It’s not a good idea to make sweeping generalizations based on discussions at one farm meeting.
However, results of a debate at the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers annual meeting in Saskatoon last week do seem to indicate farmers are getting more comfortable with paying royalties on seed, though attendees might not interpret the meeting in quite that way.
The 40-minute debate, which grew heated at times, was about a resolution that said “pulse varieties funded fully or partially by levy payers will not have variety use agreements attached.”
The debate appeared to be a concerted effort by some to take aim at a research agreement SPG signed with Limagrain in 2022.
In return for farmer check-off funding from SPG, Limagrain agreed to develop new lentil and pea varieties, for which the seed company would charge royalties and share some of the revenue with SPG.
The deal replaced a longstanding funding agreement between the pulse group and the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre, under which the varieties developed were royalty free.
The U of S ended this agreement a few years ago, and SPG eventually formed a new research partnership with Limagrain.
But the addition of variety use agreements has stuck in the craw of many farmers accustomed to funding the development of royalty-free varieties; thus efforts at the recent SPG meeting to turn back the clock.
While the campaign might be seen as a sign of farmer dissatisfaction with the new arrangement, the resolution was narrowly defeated.
It wasn’t a ringing endorsement of variety use agreements, but the resolution’s defeat could indicate the needle is moving on farmers’ acceptance of paying seed royalties.
Both sides of this debate make valid points.
It is galling for farmers to pay checkoffs that fund research to produce varieties for which they must then pay a royalty.
That hurts. But what is the alternative?
By all accounts, the SPG was unable to find another company willing to develop royalty-free varieties once its agreement ended with the U of S.
Crop research is expensive. It is also vital for farmers’ continuing success.
Much of what they do starts with seed. Even disease protection starts with genetics. The business of farming could be crippled if it doesn’t get some of its nastiest crop diseases under control.
However, as important as this work is, governments have been exiting their previous role in new variety development, leaving the space open for the private sector.
And the private sector, in turn, must be profitable to stay in the game. It’s why SPG reached the agreement it did with Limagrain.
That’s not to suggest farmers have no say in the process when they fund varietal research. They must ensure their commodity groups continue to retain enough clout to guide variety development in members’ best interests.
It’s understandable to yearn for the days when crop varieties were developed by government researchers and variety use agreements were unknown, or at least unfamiliar.
Those days are disappearing.
The new reality is that crop breeding is gradually becoming a private enterprise, and that likely means extra costs.
In the end, farmers will decide what kind of research agreements they want to reach with crop breeders.
Last week’s meeting in Saskatoon may have given the sector a better idea of the direction they might be taking.
Karen Briere, Bruce Dyck, Barb Glen, Michael Robin, Robin Booker and Laura Rance collaborate in the writing of Western Producer editorials.
