The impact of farmer-funded barley and wheat breeding programs was demonstrated in two studies that quantified the benefits of those investments over the past 25 years. For barley, western Canadian farmers have received nearly $26 in return through varietal improvements for every dollar they invested in barley breeding. For wheat, farmers realized $33 in return for every dollar invested. Read more about the impact of farmer funding on variety development:
We will continue our investments in variety development for all the crop types we represent, in collaboration with our key partners, to benefit our farmer members.
MCA will engage in consultations on any new model(s) or mechanism(s) of value creation with a focus on varieties developed with farmer member funding. Any proposed value-creation model involving royalties (existing or new) will be judged using the following principles:
- MCA desires that any value-creation model or mechanism must allow for a return on investment for farmer members’ dollars invested in plant breeding. It must also allow for accountability, transparency and a voice in how those dollars are reinvested in plant breeding.
- For public plant breeding programs, royalty revenue generated cannot replace or erode federal or provincial funding; it should instead add/increase government financial support.
- Where varieties or hybrids were developed with farmer members’ dollars, royalty revenue must support those breeding programs by directly returning collected royalties to the breeding programs and not into general revenue of the institution. Royalty revenue must directly contribute to the breeding programs to ensure adequate resources are available to breed and finish varieties that meet the merit requirements (i.e., disease, agronomic and quality) of the variety registration system, as required by crop type.
- Where varieties or hybrids were developed with farmer members’ dollars in partnership with public or private institutions, total value of royalties collected, and the distribution of royalties, must be reported to ensure transparency and to determine effectiveness of royalty collection in creating value.
- Where varieties or hybrids were developed using farmer members’ dollars, by MCA or through the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition (CWRC) or Canadian Barley Research Coalition (CBRC), they will enter into commercialization agreements and negotiate a share of the royalties to be controlled by MCA, the CWRC or the CBRC.
- MCA will play a role in selecting the commercialization partner for any varieties or hybrids developed using farmer members’ dollars. MCA will not play a role in the actual marketing of the varieties or hybrids developed under any agreements but will seek out collaborative partnerships.
- For MCA to clearly communicate progress and success of any value-creation model in funding plant breeding, and provide accountability to our membership, it will be critical that metrics are clearly defined and tabulated. These metrics would be used to measure progress and success. Metrics should include total dollars invested and whether those dollars are additive, increased yield of new varieties, number of registered varieties, and number of acres seeded to new varieties.
- Any value-creation model must protect a farmer’s right to save their own seed for crop types such as wheat, barley and flax, as per intellectual property protection laws in Canada for seeds and technology. MCA acknowledges that depending on the value creation model and any intellectual property laws/contracts implemented, there may be restrictions and/or a cost associated with the reseeding of farmer-saved seed.
- Concerning publicly bred varieties that were developed using farmer members’ dollars, MCA will seek clarification on the process for variety cancellation and variety reclassification. MCA requires a review of the process for variety cancellation and reclassification to understand the stakeholders and their roles in the process, and to advocate for farmers’ voice to be heard in variety cancellation or variety reclassification.
Past consultations
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducted engagement sessions in 2018 and 2019 around value creation to discuss changes to the way new varieties of wheat, barley and other Canadian crops are developed in Canada. Below are presentations that were made at the various consultations:
Under the consultation, AAFC and CFIA proposed two models for evaluation: end-point royalties and a royalty collection enabled via contracts.
At the Grains Roundtable meeting in March 2020, a decision was made by AAFC and CFIA to end the formal consultation surrounding value creation.
Previous reports on producer involvement in funding
In 2012, producers commissioned a study with Garven and Associates on producer involvement in variety finishing and funding mechanisms:
In fall 2014, a producer working group facilitated by Western Grains Research Foundation was formed to investigate options for producer involvement in wheat and barley variety development.
The following reports were generated:
Variety use agreement
In fall 2018, Seeds Canada voiced support of a trailing royalty system enabled by “Seed Variety Use Agreements.” In February 2020, Seeds Canada launched the SVUA pilot project to evaluate how the seed variety use agreement (SVUA) could potentially work. More information on the SVUA pilot project and the varieties included in the program can be found at the link below
Advocacy Partners: Grain Growers of Canada
