Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76T HE AMERICAN SEED Trade Association’s annual convention held June 18 to 22 in Portland, Ore., was a big draw for the seed industry this year. Just over 470 people took part — the largest attendance for the event since ASTA’s 125th anniversary celebration at the 2008 annual convention. “It was a great success this year,” says ASTA’s CEO and president Andy LaVigne, adding that the large turnout could be attributed in part to the fact the event was a joint convention with the Oregon Seed Association and took place in one of the nation’s largest seed-producing areas. "It was a good show of collabora- tion with quite a bit of mutual overlap of membership between the two organi- zations,” says LaVigne. “Being able to come together with their leadership and the ASTA leadership and talk about our issues jointly was a huge benefit to the industry." Among the attendees was Mike Gumina, a former ASTA chair and the rice company RiceTec AG based in Texas. “They really shared the entire stage and coordinated it extremely well together. I thought that was great.” LaVigne notes these are interesting times for the seed industry, another factor that fueled attendance for this year’s convention. With key issues such as bio- logical seed treatments, gene editing and other evolving plant breeding techniques dominating discussions in seed circles these days, “I think because of that people wanted to be around the table to talk about the industry going forward,” he says. Numerous committee meetings and working group activities focusing on such areas as conservation and environ- ment, seed, messaging, communications and plant breeding innovation were held during the conference. There were also a number of breakout sessions with speak- ers addressing issues like new GMO labe- ling legislation and how the latest plant breeding technologies fit into current regulatory frameworks. The 133rd annual convention of the American Seed Trade Association was a resounding success on all accounts. Here are some of the highlights. Mark Halsall Seed Meeting Draws a Crowd association’s representative on the International Seed Federation board. He agrees ASTA and OSA did an exceptional job with the joint conference. “It was extremely well done,” says Gumina, the lead executive for the hybrid Risa DeMasi finished her term as chair at the 133rd American Seed Trade Association annual convention in June. 58 / SEEDWORLD.COM SEPTEMBER 2016