Senft will continue to serve as CEO until the end of January 2026.

“I think after five years, it’s time for new leadership,” he said during the 2025 Seeds Canada conference in Quebec City.

He said someone with more seeds experience would make sense now that the organization is up and running.

Agriculture sector veteran

Seeds Canada was formed about five years ago in an amalgamation between the Canadian Plant Technology Agency, the Commercial Seed Analysts Association of Canada, the Canadian Seed Institute and the Canadian Seed Trade Association.

Senft has had numerous roles in the agriculture sector over his career, but several of them have been managing newly merged organizations. He oversaw the newly merged Grain Farmers of Ontario organization previous to his work at Seeds Canada.

“This is pretty big news for us,” said Brent Collins, president of Seeds Canada.

He thanked Senft and said the organization will have six months for him to finish up some of the projects he’s working on.

Seed modernization

Senft led Seeds Canada through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s seed act modernization process, now five years into the process. A position paper with proposals for act changes is expected any day. There will be more consultations yet before the changes are posted in the Canada Gazette.

He says five years is a long time, and a lot of staff time has gone into the process.

“We’ll see what the end result is.”

He said despite moving some rules governing seeds from legislation to regulation, which can be changed more easily, the CFIA still retains control over many of the seed sector rules and processes.

The larger organization has more resources to react to issues in the sector.

Senft says the founding organizations are better together as Seeds Canada and points to the recent challenges around tariffs as an example. Previously, the smaller organizations would have had to go outside their offices to get the expertise needed to manage the tariff threats. Now they have access to those assets.

“We’ve been able to have the resources in place to be able to analyze that and advise our members accordingly.”

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“This recommendation, approved in principle by the Boards of Directors of both organizations, is designed to improve communication and collaboration between the seed sector, the broader value chain, and government,” CSGA said in a March 31 post on its website.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) launched the seed regulatory modernization process in September 2020, and has rolled out a series of surveys and consultations with seed companies and growers, farmers, breeders and other members of the value chain.

CSGA said the advisory committee would serve as a structured forum for discussion and information exchange on matters related to the ongoing modernization. It wouldn’t have governing power, fiduciary responsibilities or the ability to set standards.

“Providing a dedicated venue for engagement would help ensure that policy and regulatory matters are addressed through a timely, balanced, and inclusive approach,” CSGA said.

Seeds Canada and CSGA have sent a joint statement to the CFIA encouraging the agency to accept the proposal. CSGA will keep members appraised of developments, the organization said.

In October, the CFIA released the results of its third round of industry and expert consultations. According to the CFIA’s website, it’s currently in consultation with First Nations and Indigenous communities on their perspectives and priorities.

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“Using an experimental approach to co-develop recommendations for change takes time in order to bring a diverse set of stakeholders together to reach consensus,” the agency said in a statement.

“The CFIA appreciates the collaboration and involvement of numerous engaged stakeholders and is proud of the progress made to date together.”

This is the third round of consultations. The first, a needs assessment survey, was done in 2021.

The winter 2024 survey received feedback from 412 respondents, including seed growers, seed companies, farmers, farm organizations, commodity groups, academics, and others.

Here are a few of the responses according today’s “What we heard” report.

More than 60 per cent of respondents said that the seed certification system would be improved if the Canadian Seed Growers Association took on some seed certification tasks currently done by the CFIA.

Common themes among responses were that the CSGA has reliably administered the national seed crop certification program and has demonstrated it can take on more tasks.

Respondents also broadly agreed that current requirements, which don’t subject sellers of common seed to additional rules, should be kept as-is.

Some said that seed sellers are mindful of their reputations, and this—combined with buyers’ due diligence—is a sufficient safeguard.

Responses were mixed on a proposal to establish an advisory committee overseeing ongoing improvement of the seed system. Some said the time commitment would exclude farmers from participating. Others were only in favor of the committee if a balance of representation from across the supply chain could be guaranteed.

