With a new AI-powered verification platform, Blue Tag Solutions is laying the groundwork for real-time identification, automated quality checks, and fully digital seed traceability.
In a sector governed by rigorous standards, legacy systems, and seasonal pressures, innovation is a constant pursuit. Doug Miller, executive director of the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association (CSGA), believes the sector is on the cusp of a fundamental shift — one that requires new thinking, new tools, and a new structure.
That’s why CSGA has created Blue Tag Solutions, a separately incorporated subsidiary with a bold mandate: build entirely new value streams on top of the certified seed system.
The company, announced at the Interprovincial Seed Growers’ Meeting in Ottawa in November, may be young, but its ambitions are anything but modest.
“We have an ambitious vision for what the future looks like,” Miller says. “Blue Tag Solutions gives us a place to turn that vision into action.”
Turning Seed Into Machine-Readable Data
Blue Tag Solutions’ first initiative is an agreement with ZoomAgri, an Argentinian ag-tech firm known for its machine-learning varietal identification tools. Its tabletop device can analyze 500 grams of seed in roughly three minutes, identifying the variety using high-speed, 360-degree image capture and AI-driven pattern detection.
For Canada, the first opportunity lies in training the system on Canadian wheat varieties — a dataset that has never been fully digitized.
Miller sees this not as a novelty, but as foundational infrastructure for the future.
“This is about building new value on top of the work we already do,” he said. “It’s an enabler. A foundation other parts of the sector can innovate from.”
A Value Layer the Seed System Has Never Had Before
The ZoomAgri project is designed to not just bridge a gap in digitalization but to build practical tools that directly support the seed and grain sectors, including:
- Assisting CSGA’s certification work and helping to reduce risk
- Reducing testing costs (e.g., midge tolerant wheat)
- Strengthening Identity-Preserved (IP) programs
- Creating new Intellectual Property (IP) tools for breeders and seed companies
- Facilitating new value-added opportunities for growers, marketers, and processors built on timely, identity-assured data
In a world where testing is expensive, timelines are tight, and global supply chains demand ever-higher integrity, Blue Tag Solutions is positioning itself as a practical, data-driven antidote.
Why CSGA Built a New Company — Not Just a Program
Miller is clear: Blue Tag Solutions had to be independent.
“This needed to be more agile than a traditional standards body,” he explains. “We need the freedom to partner, test, commercialize, and iterate quickly.”
By creating a standalone corporation, CSGA has effectively built a startup inside a 120-year-old system and one capable of forming private-sector tech partnerships, developing commercial offerings, testing new digital tools, generating value beyond certification, and experimenting with new approaches without regulatory drag.
The message: modernization cannot wait for regulation. Innovation must lead, not follow.
Looking Ahead: Wheat Today, Pulses and Soybeans Tomorrow
While Blue Tag Solutions is starting with wheat, the roadmap is far broader.
ZoomAgri already works with soybeans, barley, and pulses in global markets. Miller hinted that pulses could be next in Canada and the long-term vision includes a cross-crop Canadian digital identity dataset.
“The implications are massive, ranging from faster, more cost-effective quality assurance and stronger IP enforcement in high-value crops to the creation of new identity-preserved models built around real-time verification,” Miller says.
The technology also opens the door to future interoperability with emerging digital traceability systems, ultimately giving both the seed and grain sectors a far more modernized, data-driven toolbox to work with.
