JULY 2017 GERMINATION.CA 9 has changed right along with it, Murrell notes. When it was founded, members consisted largely of small, independently owned seed companies. In the age of con- solidation, that has changed. “Over the past 20 years especially, seed businesses have merged, closed, been sold and bought. Membership of the CSTA has gradually shifted to encompass more large and multinational companies,” Murrell says. “A big driver for that change was the increase in private sector plant breeding and along with that, the engagement of largely private sector companies in bio- technology.” Small- and medium-sized seed busi- ness continue to make up more than half of the CSTA’s members, which ensures that the organization represents all facets of the industry. Technology is adopted quickly in agricul- ture, Devitt notes, and changes within CSTA are a direct reflection of that. CSTA has used that forward momentum to help move the seed trade forward. It played an important role in the adoption of UPOV 91 in 2015. “That’s a huge step change. Biotechnology has become hugely impor- tant in the seed industry, and processes surrounding it have had to be developed quickly. Trait development organizations have became very engaged in the seed industry, and this has generated a new way of looking at seed,” Murrell says. “It also gradually formed the basis for placing even more importance on plant breeding, as it became clear that once traits were developed we still needed to pay attention to genetic improvement itself.” There are many common issues that speak to the membership, right across crop kind and functionality, she adds. “Consolidation means some of the dynamics may have changed, as many of the people at CSTA meetings and other events may not actually own the company they represent, but the people in the room are still very much engaged.” Changing Dynamics Membership engagement has become even more pronounced as time has gone on, Murrell says, as technology allows more effective and faster communication than ever. 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1918 1910 1920 1921 1922 1930 1936 1939 1940 1950 1960 1970 The First World War ends. Experts develop wheat varieties resistant to rust. By the 1930s, the new strain saves farmers about $25 million a year in losses. Canadian Seed Trade Association is formed. Mustard is first grown in Alberta, and Canada today is the world’s largest exporter. The Great Depression ends. PODCAST ALERT! Listen to interviews with Crosby Devitt and Dorothy Murrell at germination.ca/csta-changing-along-industry/ “The seed industry is more complex than it was. The world is more complex, or at least we get more information now, which makes it seem more complex. It’s sometimes difficult to filter things out and figure out what’s meaningful.” Despite that, CSTA has continued to manage the issue of seed trade very effectively, she says. “While seed trade competition can be very fierce, nevertheless, there are strong friendships across the seed trade built on mutual respect and shared dedication to the industry.” The need for effective communication with members and, at the end of the day, with the federal government, is more important then ever for CSTA, Devitt says. “Is our system equipped to handle future technology? Is it based on the past and not the future? If we can’t get new products to market the way we want because our regulatory system has a bottleneck in it and we’re unsure of how to handle it, that will slow down our innovation and affect our competitive advantage globally,” Devitt says. “How do you build something for the unknown? That’s an area we need to look ahead to.” Murrell concurs, noting that there were once only three representa- tive groups that made up the seed industry — CSTA, the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association, and the Commercial Seed Analysts Association of Canada. In recent years, CropLife Canada, the Canadian Seed Institute and the Canadian Plant Technology Agency were added to the roster. “When someone in government needed to speak to someone with regard to seed production, they went to one organization. For issues around varietal purity, they went to another. If it was about trade, they went to the third. Now there are six, so it’s a little more complex,” she says. —with the assistance of Neil Arbuckle, Scott Horner, Bill Leask, and Jeff Reid “HOWDOYOUBUILDSOMETHINGFORTHEUNKNOWN? THAT’SANAREAWENEEDTOLOOKAHEADTO.” –CrosbyDevitt