b'YOU HAVE TO GETIn our industry we often think of seed and grain as two different things, but the grain world seems to be very important to you.The two arent mutually exclusive. While those of us in INVOLVED IN YOURthe seed industry think about seed every day, seed is ultimately the vehicle farmers use to access grain markets. The better the variety or seed quality, the more oppor-INDUSTRY, OTHERWISEtunity a farmer finds in the grain market as a result of improved productionbe it yield or quality. Thats the goal. My first foray into seed was with Viterra, a grain YOURE LEFT STANDINGcompany-owned seed business. Seed and grain worked very closely together to build a business that focused on profitability for its farm and end-use customers. I moved AT THE BACK OF THEto Alliance Seed after that, and it too was owned by grain companies and had a very similar focusensur-ing farmers had access to genetics that were well suited to find success in the markets Alliances shareholders ROOM WONDERINGwere focused on. For me, one of the attractive parts of FP Genetics was the ownership. Its my first opportunity to work with a different ownership structureover 160 WHATS GOING ON. passionate seed grower owners who wear two hats. They are both farmers themselves and cereal seed experts. These are grassroots seed professionals who can truly speak to what value looks like in new varieties. Theres definitely a lot of parallels here when you think aboutWhat are your plans as CEO? How do you hope to guide the what were going through right now with Seed Synergy andcompany into the future?redesigning this industry from the ground-up. Weve gone through a lot of growth in the last five years. Definitely. Getting the industry aligned with the SeedWe were the first to bring hybrid fall rye to the market, Synergy White Paper was an accomplishment in itself.weve got an ever-increasing product portfolio, weve Designing and launching the National Seed Organizationadded R&D capacity, and are focused on end use rela-(NSO) is the next hurdle to get over. Today, with fivetionships. This business is not just about acquiring and separate associations making up the core of our industry,distributing varieties, but also creating an environment we all operate as big fish in our own little ponds. In thewhere farmers can find success with them. The key is to future, perhaps we become smaller fish together, but therecognize that farmers are ultimately after peace of mind. pond grows exponentially for all of us. We consistentlyThey want to be comfortable in knowing a variety they agree on 90% of an issue, and while we may disagreechoose is going to work effectively and efficiently with on that last 10%, a single NSO forces us to figure outtheir management strategy, and that what they harvest has that last 10% together. Right now, we put each other inthe demand to allow them to market effectively. silosseed growers, the seed trade community, analysts, breeders, the list goes on. In reality, were all seed profes-sionals with a common goal, and thats a healthy, vibrant, innovative seed industry. The benefit of bringing every-one together at one table cant be understated. Its really about how we continuously strive for a more efficient industry that supports each other in regulatory services, training and advocacy work that really helps farmers andListen to our Eye on Business podcast episode featuring Chris the value chain to be more successful.Churko at germination.ca/living-in-the-grey/ 40GERMINATION.CAMARCH 2020'