Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 6828 CANADA’Sforage and turf seed sector has grown and changed over the years. With its roots in seed saved by early immigrants and traded amongst themselves, it has grown to a sophisticated sector that produces seed for a wide variety of crop kinds and occupies almost 200,000 acres across the country. The forage seed sector is the basis for the production of legume and grass forages for hay and hay pro- cessing and is increasingly important for soil conservation and improvement and for land reclamation. Canada’s turf seed sector has grown, supplying a demand for golf courses, sports fields, residential and commercial lawns and municipal parks, roadsides and more. So, how is the sector different today? According to some of the important players in the business, changing mar- kets, access to information and labour, growing farms and a tremendous increase in sophistication have forced changes in the business of producing, buying and selling forage and turf seed. Changing Markets Seed companies are competing in a shrinking Canadian market. Robert Clark, DLF Pickseed president and CEO, says: “The dairy industry is a very important market for forages, and con- sumption of dairy products is not grow- ing substantially in Canada. Improved dairy cattle genetics means that it takes less feed to produce the same amount of milk. There is also competition for acre- age. Acres that have been traditionally Those in the business of producing, buying and selling forage and turf seed must be fluid and adapt to changing markets, access to information and labour, growth in farm size and increased sophistication. planted to forages, particularly alfalfa for the dairy industry, are being plowed up and planted to cash crops like corn, which is also used in dairy production. The result is pressure on forage seed markets, forcing companies to compete for pieces of a smaller and smaller pie.” Martin Pick, former vice-chairman of Pickseed, agrees. “Dairy industry con- solidation and highly variable livestock prices have put forage crops in direct competition with cash crops,” he says. “And at the moment, cash crops are winning.” Access to Information Improved communication and access to information has also had a tremen- dous impact. Terry Ewacha, executive vice-president at DLF Pickseed, says: “In the simpler days, seed businesses competed against their neighbours for farm customers in their regions, but producers are much more connected This article is the second in a three-part series where you’ll explore the forage and turf seed sectors from its earnest beginnings to present day competition to future innovations and expectations. today: Driven by Change now. A grower can go online and in a minute or two can know the supply and demand for seed in any country in the world. So not only are we compet- ing in a smaller Canadian market, we are competing with a wider diversity of companies around the world.” Access to Labour As with other sectors in agriculture, a significant challenge is access to labour. “In the simpler days, seed companies were built on people,” says Ewacha. “Seed plants were able to secure and keep good labour. Now we just can’t always get the people to take jobs in the seed sector, and if we can get them, it’s hard to keep them. Operations have to rely more on technology to keep plants operating.” Access to labour is also a significant challenge for the turf seed sector. A study done for the Ontario Turf Grass Research Foundation states that labour Farm growth triggers company growth, says Lloyd Dyck, chairman of BrettYoung Seeds. A Focus on Forage, Turf Part 2 of 3 Kurt Shmon, Imperial Seeds president, says the overall number of farms is shrinking.