solberg has held the positions of financial analyst, cash manager, assistant treasurer, treasurer, vice-president of finance and senior vice-president of finance for the company, which provides agriculture-related products and services, as well as grain marketing, in the United States and Ontario.
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The Canadian Seed Institute has announced the successful recruitment of its new executive director. Effective February 1, 2011, Roy Van Wyk became the second executive director of CSI. Van Wyk has an extensive background in the seed industry and in the food grade soybean export business, having worked for a number of large seed companies and exporters. His most recent position with the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association exposed him to the unique challenges of working for a not-for-profit organization.
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Monsanto Company’s board of directors has appointed Pierre Courduroux as the company’s new senior vice-president and chief financial officer. Courduroux most recently served as Monsanto’s finance lead for its global business operations. Prior to this, he served as the chief financial officer for Monsanto’s global vegetable business.
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Becker Underwood is saying goodbye to Ferdie Schneidersmann and promoting Ralph deVries to the role of director of marketing for Canada. Schneidersmann will retire April 1, 2011, after a long, distinguished career in agriculture. He has led the Becker Underwood marketing team in Canada since 2004. “Under his marketing guidance and the coordinated efforts of the Becker Underwood Canada sales, operations, administration and R&D teams, we have more than doubled our Canadian business over the past four years,” says Paul Holliday, director of marketing, sales and operations, NAFTA region. “We’re all going to miss Ferdie and his ever present, optimistic, ‘we can get it done’ attitude.” For the past year, deVries has worked closely with Schneidersmann as assistant director of marketing and has now been promoted and will assume full marketing responsibilities in Canada.
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Product News
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Monsanto Canada is launching a new mobile app under its Genuity brand called the Genuity Seed Selector App. It features information on canola, corn and soybean products available through seed partner companies that carry Genuity brand technology. The new app is being launched in time to support farmers and dealers with their 2011 seed selection decisions.
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Monsanto Canada is launching an information campaign to tell soybean farmers and other stakeholders about the changes coming to Roundup Ready soybean production in Canada as a result of the August 2011 expiry of the Canadian patent for original Roundup Ready soybean technology. It will be the first widespread plant biotechnology trait to go off patent.
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Innovotech Inc. has secured additional funding of $154,000 for Agress, its environmentally-friendly seed treatment and plant spray designed to protect crops against both bacterial and fungal infections. The two-year funding from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Growing Canadian Agri-Innovations Program will be governed by the Pulse Crops (Canada) Association, and will focus on the improvement of dry bean yield, disease resistance and seed quality.
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Business News
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NorthStar Genetics Manitoba and Maizex Seeds Inc. have reached a distribution agreement. NorthStar Genetics Manitoba is now the exclusive distributor of Maizex seed corn products throughout Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Maizex Seeds, a family-owned hybrid corn company in Ontario, will usher in new technologies like refuge-in-a-bag which, following regulatory approval, will be available in 2012.
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Monsanto Canada has opened its new $12 million breeding facility—home to the company’s high-tech research and breeding activities focussed on bringing top-yielding canola hybrids to Canadian canola farmers. The new facility is located adjacent to Monsanto’s Canadian corporate head office in Winnipeg, Man., and contains office space, labs, preparation rooms and growth chambers. The new site includes laboratory facilities for all canola quality analytics, double haploid breeding (tissue culture) and plant pathology.
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Canterra Seeds and seed enhancement company Wolf Trax have teamed up to provide canola growers with a new seed-applied fertilizer option for enhanced early plant growth for the 2011 growing season. Canterra is offering Protinus, a seed-applied fertilizer developed by Wolf Trax that is designed to enhance early seedling growth on two canola hybrids.
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Becker Underwood Canada has overhauled its product websites, giving growers and media easier access to inoculant information. The Becker Underwood Canada product websites were completely redesigned. The goal was to give the most frequently-viewed content prime real estate on the sites so growers, retailers, researchers and ag media can easily find what they’re looking for.
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Industry News
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Optimism in Canadian agriculture is at a four-year high, according to the fourth edition of Farm Credit Canada’s study “Optimism in Canadian Agriculture 2010.” The study says more Canadian producers report being better off today than they were five years ago, having higher expectations for future growth than in the past, and supporting continued advocacy for careers in agriculture. Plans for expansion and diversification continue to be a priority for the majority of producers, with intentions to increase capital spending on equipment, inputs and land.
