b'Seed as Food There are a lot of opportunities that stem right from the Tjaden sees a future where seed varietiescereals in particu- genetic level. If I have a variety with better nutrient content and larhave customer-facing traits bred into them like specificbetter flavor profile that could hit it big in a certain market, am flavors and textures, effectively turning seeds into miniatureI ultimately doing it a disservice by throwing it into the CWRS powerhouses that provide end users with exactly what they areclass and letting it be just a commodity?looking for.Paterson says the seed industry and all of agriculture have to Thats not always easy to pull into a food product once itbegin thinking of new ways to do businessand thats where undergoes processing and everything else. If we breed withidentity-preserved systems like organic farming fit in.those preferences in mind, we come a step closer to really givingFarm incomes are at all-time lows and theres no way to dif-everyone what they wantright from the seed company to theferentiate yourself in the marketplace except for quality charac-farmer to the processor to the consumer, Tjaden says. teristics of the crop you grow, he adds. Enter people like Shane Paterson, vice-president ofOf course, no crop can grow without a growing medium like Growers International Organic Foods, an affiliate of Patersonsoil, and one of the goals of regenerative agriculture is to restore GlobalFoods. He spoke on the topic of emerging markets forsoil health, a message Ananda Fitzsimmons will deliver. As presi-identity-preserved value claims. According to Paterson, moderndent of Regeneration Canada, she was part of a panel discussing seed industry paradigms can ultimately undermine the potentialhow to positively influence Canadian agricultural practices. Prior to of new varieties that are tailored specifically to unique marketforming Regeneration Canada, Fitzsimmons co-founded Inocucor segments. (now known as Concentric Ag) which commercializes agricultural Different seed and plant varieties have different characteris- products based on naturally occurring microorganisms. tics with different nutrient and flavor profiles, different regionalDominant agricultural practices are based on the concepts characteristics. We see that in things like malting barley andof agronomy, which itself is based on chemistry being delivered hops, Paterson says.to the plant. Thankfully, theres a kind of revolution going on in terms of biologywe have new scientific discoveries not avail-able at the time most conventional ag methods were developed, she says. Those discoveries have to do with the soil microbiome, she notes. Soil isnt just a medium to hold the plant upright while Seed and grain farmers deliver nutrients. Soil is a complex ecosystem and the basis of life is the soil microbiome. But Fitzsimmons cautions cleanerS that regenerative agriculture is not about going back to primitive for the world farming methods.The future of agriculture is about understanding the natural process of the soil ecosystem and looking at how to optimize it, Air Screen Cleaners but that work has never been done. There are billions of organ-isms in there that work in synergy and natures design was to recycle nutrients and deliver them to the plant. Regenerative agriculture is about restoring the ecosystem functions of living soil, trying to understand and optimize those processes and allow the microorganisms to do their work.But Paterson cautions that it will take time, and a good dose of practicality, to revolutionize the agriculture industry for the years ahead.Indented Cylinder Length Separator While we all have ideals that we want to shoot for, reality has Crippen Northland to fit into the picture. People dont change farming practices for the good of the world if it means their family isnt going to eat. Superior Supply Co. I see opportunities at events like this for connecting producers and consumers through a value chain that justifies changes in 8-851 Lagimodiere Blvd.behavior that might benefit the environment.SWWinnipeg, MBPh: 204-925-6141www.northlandsuperior.com Gravity Separator66/ SEEDWORLD.COMJANUARY 2020'