b'Give us a snapshot of your involvement withcanola involved in the Seed Certification the Seed Synergy project and the develop- Committee, for example, is crucial, as ment of the NSO design. opposed to having a generalist. People In 2016 I became more involved with thewith that very specific knowledge will be discussions as a member of the CSTAmaking suggestions to the board. Adding board, but also as a SeCan rep wearingskills where they are needed is important Todd Hyra my hat from a western business managersso people can shape their future and have Western Business Manager perspective. The Oversight Committee isa voice in it. Its a complex industry and SeCan made up of seven individuals, one fromhaving a small, nimble board will be a Todd develops new businesseach participating organization and twocrucial part of that.opportunities for SeCanfrom CSGA. We were tasked with making members and industrysure the process moved forward. The lastWhats the biggest stumbling block the NSO partners. He is a member ofyear has been a busy one for the Oversightfaces as we get closer to the ratification votes the Seed Synergy OversightCommittee as we hired StrategyCorp toin 2020?Committee and past-presidenthelp move us through the formal portionLike Scott pointed out, its the sense of the of the Canadian Seed Tradeof the amalgamation process and bring usunknown and a perceived loss of what we Association. to ratification this coming July. had in the past. Its that uncertainty that has people concerned. The positives and Whats the biggest challenge we face rightopportunities for the industry as a whole now under our current structure that youare huge. Seed will be the driver of the think an NSO will fix? agricultural economy going forward and Volunteer fatigue, like Scott said. We onlywe have to make sure we structure our-have 18 staff nationally at SeCan, andselves accordingly. Changing doesnt mean we have a rep on the board of CSTA,we abandon our history. Weve learned Canadian Plant Technology Agencyfrom that history; we know whats worked (CPTA) and CSI. Even more significantwell and how we can do things better. is the impact on SeCans members. Most of them are family-owned small- andWhats the response been?medium-sized businesses. They are grow- The general response has been good and ers, processors and retailers. Having to gowe can now pull together ratification pack-to three or four places to get answers isages. The goal is to have those out before not efficient. We have an opportunity tothe end of April. CSAACs annual meeting build something that streamlines the pro- is at the end of May, and they will be the cess and helps them keep their businessfirst to vote. The other organizations will on the cutting edge and serving customersvote at their AGMs in July.in the best possible way.Any final words?What do you like best about the NSO proposal? I want to give a ton of credit to the staff I think we really got the governanceof the five associations and their execu-structure right. Its important the NSO betive directors. Its been a labour of love for balanced and made up of people withmany. Theyre believers in the system, they the proper skillsets. Its also importantlove the system and want to see it made the NSO be nimble and able to meetbetter. This is about the big picture. When members needs. Theres no one groupwe talk about the future were not talk-that can do it all on their own. Having aing about the next five years. Were talking For full presentation slides, board of 11 people overseeing things willabout the next 20, 30 years and beyond. watch our entire Retail Roundtablebe crucial while the expert work will beWere positioning ourselves to ensure our webinar on this topic! Visitat the committee level. This is where theindustry is viable and strong for the next germination.ca/designing-the-nso/ specific interest areas will be managed.generation. Having someone who specializes in hybrid SUPPORTED BY: ENDORSED BY:MARCH 2020 GERMINATION.CA 21'