18 SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA JULY 2026 CANADIAN PLANT BREEDING stands at a decisive moment. The choices made now will shape Canadian agriculture for dec ades, determining whether the country strengthens its position as a global leader in crop innovation or gradually loses research capacity built over generations. Join us as we launch On the Brink, a new video series exploring the future of plant breeding in Canada. better resilience, improved quality, and globally respected crops supporting both domestic food security and international trade. Today, however, the system faces mounting pressure. Public investment in crop research and breeding has steadily declined, while private investment has slowed in key areas. Recent closures of federal research facilities across Canada have intensified concern throughout the industry. Plant breeding relies on conti nuity; once expertise, infrastructure, and breeding programs disappear, rebuilding them can take decades. Curtis Pozniak and Made-in-Canada Solutions Across the country, Canadian breeders, researchers, seed companies, and farmers continue developing innovative solutions tailored for Canadian conditions. Curtis Pozniak, director of the Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, argues that Canadian agriculture requires “made-in-Canada solutions.” Research developed elsewhere cannot simply be imported and expected to succeed under Canadian conditions. Without sustained domestic breeding capacity, Canada risks falling behind countries continuing to invest aggres sively in crop genetics. In S1E2, Pozniak also warns that plant breeding “doesn’t pause with out consequence.” When investment CANADA’S PLANT BREEDING SYSTEM IS AT A CROSSROADS Federal research closures, slowing investment, and global competition are forcing the agriculture sector to rethink how crop innovation gets funded. We dive into it all in Seasons 1 and 2 of On the Brink. By Christian Leader Plant breeding rarely attracts head lines, yet it underpins every Canadian harvest, notes Seed World Group President Shawn Brook in Episode 1 of Season 1. Every drought-tolerant wheat variety, disease-resistant barley crop, and high-performing feed grain begins years before seed reaches a farmer’s field. That process is cumulative and slow. Developing a successful variety can take more than a decade of research, regional testing, infrastructure investment, and collaboration between public institu tions, private companies, seed grow ers, and farmers. Canadian breeding programs have delivered stronger yields, becomes inconsistent, breeding pipelines lose momentum and genetics quickly fall behind global competitors. Darcy Unger and the Future of Seed Breeding Darcy Unger of Unger Seed Farm in Manitoba recently invested heavily in new infrastructure to prepare his opera tion for the next generation. In S1E3, he emphasizes that “95% of genetics we’re growing on our farm are coming from these breeders and these varieties are designed for Canadian farmers.” Unger worries shrinking invest ment will weaken agriculture’s ability to respond quickly to new diseases, climate pressures, and market demands. Doug Miller and the Investment Model In S1E4, Doug Miller, former executive director of the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association, frames the issue as a struc tural challenge. Federal research facility closures threaten the foundation sup porting variety testing, pre-competitive breeding research, and regional crop development. Miller asks, “If public and
View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.