DECEMBER 2017 SEEDWORLD.COM / 95 Innovation is linked, in fact, to ingenuity in science, to the aspects of creation that exist in science, but comes with tremen- dous uncertainty about the results.” Expect the Unexpected That uncertainty often leads to unex- pected outcomes and barriers, according to Ron DePauw, senior science adviser for Advancing Wheat Technologies and also science adviser for SeCan, west- ern Canada's largest supplier of certi- fied seed. The Canadian Seed Trade Association has dubbed him Canada’s “Billion-Dollar Man” because the incre- mental value of grain produced from his wheat cultivars exceeds $1 billion. The history of Canada’s variety regis- tration system, DePauw says, is a perfect illustration of how innovation works in mysterious ways. In the early days of the 20th century, many seedsmen were busy selling different varieties of seed to an industry that was in its infancy. At the time, many of these seed sellers no doubt saw themselves as pioneers and innovators, providing seed to farmers hungry to grow crops in order to earn a living. THE MARKET’S MOST COMPREHENSIVE PRODUCT LINE Whether you’re looking for the latest portable treatment system for on-site treating or a bulk-treating site, your Certified USC Dealer has the right solution to fit your operation. With 66 locations throughout North America, expert service is always nearby! SEEDTREATINGSYSTEMS FOR THE WAY YOU TREAT SEED Find Your Local Dealer USCLLC.com Industry Leader. Industry Innovator. Ph. 866.729.1623 USC-111F.indd 1 7/25/17 8:23 AM However, that innovation led to conse- quences that negatively affected farmers, who were often taken advantage of. “All laws and regulations come about as a response to something. [Back then], anyone could promote seeds. Whether or not they were adapted, whether or not they had resistance, whether or not they would perform didn’t matter, because the money was made in the selling of the seed, not in buying the grain that resulted from the harvested end product,” he says. “The money was made by the person selling the seed, and that person often wasn’t around to take the heat if their product didn’t perform according to their claims.” The Canada Seeds Act was born not to stifle innovation, but to regulate new seed varieties to ensure they progressed in such a way as to have the most benefit for all involved, says DePauw. That process of steering the innova- tion ship through uncharted waters, so to speak, is an essential part of the innova- tion process, according to Shukla, albeit a counterintuitive one. “During the process of innovating, when you come upon obstacles in the path of your moving forward, you have to be able to recognize when things have become warped. The innovation process for GMOs, for example, was effectively perverted by the fact we didn’t respond to the objections being raised by people who knew nothing about the subject. There was little engagement by the devel- opers of GM in helping challenge the misinformation that was out there. Many seed companies have been affected the same way,” he says. “Despite the best efforts of people in the industry, it’s still a major issue. Innovation is multi-fanged.” That process, of course, includes both peer review and questions posed by soci- ety at large. The latter is often played out on social media, and countless voices vie for supremacy in what Shukla terms the “online battleground.” “For a seed researcher, for something to become truth it has to go through a [peer review] process that essentially attempts to destroy what you’ve created, because you have to try and disprove something in order to prove it,” he says. “That doesn’t apply to social media, where assertion becomes fact. It’s