Recent federal cuts have led to the closure of key research facilities across Canada. For plant breeding — an industry built on continuity and long-term investment — that’s not just a budget story. It’s a question about what the next model looks like, and who builds it.
Doug Miller on What’s at Stake for Canadian Plant Breeding
Doug Miller of the Canadian Seed Growers Association joins Episode 4 from a grocery store aisle — an intentional backdrop. Nine of every ten bites of food start with a seed. The location makes the stakes impossible to ignore.
“If public and private roles must evolve, what does the next model look like?” Miller reflects on the systems that have historically supported plant breeding in Canada and what it will take to move from what worked to what’s needed now.
When the Status Quo Is No Longer an Option
The closure of federal research facilities doesn’t happen in isolation. It accelerates a pressure already building across the Canadian seed sector: shrinking public investment in variety testing, pre-competitive breeding research, and the regional programs that serve crops and geographies where private returns are thin.
The concern isn’t just what’s being lost today. It’s what won’t exist in a decade because the foundational work stopped now.
Episode 4 surfaces the questions the industry needs to answer — without pretending there are easy ones.
Subscribe To On The Brink
We’ll deliver a new episode each week, right to your inbox, representing diverse voices and perspectives from across Canada’s plant breeding and agricultural innovation ecosystem.
More Episodes
What Is ‘On The Brink’?
On the Brink delivers weekly video episodes bringing together farmers, breeders, researchers, and others across the industry to share their perspectives on crop innovation. The goal is to spark an open, multi-perspective, ongoing conversation about the science, partnerships, and long-term investment underpinning Canadian agriculture.
We need your help to grow and evolve this conversation!
- Nominate individuals you think should be part of this video series.. Know someone who would add to the conversation? Email us at OnTheBrink@seedworldgroup.com
- Help expand the conversation by liking and sharing weekly episodes across LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and Facebook.
