b'CSTA / SEEDINNOVATION.CA/ WE MUST KEEP OUR EYES ON THE PRIZESEED SYNERGY IS LIKE BUILDING A NEW SEED PLANTI JUST FINISHED my term as president of the Canadian Seed Trade Association. It was quite an experience leading the board as we move into a new phase of the Seed Synergy Collaboration Project. The White Paper is finished and were moving into the next stage of envisioning the new seed organization that will result from a joining together of our five dedicated seed organizations. People have been asking me what Ive taken away from the experience. In 2018, when I became president, I said I believed Id be one of the last presidents of the CSTA. I still believe that. As I pass the presidents torch to Georges Chauss, I take pride in the fact that theres now even stronger sup-port for the formation of a new organization that will allow us to be posi-tioned to deliver great service to our respective members as well as serving Todd Hyra, the entire industry going forward. CSTA Past-President Weve covered a lot of ground in the past year. Im proud of the fact that, collectively, weve kept everyone working toward the end goal of maintaining mutual respect as we work to understand everyones needs and how a new seed organization could fulfil those needs. Quite often we can overcome bar-riers by stepping into each others shoes and seeing things from their perspec-tive, rather than just our own."OUR CURRENT SEED SYSTEM WORKS OK FOR ME. IT WORKED GREAT FOR MY DAD. IT WORKED EVEN BETTER FOR HIS DAD. BUT FOR THE NEXT GENERATIONS COMING UP, WILL IT MEET THEIR NEEDS?"The Seed Synergy initiative is not about building a system for the current generation. Its for our kids and grandkids. I liken this whole Seed Synergy thing to building a new seed plant. You can only retrofit an existing plant so many times. Eventually, its just no longer suitable for the needs of today.Seed Synergy is like building a new, modern seed plantone that takes the next generations into mind. Our current seed system works OK for me. It worked great for my dad. It worked even better for his dad.But for the next generations coming up, will it meet their needs? Thats why were building something new. As the world continues to change, so do the needs of the young people who will inherit our industry. They have differ-ent needs, but the fact is, theyre working within a system that was developed by people who lived in a much different time with different ways of doing business and much different technologies.Sure, its difficult. Theres cost, time and a lot of energy involved. Theres also risk involved, too. But theres also opportunitymajor opportunityand thats what I kept my eye on during my 12 months as president.As past-president I wish my successor all the best and look forward to what the future will bring. 40GERMINATION.CA SEPTEMBER 2019'