Lauren Benoit spent two years exploring how other countries move agricultural research from the lab to the field. As a Nuffield Canada scholar, she visited 11 countries on six continents to understand what helps research become something farmers can actually use.
She returned with ideas for Canadian plant breeding, an appreciation for Canada’s reputation abroad and a clear message: we have plenty to learn, but we also need to get moving.
In Season 3, Episode 8 of On The Brink, Benoit shares why Canada needs a breeding system built for its own farmers and breeders, and why that doesn’t mean we can’t borrow a few ideas.
Canada has a strong reputation to protect
One thing stood out to Benoit during her travels: Canadian agriculture has a strong reputation internationally.
The quality and volume of what Canada produces earned respect abroad. But she cautions against assuming that reputation will carry itself forward.
“We can’t just kind of sit back and rest on a reputation and hope that it continues for the foreseeable future,” she says.
Maintaining that standing takes continued effort, funding and investment. For Benoit, the discussion about plant breeding comes back to whether Canada is supporting the work that will keep delivering improvements for growers.
A Canadian plant breeding system can borrow good ideas
Benoit doesn’t see a perfect system Canada can simply copy.
Breeding programs develop around a country’s growing conditions, politics and agricultural industry. Something that works well elsewhere still needs to make sense for the farmers and breeders here.
“You can’t just pick one up and pull it into Canada,” she says.
That leaves plenty of room to learn from individual pieces of other systems. Australia offered one example through its Grains Research and Development Corporation, or GRDC.
GRDC invests in research, development and extension, with funding coming primarily from grower levies and Australian government contributions. Its work includes helping research translate into practical improvements for grain growers.
What caught Benoit’s attention was the coordination: an umbrella organization that could bring different parts of the sector together and support the work of getting research into farmers’ hands.
“Something like that would help solve a lot of the fragmentation that we have here,” she says.
The lesson for Canada is to look closely at what makes those connections work, then consider how to adapt them to our own system.
Waiting for the perfect answer carries a cost
Changing a breeding system means making decisions with consequences that will stretch well into the future. Benoit recognizes the challenge, but she also sees a risk in continuing to wait.
“I think in the position we’re in right now, not making a choice and continuing to stall would cause a greater negative impact than trying to do something and learning from it and iterating.”
Her argument is that Canada can make a decision, learn from the results and adapt along the way. Waiting for every question to be settled could leave growers and breeders further behind.
Growers will pay for breeding one way or another
For farmers, Benoit says, the cost of breeding shows up one way or another.
It can come through an investment that gives growers the opportunity to capture a return. Or it can come later, through yield gains they never receive because the system wasn’t there to support them.
Those missed gains may never appear on an invoice, but they still represent production a farm could have benefited from.
Benoit sees a choice between supporting innovation and leaving Canadian growers to catch up. That is why she believes continued investment and a willingness to act belong in the same conversation.
Canada needs a solution that works for its own farmers and breeders. There’s no reason we can’t borrow good ideas to help build it.
Subscribe To On The Brink
On the Brink is a cross-country storytelling project about plant breeding in Canada. The goal is to spark an open, multi-perspective, ongoing conversation about what’s possible, what’s at stake, and how to seize opportunities ahead. On the Brink releases new episodes every Wednesday. Watch Episode 6 featuring Andrew Campbell and subscribe to have future episodes delivered directly to your inbox.
More Episodes
Be Part of this Conversation
We need your help to grow and evolve this conversation!
- Nominate individuals you think should be part of the On the Brink 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.
