National exposé is not a balanced view: MPC

The Manitoba Co-operator | December 13, 2012 17
CROPS
H U S B A N D R Y — T H E S C I E N C E , S K I L L O R A R T O F F A R M I N G
Seed growers consider
field inspection options
The Canadian Seed Growers Association endorses an exclusive, third-party provider
saying it would be simpler and more efficient, but some growers want competition
By Allan Dawson
CO-OPERATOR STAFF /BRANDON
Canadian seed growers are
grappling with options
to privatize field inspection
services the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency (CFIA) will drop
in 2014 due to federal government
budget cuts announced in March.
The inspections are part of the
process leading to pedigreed seed
certification.
Last month the Canadian Seed
Growers Association’s (CSGA)
board of directors endorsed the
not-for-profit Canadian Seed Institute’s
plan to replace CFIA as the
exclusive provider of pedigreed
field crop inspections, CSGA executive
director Dale Adolphe told the
Manitoba Seed Growers Association’s
(MSGA) annual meeting Dec.
6.
“From the CSGA’s standpoint
there’s a considerable amount of
work, time, effort and expense
around data management in order
to operate with a multiple number
of (providers)... and the simplest
model for CSGA is one where there
is an exclusive third-party provider
like the CSI model,” Adolphe said.
“In other words really the privatization
of what CFIA is currently doing
rather than a shotgun to (say) 200
service providers or 3,500.”
But some MSGA members are
questioning that approach. Plumas
seed grower Randy Court suggested
competition might better serve
seed growers.
“To me this is the greatest opportunity
in our lifetime to rebuild this
model, to rebuild crop inspection
in Canada and free ourselves from
single-service providers, which has
always been a challenge,” he said.
“So to me we’ve got to open our
minds here and think bigger and
say, ‘can we handle multiple-service
providers, can we change the
way we do inspection in Canada?’
Don’t keep thinking about how
we’re going to replace what we
have, think about how to rebuild
what we have.
Roy van Wyk, executive director
of the Canadian Seed Institute, said
a single provider would be more
Better seed
in so many weighs
Every year, DuPont Pioneer conducts over 1000 large-scale canola,
corn and soybean trials - more than any other seed company in
Western Canada. Ask your local Pioneer Hi-Bred sales rep for details.
www.pioneer.com
During the Manitoba Seed Growers Association’s (MSGA) annual meeting in Brandon Dec. 6 Dale Adolphe (l) of the Canadian Seed
Growers Association and Roy van Wyk (r) of the Canadian Seed Institute (CSI) promoted the idea of CSI taking over as the exclusive
provider of pedigreed crop field inspection from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in 2014. However, some MSGA members
suggested multiple providers would keep costs down and service up. PHOTOS: ALLAN DAWSON
efficient and benefit from economies
of scale. With multiple providers
growers could end up with
several different inspectors resulting
in higher costs. It could also
result in “cherry-picking,” leaving
seed growers with smaller fields in
remote areas without inspectors.
“When you start thinking
through it the model we had with
CFIA was a pretty damn good
model,” Adolphe said. “And the
privatization of that into a single,
exclusive third-party inspection
model is the conclusion that the
board of directors came up with a
couple of weeks ago.”
CSI, created 15 years ago to do
audits and inspections related to
seed and quality control, has five
full-time staff and 28 to 30 contractors.
If it were to take over CFIA’s
field inspections it hopes to contract
most of the 120 casual inspectors
working seasonally for CFIA,
van Wky said.
CSI also proposes joining forces
with AgCall, a firm that hires and
co-ordinates contract employees
to work on agricultural-related
projects to meet its client’s need.
AgCall has 4,000 associates across
Canada and has experience in crop
inspection and auditing.
CFIA is also considering other
replacement options, including
what’s referred to as first-party
inspection and second-party
inspection. Both exist, but on a very
limited basis.
First-party inspection is where a
company is growing its own firstgeneration
seed with in-season
variety verification testing, Adolphe
said. It’s currently done with
the production of hybrid corn and
canola.
Second-party inspection is where
a seed company is the assignee,
seed grower and variety developer.
DuPont Pioneer does this with soybeans
in Ontario and is the only
firm doing it, Adolphe said.
Oak River seed grower Eric
McLean said with the proper training
seed growers could inspect
their own fields, which would be
cheaper and timelier.
But van Wyk said that approach
could undermine the integrity of
the seed certification system.
CSGA is also going to an electronic
system to speed up the certification
process, which could
reduce the turnaround time for
results from three weeks to a few
days.
There isn’t much time — just one
“I want to make
sure the message is
clear — CFIA is not
walking away from
its role in terms of
being Canada’s seed
authority.”
BRIAN LEMON
growing season — to change to the
new system, said Brian Lemon,
director of CFIA’s field crops and
inputs division.
“Getting people on side will be
critical,” he said.
CFIA is getting out of field
inspection of pedigreed crops, but
is still responsible for overseeing
seed certification, he said.
“Certainly we’re not getting out of
this,” Lemon said. “I want to make
sure the message is clear — CFIA
is not walking away from its role
in terms of being Canada’s seed
authority.”
allan@fbcpublishing.com
All purchases are subject to the terms of labelling and purchase documents.
The DuPont Oval Logo is a registered trademark of DuPont.
®, TM, SM Trademarks and service marks licensed to Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited. © 2012 PHL.
The PROVING GROUND.
TM
PR343 PG CPS Weigh.indd 1 04/10/12 3:59 PM