b'Make sure to listen to the full conversation of why you should keep your audience in mind while breeding at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhQMJ-4txhEPlant Breedings Not Just Science, Its a PerformanceWhen you start thinking about your audience, plant breeding changes from a science to an art form.Alex MartinIF YOUVE WORKEDin the world of mar- to eat this food? What are they eating it for, what keting, youll know one of the most importantare they eating it with? How do they prepare it? things to keep in the back of your mind while cre- Knowing a bit more about the reasoning behind ating content is your audience. Without that clearthe variety helps as well.cut picture of who youre marketing or selling to, aFor Wyatt, she also enjoys growing some of the product could flop. varieties at home herself.While audience might not be the first thingI do home gardening and am able to experi-you think of when considering plant breeders, itsence that sort of thingI like to eat at restaurants important for a breeder to keep in mind whomthat source local produce and I like to cook my theyre breeding for as well. own squash, she says. That allows me to be part To think of it as an audience makes me think ofof the system and helps me keep those ideas inter-plant breeding as a performance in a waywhichnalized as Im working.I think it is, says Irwin Goldman, a professor in theAn easy way, besides gardening yourself, to Department of Horticulture at the University ofcollect feedback from your audience, is just to Wisconsin-Madison. Plant breeding is the slowestconnect with them, Goldman says. Theres a lot of of the performing arts!Lindsay Wyatt serves aways breeders can do this, like participating in field For someone like Goldman, that audience cansquash and pumpkindays. Goldmans favorite way to collect feedback is be a little broad.breeder at Johnnysmore nontraditional.For me in the public plant breeding sector,Selected Seeds. Increasingly, we text each other, we talk on the theres a pretty wide range of characters whichphone, we meet at other kinds of events, Goldman includes obviously the farmers and gardeners ofsays. Ive gotten more involved with the culinary the state, he says. But, the kinds of public germ- community, which includes chefs and other food plasm we can create has the potential to grow allprofessionalswe meet at dinners and events, over the world. and its really those conversations that inform the Other breeders, like Johnnys Selected Seedswork were doing. Theres a huge variety of formal Lindsay Wyatt, has a bit more obvious of a scope.and informal channels for that information to get In a lot of cases, I know exactly who my audi- to me, and one of the most effective methods is ence is because we know who buys our seeds,people getting my number off my webpage and Wyatt, a squash and pumpkin breeder at Johnnys,sending me a message.says. Generally, we consider our core customers toForming those connections is critical to help be advanced home gardeners and mixed-marketimmerse yourself in their shoes. But, if youre still growerspeople who sell things through CSAs orhaving trouble picturing your audience, Wyatt rec-through farmers markets. ommends writing down a target profile.Though those audiences might differ in terms ofYou can sit down and think about what your scope, Wyatt and Goldman agree: the most impor- Irwin Goldman is acustomer needs, and then write out all of the traits tant factor is that a breeder is listening to theirprofessor in the like the yield needs to meet or exceed this vari-audience throughout the supply chain. That meansDepartment ofety, it needs to taste good, Wyatt says. Having another consideration falls to the consumer.Horticulture at thethat spelled out when you have some breathing Goldman says its important to ask yourself aUniversity of Wisconsin- room in the winter can be really helpful to have on few questions about the consumers: whos goingMadison. hand when youre making decisions.SW22/ SEEDWORLD.COMINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2023'