The 2022 Seed Congress of the Americas made the perfect venue for a crucial gathering between Seeds Canada’s and Chile’s national seed association.
If you build it, they will come.
Scott Horner recently decided to modify that old adage a bit, to something more like “If you organize it, they will attend.”
Horner, CEO of Alberta’s HyTech Production, organized a first-of-its-kind meeting between Seeds Canada and Chile’s seed association at the Seed Congress of the Americas, held in Uruguay in spring and hosted by the Seed Association of the Americas (SAA).
Attending the meeting were members of Canadian and Chilean seed companies, members of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Chilean equivalent Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero (SAG), Canadian Seed Growers Association, Seeds Canada, and the Chilean Seed Association (ANPROS). It was a mix of both in-person and virtual attendees.
“A meeting like this has never happened before where we had so many seed companies, associations and regulators all in one room,” Horner says. “That in itself was an accomplishment.”
This year’s SAA Congress was a bit different, as it included an improved trading floor organized in partnership with Seed World Group. The two-and-a-half-day congress brought together regional seed professionals, seed leaders, breeders, researchers, policy makers, government officials and students, to learn, connect, generate new business, promote products and learn about the latest innovations.
Sessions focused on major areas of the seed business: innovation, environment, social and economic sustainability, facilitation of the seed movement and the importance of communication.
Open Discussion
The SAA Congress has many components, split into different floors — the trading area, the exhibition floor, the innovation floor and the plenary sessions, all running simultaneously.
“This year’s event was very successful in terms of number of people, the number of countries that participated, and in terms of the range of people who took part. But on top of that, this is the first time that I received feedback from people who said it was really valuable from a business perspective,” Risso says.
“The people who attend are here to do business. We attract very high-calibre attendees who are serious about doing business in the Americas and who attend because they get results by attending. When you have so many big global seed congresses all competing for attendees, that counts for something.”
Sarah Foster, president of 20/20 Seed Labs based in Nisku, Alta., agrees that the SAA event is becoming a more crucial one over time, and the meeting between Seeds Canada and ANPROS was one example of the high-level discussions that take place there.
“It was an eye opener. The agenda was compelling and to say the least very forward thinking. South America has found a way to propel themselves forward with modern thinking and a need to address the challenges around farming with climatic changes. They are true leaders in our industry and are ready to take on any aspect of being climate-friendly,” Foster says.
In terms of the agenda at the Seeds Canada/ANPROS gathering, attendees discussed ways to make the flow of seed go smoother and reduce costs.
“From Seeds Canada’s perspective, we want to communicate the importance of Chile to Canadian seed companies — why we need Chile — and just make sure everybody’s aware why we have such a major presence there and say, ‘Hey, this is what’s important to us.’ And then, of course, there are challenges, so we wanted to talk about some of the things that we can improve,” Horner says.
Those areas for improvement include paving the way for third-party field inspections in Chile, something Canada has made a reality in recent years and which Chile is slowly moving toward as well. Ways of streamlining the import/export process were discussed as well.
“It was a very open discussion,” Horner adds.
ANPROS and the 74 members it represents have a long relationship with Canadian seed entities, notes Mario Schindler, executive director for ANPROS. He says the meeting helped further cement the relationship between Chilean seed companies and their Canadian counterparts.
“In Chile we are very interested in field inspections. In Chile, we now have in place an authorization of third parties for seed inspections. It’s something we’ve been making progress in over time.”
Lauren Comin, regulatory affairs manager for Seeds Canada, says the issue of third-party inspections is an important one for Seeds Canada members who do business in South America, specifically Chile.
“Inspectors from countries in South America may not always be as familiar with our crop types, so making sure that we have those with expertise recognized and authorized to do that is important. It’s not going to happen tomorrow — it will take time — but I think our Canadian members were quite satisfied that it’s in the works,” Comin says.
Having Seeds Canada at the table nearly two years after the organization was created by the amalgamation of four Canadian seed associations is a major asset to the Chilean seed industry, Schindler adds.
“The Canadian seed industry come together in the form of Seeds Canada has been a big benefit to ANPROS. Having worked in the seed association sphere for so many years, I know that if you’re able to bring together all these people and have them move in the same direction, it really pays dividends. We look forward to seeing what benefits this merger has for Canada and beyond in the coming years.”
