Grainswest - Spring 2025

Spring 2025 Grains West 34 FEATURE B uilt on strong variety development, Canadian grain has a solid reputation for high quality. However, industry experts increasingly warn this has been put at risk by waning investment, a cumbersome variety registration process and plant breeders’ rights that are often criticized as weak. Funded almost entirely by government grants and farmer check-off dollars, the wheat and barley varieties developed by public breeding programs produce serious dividends for farmers. This has resulted in little support for private sector growth. While dollars available for private breeding have been limited, government funding for public programs has been tenuous at best. The federal government continues to withdraw support even though a private sector backstop doesn’t exist. Private breeders complain the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act doesn’t ensure adequate return on investment. As a result, all but one major player have left the marketplace. Private breeders describe the variety registration process by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as onerous and say it stymies innovation rather than cultivates competition. These issues must be addressed, they believe, and the playing field levelled between public and private breeding to secure Canada’s ongoing leadership in world grain production. As public system fades, private development calls escalate BY MELANIE EPP LEAD PHOTO COURTESY OF FARMING SMARTER ISBREEDINGBROKEN? Downstream from crop development activities, Farming Smarter conducts small-plot research.