Lowe Farm farmer Butch Harder told the seed growers’ meeting he opposes additional royalties for cereal breeders, calling the plan a “seed tax.”

The ‘value capture’ conundrum

A proposal to better compensate cereal breeders will almost certainly cost farmers more 
either when they buy seed or when they deliver grain to the elevator

Some call it a cereals ‘seed tax’ while others say it’s an investment in improved varieties. Either way, Canadian farmers face paying more for new varieties, or when they deliver the crop, if one of two proposed new “value capture” models is implemented by the federal government in 2019. “We want Canada to continue to

(Bruce Fritz photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Spitz to continue using Canadian sunflower seed

The parent company for sunflower seed processor Spitz is poised to close the plant in the brand’s home town, but says it’s still “committed” to Canadian-grown seeds. PepsiCo, the U.S. parent for Frito-Lay, the owner of Spitz International since 2008, announced Thursday it will close the company’s processing plant at Bow Island, Alta., about 60


Craig Koenig, CFIA’s regional chief inspector for Manitoba, told a Manitoba Seed Growers’ Association meeting his staff are willing to work with private pedigreed seed inspectors to help them do a better job.

Privatized seed inspection sore point for growers

Critics say the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is treating Manitoba differently than other provinces, but add it can fix the problem by working more closely with private inspectors

Manitoba pedigreed seed growers say they’re being held to a more rigid standard than farmers in other provinces. The complaints, levelled at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) were raised at a Manitoba Seed Growers’ Association (MSGA) meeting here Nov. 30. The allegations, which CFIA officials denied, come from some seed growers and companies providing

How good is your seed cleaning equipment?

How good is your seed cleaning equipment?

Our History: February 1963

Seed growers could write Simon-Day in Winnipeg for information on the cleaner and disc separator advertised in our Feb. 23, 1963 issue. At the Manitoba Swine Breeders Association in Brandon, members heard of a new provincial program to encourage them to set up high-standard herds from which growers could select quality animals. Also meeting in