Seed of the Year | CPBI ‘26
THERE WAS A   year when CDC 
Meadow almost got thrown out.
Not literally. But somewhere 
deep inside the Crop Development 
Centre’s pea breeding pipeline at 
the University of Saskatchewan, the 
yellow pea line known only as 653-8 
slipped into dangerous territory: 
not weak enough to eliminate 
outright, not strong enough to inspire 
confidence.
“It got one star, not two, in my 
assessment,” recalls breeder Tom 
Warkentin. “If it didn’t get a star, it 
would have been in the garbage.”
That one-star decision may have qui­
etly reshaped Prairie agriculture.
Today, the variety eventually named 
CDC Meadow is one of the most suc­
cessful pea varieties in Canadian history 
— the dominant yellow pea in Canada 
for more than a decade and now the 
recipient of the 2026 Seed of the Year 
award through the Canadian Plant 
Breeding Innovation Awards.
But the story of CDC Meadow isn’t 
really about a single variety. It’s about 
timing, persistence, and the strange way 
agricultural innovation unfolds: slowly at 
first, then all at once.
THE PEA THAT ALMOST GOT TOSSED 
IS THE 2026 SEED OF THE YEAR
CDC Meadow survived a near miss in the breeding pipeline to become the dominant yellow pea on 
the Prairies — and help transform Canada into a global pulse powerhouse. 
The Variety That Arrived Exactly When 
Growers Needed It
When CDC Meadow launched in 
2006, Prairie farming was entering a 
different era.
Pulse acres were surging across 
Western Canada as farmers searched 
for crops that improved profitability 
and fit increasingly sophisticated 
rotations and zero-till systems. 
Global demand for plant protein was 
accelerating. Peas were moving from 
niche crop to strategic commodity.
But the genetics still had gaps. Peas 
lodged badly. Yield consistency could 
Breeder Tom Warkentin in the field.
6   SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA   JULY 2026

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