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The Western Grains Research Foundation is funding a new research initiative that will strengthen and advance public cereal breeding programs across Western Canada. WGRF has approved Endowment Fund Directed Research Program funding of $3.8 million over the next five years for an initiative to develop genomic tools, increase genomic capacity and enhance the use of double haploid in cereal crop breeding programs.
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Estival lettuce, developed by Sylvie Jenni of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, has been named Seed of the Year (east division). Estival is a promising new cultivar, as demonstrated by its three years on the market. Estival represents 18 per cent of the total crisphead lettuce sold in Canada. Three other finalists for the east division of Seed of the Year were also recognized: Yukon Gold, a potato variety nominated by University of Guelph professor Alan Sullivan and technician Vanessa Currie; AC Gehl, a hulless oat variety developed by Bill Collins and Vern Burrows of the Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, AAFC in Ottawa; and AC Rigodon developed by Jean-Pierre Dubuc and Andre Comeau of the Soils and Crops Development Research Centre, AAFC in Quebec City.
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Following up on their work from last spring, which confirmed the first finding of a glyphosate-resistant weed in Canada, University of Guelph weed scientists have now confirmed the presence of additional glyphosate-resistant weed populations in soybean fields in southwestern Ontario. Greenhouse testing of seed samples collected from southwestern Ontario in the fall of 2009 showed that an additional 16 fields had populations of giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) resistant to glyphosate.
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The Canadian Honey Council is seeking input from the bee industry on a new voluntary national biosecurity standard that will help beekeepers minimize the risk of pests and diseases in their colonies. Bumble bee, leafcutter and honey beekeepers will be contacted at random and asked what they do at the farm level to keep their colonies healthy. This input will assist in creating new voluntary biosecurity standards, which are expected to be released in 2012.
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The Canadian Seed Trade Association has received an investment of $140,000 from the Government of Canada to strengthen exports and foster the development of international markets. “The funding CSTA receives allows us to participate fully in the development of international rules and standards that govern the trade of seed,” says Wayne Unger, president of CSTA. “Trade is critical to many of our members, and decisions made in international forums have a huge impact on us. It is very important to the Canadian seed industry and Canadian agriculture that we are actively involved in establishing rules and facilitating trade.”
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The Government of Canada has announced an investment of up to $3 million to help the Flax Council of Canada improve product testing. This investment will help identify any remaining GM flax. This includes flax breeder and certified seed sampling, and screening of commercial seed stock, rural delivery points, new crop harvest and farm-saved seeds.
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The Government of Canada has announced it will invest $3.2 million for the Eastern Canada Oilseed Development Alliance to improve the quality and yield of soybean and canola crops. The investment will help with development of new varieties of value-added crops, such as new short season soybeans, which will help farmers expand production. This investment will also help improve the oil content and quality of canola and develop disease and pest management strategies. While research will focus on Eastern Canada’s climate, the findings will help growers across the entire country improve production and profits.
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The Prairie Oat Growers Association will receive $1.8 million from the Government of Canada to develop new oat breeding varieties tailored to the Prairie environment that will improve crop yields and quality. Research will focus on enhancing oat cultivars for Western Canada. Improved varieties with better resistance to plant diseases, and that can withstand unpredictable climate conditions, will lead to increased yields and profits for growers. “Development projects, including gene marker exploration and identification will provide short cuts towards finding and developing beneficial traits which will benefit the oat industry and the producers who grow the crop,” says Jack Shymko, chairman of the POGA Research Committee.
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An investment of $500,000 in Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program funding has been awarded to the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission for a joint project involving several research and development organizations. Industry councils from Alberta and British Columbia are also contributing to the project. The new flax varieties will be developed and field tested using traditional flax breeding methodologies. The project will focus on enhancing traits by developing the tolerance of flax seeding into cold soils, its reflowering resistance after autumn rain, and rapid drying to facilitate harvest.
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Industry News is geared to seed professionals and delivers the people, industry, business and product news you need to know. Submissions are welcome. Email us at news@issuesink.com.
