b'Percentage-wise, I think there it was a high turnout on the no side. It tells me a lot of the seed growers who would have voted yes didnt turn out to vote.Seeking a Path ForwardCSTA President Ellen Sparry notes that while its disap-pointing the CSGA has voted against the merger, the CSTA, CSI, CPTA and CSAAC will proceed with amalga-mation to become one new, national organization.Pending board and membership approval, Seeds Canada will become a new entity in February 2021.Sparry says the goal is for Seeds Canadas membership to include national and provincial seed associations, as well as seed growers from across the country. Growers play an integral role in the seed system, and Seeds Canada needs their involvement to succeed, sheRenee Hoyme is president of theShannon Bieman is president said. Alberta Seed Growers. of the Ontario Seed Growers The four partners are working on creating a newAssociation.Seeds Canada ratification package to undertake a new membership vote before the end of 2020. The ratificationtheres a conflict there because that was the reason the package was slated to be released by the end of October. CSGA board endorsed the proposal to become part of The goal, Sparry adds, is to ensure that members andSeeds Canadathe need to unite our industry and stakeholders, including seed growers, will see value in theensure the seed grower voice is at the table and is heard. new amalgamation package. We really have to hear from the members as to what they Provincial seed grower groups like the Alberta Seedthink CSGA needs to be.Growers are waiting for direction from the national CSGAAccording to Chanceywho recently announced board to determine where they go from here. his departure from CSGA come Feb. 1, 2021its key Were still intertwined if we amalgamate or if weto recognize any changes CSGA makes to itself will need dont. It cant go back to the way it was; we simply haveto factor in compatibility down the road with the other to move forward and progress. We will still have a rela- partners.tionship; its just figuring out what that looks like, Hoyme says. Different WorldviewsGlyn Chancey, executive director of the CSGA, says aFinding that compatibility might prove challenging, shared vision for seed system renewal and modernizationaccording to Lorne Hadley. The executive director of the can be found in the Seed Synergy White Paper.Canadian Plant Technology Agency says two competing We will have to dust ourselves off and focus onideologies have long been present within the seed grower those areas of the paper where there is the highest levelcommunitythose who feel seed growers must distin-of consensus. The fact that the CFIAs Seed Regulatoryguish themselves from the seed trade and those who see Modernization initiative has now begun in earnest willlittle difference between the two.help us, he says.Both worldviews are valid, but extremely difficult to For CSGA this will mean focusing on our digital certi- bridge, Hadley says.fication strengths and emerging professional developmentShannon Bieman, president of the Ontario Seed program, with a laser focus on enhancing the value theGrowers Association, says a major challenge will be fos-pedigreed seed system brings to the seed industry andtering unity among seed growers and the industry at large its customers. Growers and other value chain stakehold- as the pieces get picked up and things move ahead in the ers will come together out of necessitypartnerships willcoming months.continue to be essential to success. In the interim, we willWell never make a stronger seed system in Canada if continue to wrestle with who we are for a while yet. we dont have unity, even if that means seed growers stay McLean agrees that his national seed association isas their own separate entity, she says.currently struggling to determine its identity. McLean says determining a path forward will involve a Seed growers who want to wear a farmer-only hatlot of tough decisions.and feel seed growers interests must come first are in aThe no vote was very damaging to seed grower tough spot, because you often see those same seed grow- morale and has created factions within the CSGA. How ers take to Twitter to promote various partnerships theydo we rectify that going forward? It wont be easy. There have with retailers and seed companies. We cant havewas a lot of trepidation created by the no side and we it both wayseither were part of the bigger picture ordont know how much damage has been done in that were not, he says. regard, he says. CSGA is not an advocacy group, its a seed certifica- Right now, Im busy with harvest. Come November, tion body. Maybe that will change now, but if it does.we all have to put pen to paper and see where we get. 8GERMINATION.CANOVEMBER 2020'