b'staff and customers can check by themselves the vigourTimely Paperworkindex of each field during all seasons, all developmen- Mario Schindler, executive director at ANPROS, stresses tal stages, etc. We have also improved our informationthat as COVID-19 has delaying logistics all over the world, system in order to give our customers full transparencyas an association, we have been transmitting the con-and the most updated information. cept that everything must be done more in advance than usual. Sending the seed as soon as possible to Chile is Travelling via the Milk Run one of the main challenges, as well as all the planning Like 20/20 Seed Labs, HyTech Production near Lethbridge,must be done. We have been working with our authorities Alta., has had operations in Chile for years, in this casein order to implement different actions for speeding up a subsidiary business, since 2006. Kevin McNaughton,every process regarding seed movement, such as a joint HyTechs production manager, says that in a normal year,working group thats monitoring every single potential some Canadian staff generally arrive in September and stayproblem. until mid-February.ANPROS and a joint working group it formed with Relating to their roughly 30 Chilean employees,Chiles ag ministry (ANPROS-SAG) are in constant com-McNaughton explained in late October that Chile has amunication with customs authorities, for example.very high infection rate, and strict lockdowns are still in place. Our employees carry passports that show they are essential workers. This allows them to travel throughout our production regions, but its necessary to show your paperwork at multiple checkpoints. This really slows things down.Like most firms who do counter-season production in Chile, HyTech ships seed to Chile in late summer for planting and back to Canada after harvest in February. However, this summer air cargo space was, not surpris-ingly, hard to find. While McNaughton explains that we ended up finding a solution that was more straightforward than what we thought it would be, straightforward is a word that would never be applied to the outcome under normal circumstances. Indeed, HyTechs seed was shipped to Chile this summer on milk run flights that first went to Europe and then on to Argentina and still other countries before arriving in Chile. In late October, the HyTech team was already looking to book container space for February20/20 Seed Labs first established a lab in Chile in 2008.2021, making other plans as they can, hoping for the best. Like Curimapu Export, HyTech has customers whoANPROS has submitted inquiries regarding travel normally like to visit Chile and see firsthand how theirrestrictions and how the seed community can deal with crops are doing.these and has been working on making it possible for At this point, weve had our staff in Chile take somerequired personnel to be able to enter the country. videos of the newly-planted fields and were working onANPROS is also working with authorities to digitize the getting some drone footage, McNaughton reported. Ourpaperwork related to seed movement for seed certifica-customers trust us, but they value seeing the fields fortion and phytosanitary certification. Chile already has the themselves. In the future, once travel is back to normal, Ie-Phyto (electronic phytosanitary certificate) system in think our customers will want to resume trips to Chile. Agplace with many countries, including the U.S., EU countries people always like to have their boots on the ground. Weand Argentina; Schindler notes that we have had some will have to see how much value we get from drone andmeetings with the Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA) satellite imagery as the season progresses. Its also niceregarding this matter, and e-Phyto with Canada is already for them and some of our staff to escape the Canadianbeing addressed with Canadian authorities. winter and enjoy a little bit of the Chilean summer. Nicols Sahli, CEO at Chilean agricultural firm CIS McNaughton says that with drone and possibly satelliteAgro, says ANPROS has done a great job coordinat-imagery, with internet bandwidth growing and allowinging with customs, SAG and other Chilean authorities to longer videos to be shared, HyTech may re-think how itexpedite the movements of seed and moving to electronic operates in Chile in the future. A lot of that is becausedocumentation continues. His advice to his Canadian we have trusted, experienced employees, McNaughtoncounterparts echoes that of Schindler. says. However, there will never be a substitute for physi- Act in advance, Sahli says. Plan more and be rigor-cally being in the field. ous with documentation to avoid [mistakes]. JANUARY 2021 GERMINATION.CA 23'