Canadian grain Levies/Royalties

[TOM4CWB]

When I can no longer get any more income from the market the next thing I need to do is shave costs. Maybe some of the costs paid for producing certified seed need to fall! Take some of those costs up with the seed grower associations if they're too high. No one cares if the primary producer is profitable as long as everyone supplying goods and services is profitable and can take as much as the market will bear.

How about the entities supplying goods and services make the adjustments for a change? But NO, no one wants to give up anything they've gained and established, well neither do I. How much waste in dead-beat dead-weight employees? How much waste in excessive advertising? How much waste in useless bureaucracy? How about thinner margins and belt tightening like primary producers are forced to do when finances get tight. Don't expect your customers to do anything you won't DO!

I agree Farmaholic
Disruption will occur ; of this there can be little doubt.
If real tangible value is not the result of the administration and present baked in costs of Pedigreed seed ...in the future... as gene technology changes how we provide value...these efficiencies and productivity must add value ...to remain competitive with other countries providing quality products globally...
I do not grow quality planting seed to justify the system that exists today.
The end of this journey is to provide real tangible value to those farmers we serve with quality planting seeds .
EPR collection of Plant Breeder royalty payment appears to provide maximum flexibility to transition new technologies and most efficient future and value solutions.

This therefore is where the end will be required to be...
Therefore your comments are valid and wise people people need to incorporate solutions for valid improvement to how we serve our community.
Cheers and blessings.

[katoe]

Tasf .. yes we have commodity checkoffs but likely less than half goes to research unfortunately because if 90% of it went to research i would leave our money in them.

[TASFarms]

Looks like auzzy’s Like using older varieties so they pay lower epr. I don’t here to many of them using all new varieties.

[westernvicki]

EPR encourages the plant breeder to populate the variety, for this reason, the Australian system supports "Brown bagging" with breeder applied rules.

The farmer negotiation in Canada to define a better process is limp and ill defined: the process of testing varieties and providing data to farmers is insufficient. While Canada must remain competitive in the world, adding more costs without a direct link with varietal testing data it is just more cost. The last thing we need in the globally competitive environment we are catapulting into, is higher costs with no obvious gain. And it looks like the course we are on, as no producer groups have stepped up to negotiate the terms required to add millions of dollars in royalties to the costs of producing crops in Canada.

As for the seed grower, we are seed growers, on our farm the single largest benefit we have had from growing seed is varietal awareness: picking the varieties and crops that give you incremental income gain either by yield, quality, harvest management and market penetration. And as a rule, shouldering the cost of kicking those out that look good in the book but perform shitty in the field (which is why better data is essential to supporting greater expense).


Jag Farms provided an awesome summary; the cost of failed lots of seed is never cheap, but ever present.

[malleefarmer]

"So in a nutshell forcing us to pay for mediocre seed that doesn’t create a whole lot more value."

Im a simpleton well dont grow the new seed if you dont think its gonna perform simple as that or again am i missing something.

Again not exactly sure of numbers but lets say there are 10 new wheat in australia for 2019 most are only equal to previous best or maybe 1 or 2% higher but may have other superior traits.

None of them turn me on so will continue to grow my 5 year wheat but will get a coupla tonne to bulk up again to have clean seed for 2020 simple as that.

If my neighbours try new ones and turn out ok will either get new seed from cert seed grower or get some from my neighbour and pay full epr at point of sale in the future 2020 or 2021 depending on how much i get if i do.

Obviously this logic/system dont work in western canada.

[Oliver88]

Thx nice break down. My question is why are seed growers so pro EPR. If farmers end up paying EPR on bin run won't they just elect to use more of their own bin run seed rather than from seed grower at current prices as long as germ and vigor is there.

Will the result in lost sales be more or less than the system today including the small amount of brown bag seed sold from farmer to farmer.

This is the big question.
Why haven’t we heard any seed farmers speaking out against a seed tax?

The optics are very bad.

