b"ITS TIME TO DO THISThose who were there at the beginning say discussions about uniting ourindustry must finally turn to action. Marc ZienkiewiczFOR JEFF REID,great ideas often beginTrade Association (CSTA), Canadian on the back of a napkin. Plant Technology Agency (CPTA) It was around eight years ago thatand the Commercial Seed Analysts he remembers having his first talkAssociation of Canada (CSAAC).about what a single National SeedAccording to the ratification pack-Organization (NSO) would look like. age revealed in June on seedsynergy.I was at an informal lunch meet- net, the proposed NSO will be called ing with Peter Entz in Winnipeg priorSeeds Canada.to Peters term as president of theI think everyones put enough Canadian Seed Trade Association,time and effort and thought into this says Reid, general manager for SeCan.that Im feeling confident we will Leading up to that point, peopleget to ratification, Reid says. I dont like Peter, Dale Adolphe and Pattythink any of us should be surprised Townsend had been talking aboutJeff Reid is general manager of SeCan,that its taking time and theres a lot our industry coming together into oneCanada's largest supplier of certified seed. of soul searching going into this, but national seed organization of someI believe it will happen.kind. A lot of us thought it was a great idea. It was that back-of-the-napkinGrowers vs. Tradediscussion that is my earliest memoryReid describes what the 1980s were of talking about what we know todaylike for SeCan, which is Canadas as Seed Synergy. largest supplier of certified seed. The Seed Synergy CollaborationSeCan had four times as many Project is our industrys attempt tomembers as we have today, but we create a NSO, something it is now onnow do far more business and move the brink of doing as discussions con- more seed with a quarter of the tinue and ratification packages are final- member companies. Its representa-ized by association boards before beingtive of the degree of consolidation presented to members. Our five dedi- across the industry. Youre continually cated associations make up the Seedservicing a smaller group of constitu-Synergy projectthe Canadian Seedents and they are becoming similar in Growers Association (CSGA), CanadianPeter Entz serves as assistant vice-presidenttheir nature and structure.Seed Institute (CSI), Canadian Seedseed and traits for Richardson. That change represents a shift in 6GERMINATION.CAJULY 2020"