Stakeholders were also unsure about a proposal to require all seed types to be tested by an officially accredited lab as this could increase cost to growers. Others said that the accredited lab system would ensure replicable results, giving more assurance of seed quality.

In the report summary, the CFIA noted that common seed of small-seeded crops like alfalfa and canola already require testing in officially recognized labs.

The majority of respondents were not supportive of a proposal to allow seed registrants to cancel varieties on their own request when there are no safety concerns. A common objection was that this would reduce farmer choice and reduce the marketability of grain from that variety.

However, some said cancellation decisions are not be made arbitrarily and should be allowed.

Additional feedback included that digitalization of the system would increase efficiency and efficacy; that membership on an advisory committee should not be by ministerial appointment; and that the CFIA should retain enough expertise and enough practical experience in the seed program so it doesn’t lose its capacity to oversee it.

The CFIA said it anticipates that it will release a policy paper in 2025 which will summarize the major changes it plans to make.

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Todd Hyra can’t speak for the entire grain industry, but as far as SeCan is concerned, its western business manager says there’s no such thing as a “Version 2.0” of any of the varieties it distributes.

“By the time a new variety lands with us it’s been through eight to 10 years of trials and then through the registration system for three years. And so we’re already 12 years into a variety’s development process,” said Hyra at Ag in Motion 2024, held July 16-18 near Langham, Saskatchewan.

It’s farmer seed growers that make the call as to whether a variety is going to work or not, he said.

“The real magic in our system is the fact that our seed growers will multiply those for two more years under full-on field conditions. They’ll grow them with commercial equipment on their land in the area where they’re going to be sold.”

“And so it’s our farmer seed growers that are the ones that grow, process and sell these varieties locally that provide the final proof. And if they work for them on their farm those last two, three years of production, then the bugs are pretty much out.”

That doesn’t mean a variety is perfect, but it’s been through such a rigourous process that it’s as perfect as it’s going to get, said Hyra.

“There’s always an environmental curveball that will come your way that you may not see coming; some disease or something that you might not have ever expected,” he said.

“But for the most part, it’s that last three years of full-on commercial production by a local seed grower that provides the proof. And if they don’t work for the seed growers, they’ll quite often kill off a variety before they’re ever going to go commercial. If they like it, then their customers can be assured that it’s going to work in their area.”

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Corteva will cut 51 positions from a Woodland, California facility, run by its Pioneer Hi-Bred International subsidiary, that supplied Europe and Russia markets, according to California’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) data last week.

“Corteva is concluding its plan to stop production and business activities in Russia, and because we have enough sunflower production capacity in Europe for the European market, we no longer need the additional production capacity at the Woodland location,” the company said in an email, without mentioning the number of jobs affected.

Relocating commercial sunflower seed production to Europe for European customers will reduce costs, Corteva added.

The layoffs show ripple effects from corporate decisions to quit Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Corteva said in April it would withdraw from Russia. In September, it announced plans to exit about 35 countries and lay off about five per cent of its global workforce to cut costs.

Woodland, just west of Sacramento, prides itself on its food and agriculture businesses, city spokesman Spencer Bowen said. “We’re obviously sad,” he said about the job losses.

Demand for crops grown with Corteva seeds and chemicals is strong after severe weather and the Ukraine war tightened global supplies. However, agrichemical companies face headwinds from inflation and supply-chain shortages.

In 2021, sunflower seeds accounted for about five per cent of Corteva’s overall US$8.4 billion in seed sales, a company investor presentation showed. The biggest producers and consumers of sunflower seeds are Europe and Russia, the company said.

The Woodland facility is Corteva’s only one in the U.S. making “commercial” sunflower seeds for farmers to grow plants for oil or food.

The facility will continue to produce “parent” seeds for the commercial crop, and is working with a U.S.-based third-party to produce “commercial” sunflower seeds for domestic growers, the company said.

— Reporting for Reuters by P.J. Huffstutter and Tom Polansek in Chicago.

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