JANUARY 2019 GERMINATION.CA 79 CSTA SELECTS FUTURE INFLUENCERS The Canadian Seed Trade Association announced its Future Influencers for 2018. Brendan McDougall of Grimsby, Ont., is a master’s student in food and agriculture resource economics at the University of Guelph. He is pursuing a master’s degree with the hopes of being able to make complex economic issues and new technolo- gies more understandable and implementable for producers on the farm level. David Westerveld of Ingersol, Ont., is a student in the B.Sc. (Agr.) program at the University of Guelph. He plans on continuing his education through a M.Sc. in weed science at the University of Guelph following his undergraduate degree. During his summers, David has thoroughly enjoyed working for Sylvite Agri-Service, BASF and Maizex. STERKEL CROTTY INVESTMENT BANKING ANNOUNCES LAUNCH Industry veterans Douglas Sterkel and Joseph Crotty announced the creation of the New York- based Sterkel Crotty Investment Banking, provid- ing specialized global advisory services for the agribusiness, life sciences, technology and food industries. The new firm’s international network and industry-specific insights will provide busi- ness leaders “from Wall Street to Main Street with the ability to leverage proven processes to efficiently execute transactions while maximizing profit,” the company said. POLICY SEED SYNERGY PARTNERS ANNOUNCE SEED VARIETY USE AGREEMENT The Seed Synergy partners have endorsed a made-in-Canada solution that they say will drive plant breeding investment and benefit every- one in the agricultural value chain, starting with cereal, pulse and specialty crop producers. As two value creation models for cereals variety development in Canada are discussed country- wide, the partners recommend that the contract royalty option be implemented as a Seed Variety Use Agreement (SVUA). The SVUA would allow breeders, if they choose, to set a Seed Variety Use Fee (SFUV) on farm-saved seed that reflects an appropriate value for providing an improved vari- ety to the producer. Under the proposed system, producers will still have a “farmer’s privilege” to keep grain they divert back to their operation to use as seed, but if they choose a variety with a SVUA they will be required to pay a SVUF to the plant breeder on diverted grain/farm-saved seed of that variety. The fee will be set by the plant breeder or seed distributor and will vary depend- ing on the value and performance of that particu- lar variety. See page 36 for more information. PRODUCT BAYER TO INCLUDE GLYPHOSATE SAFETY SUMMARIES ON TRANSPARENCY PLATFORM Bayer will soon include safety study summa- ries of glyphosate on its dedicated transparency platform, it announced last month. This next step marked the first anniversary of the company’s Transparency Initiative, having been launched on Dec. 7, 2017. “Trust in the integrity of crop protection sci- ence is core to us and our business,” said Liam Condon, member of the board of management of Bayer AG and president of the Crop Science Division. “The public is interested in knowing more about how their food is grown and what products are involved in the production of food. Crop protection products are used by farmers to protect harvests from disease, pests and weeds. As one of the leaders in agriculture, we have been working diligently to make studies on crop protection substances available beyond regula- tory requirements.” The transparency platform can be accessed at cropscience-transparency.bayer.com. RESEARCH KEY GENE FIND COULD LEAD TO DISEASE-RESISTANT CROPS Discovery of a gene that helps plants control their response to disease could aid efforts to develop crops that are resistant to infection, research suggests. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh studied how, when plants are under attack from bacteria or viruses, they produce tiny amounts of a gas known as nitric oxide. This gas accumu- lates in plant cells and triggers a response from the plant’s immune system. They found that a previously unknown gene – called SRG1 – is rapidly activated by nitric oxide and is also triggered during bacterial infection. The findings could lead to ways to fine-tune the gene’s activity to boost disease resistance, pointing towards more resilient crop breeds or new treatments for infections. TheHeadlines