[seldomseen]

So the new "rules" are trying to stop you from using farmer saved seed each year?
Still grappling with main contentious issue?

Someone give it me in 2 easy to read and understand australian sentences

I am not sure if you got the easy answer yet Malle.

No they are not trying to stop us from using farm saved seed they just want us to pay a royalty on farmed saved seed.

[TOM4CWB]

"So in a nutshell forcing us to pay for mediocre seed that doesn’t create a whole lot more value."

Im a simpleton well dont grow the new seed if you dont think its gonna perform simple as that or again am i missing something.

Again not exactly sure of numbers but lets say there are 10 new wheat in australia for 2019 most are only equal to previous best or maybe 1 or 2% higher but may have other superior traits.

None of them turn me on so will continue to grow my 5 year wheat but will get a coupla tonne to bulk up again to have clean seed for 2020 simple as that.

If my neighbours try new ones and turn out ok will either get new seed from cert seed grower or get some from my neighbour and pay full epr at point of sale in the future 2020 or 2021 depending on how much i get if i do.

Obviously this logic/system dont work in western canada.

Mallee
Your Australia EPR system would work in western Canada. 70% of Cereal plant breeding is public and 30% private. Yes we would have to change some of our traditional planting seed culture... but if we change for the better... take the best benefits of the EPR system with some Western Canadian tweeks... this could be the best of all Worlds in the outcome.The eastern Canadian seed system functions like Canola with corn and soybeans being the driver of the seed system with private breeding being primarily closed loop production plant breeding systems... so changes needed are primarily for Western Canada Cereal and Pulse varietal development.

[MBgrower]

Who in their right mind advocates for higher costs for their business?

I truly believe nothing will improve for primary producers. In time all we will see is an additional cost, initially maybe $2-5/acre and later with the possibility of having to buy new seed every year, who knows maybe up to $25-40/acre, pick a number...it will be what ever the market will bear.

Stop treating grain producers like "shooting fish in a barrel"!

i guess those who get a farm handed to them for nothing dont mind paying higher costs. seems to be a common theme amongst the proponents.

[sawfly1]

Oh it sounds all wonderful

But it will be bait and switch.
Get the collection system in place.
You Do not want to scare them off before it is law.
Lay the groundwork.
Run the rest of the breeders out of business.
The next conservative govt .
Will axe public breeding.
Then it is time to adjust the rates.
Guess what direction?

A canola repeat , just now every
Crop will cost 80$/acre for seed.

about political clout.
The seed business will soon
Be making more money than renting
Out all the land in western Canada..
(TALK about the politicians following the money)

It will not be those dumb ass farmers with the money .
We will not count.

Believe all the bull if you
Want.
Remember the one about the RRs
Hauling all your grain. If they got full compensatory rates.

Same folks selling it .
Same old shit.
Same fools buying in

[furrowtickler]

Oh it sounds all wonderful

But it will be bait and switch.
Get the collection system in place.
You Do not want to scare them off before it is law.
Lay the groundwork.
Run the rest of the breeders out of business.
The next conservative govt .
Will axe public breeding.
Then it is time to adjust the rates.
Guess what direction?

A canola repeat , just now every
Crop will cost 80$/acre for seed.

about political clout.
The seed business will soon
Be making more money than renting
Out all the land in western Canada..
(TALK about the politicians following the money)

It will not be those dumb ass farmers with the money .
We will not count.

Believe all the bull if you
Want.
Remember the one about the RRs
Hauling all your grain. If they got full compensatory rates.

Same folks selling it .
Same old shit.
Same fools buying in

Unfortunately you may be very correct.

[macdon02]

This is the first attempt at claiming any and all gains in efficiency a producer makes. Grow more, pay more. Pretty good gig if you can get it. Time to redo the model. We've reached peak grain production. If you make efficiency gains with better nitrogen use, a better planter, more equipment, the seed company gets a cut. They claim royalty on nothing they even developed.