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 68JANUARY 2017 31 what they want,” he says. “DLF spends millions of dollars every year on forage research and has developed many new and improved forage varieties. With the changes to variety registration many of those new varieties were made immedi- ately available to producers. They didn’t have to wait three years for the varieties to be registered in Canada.” Importance of International Trade In addition to being more competi- tive for domestic markets, forage and turf seed companies continue to look to international markets. Ewacha says: “The export market is extremely impor- tant for Canadian forage seed compa- nies. Without exports, I estimate that two-thirds of Canada’s forage and turf seed companies would disappear.” Shmon says that Canada continues to be an important supplier of forage seed to international markets. “We have the best producers in the world. We have established exceptional cleaning and processing facilities,” he says. “And we are very, very good at meeting customer demands.” In 2015, Canadian forage and turf seed exports were worth $135 million. Alfalfa seed leads Canadian exports, followed by creeping red fescue and timothy. Together these crop kinds account for 63 per cent of forage and turf seed exports. While the United States is still the biggest export market for most forage and turf seed, China and the Netherlands are growing. For example exports of alfalfa seed to the United States increased by 1.5 per cent in 2015 from 2014, while exports of alfalfa seed to China increased by 20 per cent and exports to the Netherlands increased by 11 per cent. Of Technology and Trade Canada is one of the pioneers of sophisticated plant breeding tech- niques, including the use of biotech- nology. By far the largest acreages of canola, corn and soybeans in Canada are planted to genetically enhanced (GE) varieties. Biotechnology has not been as widely used as a breeding technique in forage and turf crops, GE forages and grasses are only slowly coming into the marketplace. In Canada, Roundup Ready alfalfa was approved by Health Canada and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) in 2005. Alfalfa containing a trait for reduced lignin was approved in 2014, and alfalfa containing the stack of the two traits was approved at the end of 2014. Six varieties of GE alfalfa are now registered and available on the market in Eastern Canada. The varie- ties have not been commercialized in Western Canada. In the United States, in addition to GE alfalfa, herbicide-tolerant varieties of bluegrass, bentgrass and tall fescue are close to commercialization. While it is generally agreed that conven- tional and new breeding techniques can and will deliver much needed improve- ments to forage varieties, forage seed companies and growers are divided on the commercialization of GE forages. Imperial Seed’s Shmon is concerned about the potential impact on his mar- kets in Europe and China. He says those markets make up well over half of his company’s business. “There is still a lot of opposition to the technology internationally,” he says. “I know that the science proves that the concern doesn’t make sense, but it doesn’t have to make sense when it comes to market demand. As much as we embrace technology, sometimes the benefits don’t make up for the potential market losses.” However, others like Pickseed’s Ewacha believe that other factors, particularly trade barriers and subsidies have a bigger impact than does advances in technology. “Countries in the EU are still heavily subsidizing forage and forage seed production,” he says. “For example, France has implemented a set of domestic subsidies for protein crops. Until 2020, French farmers will receive between 100 and 200 euros (between $200 and $300 Canadian) per hectare to grow alfalfa and clover. That has a huge impact on our ability to compete in that market.” Ewacha also says the sector needs to pay attention to its biggest customer. “It’s important to remember that the United States is still our biggest market and if we can’t stay current with technology, we won’t be competitive in that mar- ketplace,” he says. According to Ewacha, Canadian forage and turf seed exporters have been dealing with potential pres- ence of other GM seeds like canola in seed lots for many years, and markets are still strong. Where to from here? It’s clear: the experts agree that the forage seed busi- ness is an exciting and dynamic place to be. It has undergone tremendous change, faced challenges and yet opti- mism is still strong. Patty Townsend Fewer, but bigger, dairies cause increased competition in the forage seed sector.