Saskatoon seed royalty meeting

[walterm]

Good points made by quad track, farmaholic, seldomseen. 👍🏻

As much as the seed companies want you to believe, there is clearly no appetite for a $4/tonne seed tax/EPR or trailing royalty. If this was imposed levies for the commodity groups would be eliminated.
Good to see the commodity groups deem both seed tax options as not good options.

What I don't understand is how the producer groups even let this get to the table and be the only 2 options put forward when they were in the round table discussions for two years? Should have been questioned from the very start and producers made aware of what was being discussed back then.

[wd9]

What I don't understand is how the producer groups even let this get to the table and be the only 2 options put forward when they were in the round table discussions for two years? Should have been questioned from the very start and producers made aware of what was being discussed back then.

Not 2 years, been in consultation for 20 years.

[grassfarmer]

What I don't understand is how the producer groups even let this get to the table and be the only 2 options put forward when they were in the round table discussions for two years? Should have been questioned from the very start and producers made aware of what was being discussed back then.

You need to ask what producer groups were at the table. Not all are invited - tends to be only the ones that will back the Government/vested Corporate interests agenda.

[jazz]

You need to ask what producer groups were at the table. Not all are invited - tends to be only the ones that will back the Government/vested Corporate interests agenda.

Why producer groups. Like you couldn't mail out a simple little plebiscite and ask farmers directly what they want and will support. Is it the stone age still?

Its just a way to keep the little people out of the loop. Make the meetings hard to get to, limit attendance, put in majority seed people in the audience etc. Decision has already been made, this is the pony show.

[bucket]

While the industry backs WCWGA opinion that we need "higher performing varieties" ....the reality is they ....their masters like the graincos.....don't buy higher performing varieties.......they buy as cheap as they can to meet the lowest on the spec line....

So after thinking about it the conclusion is ....the masters want growers to buy new varieties with different names attached them for each grainco ...you grow their variety ..you get to deliver ..on their terms ....and the minions will obey.....

I don't like being a minion....tried it with Nexera....years ago...was a complete **** around....I have a feeling thats where this is heading....


Delivery equals using their brand of seed.....price though comes from the market....and as long as you guys keep biting at 4-6 month out targets....the price is golden for them...their books are full.....no need to bid the market....

[grassfarmer]

Why producer groups. Like you couldn't mail out a simple little plebiscite and ask farmers directly what they want and will support. Is it the stone age still?

Its just a way to keep the little people out of the loop. Make the meetings hard to get to, limit attendance, put in majority seed people in the audience etc. Decision has already been made, this is the pony show.

Plebiscites are good for getting a decision but you still need committees to study and develop the ideas until they get to a voting stage. The problem is the committees get selected to reflect the outcome desired by those striking the committee. When the lobbyists for the ag input sector dictate the Government agenda they get their moneys worth.

[farmaholic]

Is there any hope of getting this predetermined decision overturned?

If you take the cross section of contributors to this and other threads on this topic I think there were two people in favor of it, hardly scientific but I serioisly doubt there is much grassroots support for this seed TAX.

[Guest]

no , its a done deal. no farmer input neccesary , just pay
heres an idea; if a group (i.e. wheat growers) think there is farmer support simply have an online vote on it?
no proponents would want to see that result , i can guarantee that
it will go on like this until auctioneers farm sales are full again and then they (the leaches), will realize they have gone to far, yet again

[jamesb]

A lot of views from different perspectives here. I was at quite a bit of crop week but didn't get to the royalty meeting. What I did hear and see though
- SPG are negotiating with the CDC over their renewal agreement. There is a chance that we may lose the royalty free pulse varieties going forward. This is a big deal for me if this doesn't continue as before. I for one didn't have a issue with paying a levy when I was investing in royalty free access to good varieties.
For me this should be about choice. I if I grow the new expensive varieties and have to pay a extra fee, it should be my choice. If I want to grow the old varieties royalty free I should be my choice, and not see them deregistered for no good reason.

Should some of our checkoff from other crops go into investment into ownership of varieties to give access to cheaper varieties ?

[bucket]

no , its a done deal. no farmer input neccesary , just pay
heres an idea; if a group (i.e. wheat growers) think there is farmer support simply have an online vote on it?
no proponents would want to see that result , i can guarantee that
it will go on like this until auctioneers farm sales are full again and then they (the leaches), will realize they have gone to far, yet again

Maybe but there are still a lot of young guys that want more.....

[mustardman]

We Now have 4 companies that control 60 % SEED and Chemicals in the World. ChemChina, Corteva, Bayer and Basf.

Experts says that once companies reach 40% total that competition Slows Down
So we are now at 60 % much of it allowed by Weak Anti trust suits from department of Justice in the U.S

These companies make sure they lobby both sides of govt
I see they are also WCWG sponsors , all except chem china

[Braveheart]

We Now have 4 companies that control 60 % SEED and Chemicals in the World. ChemChina, Corteva, Bayer and Basf.

Experts says that once companies reach 40% total that competition Slows Down
So we are now at 60 % much of it allowed by Weak Anti trust suits from department of Justice in the U.S

These companies make sure they lobby both sides of govt
I see they are also WCWG sponsors , all except chem china

I remember being at a wheat growers convention and noticing that the CWB, CN, and CP were sponsors and the wheat growers were actively lobbying against positions held by all three of them. Whoops.

[farmaholic]

I remember being at a wheat growers convention and noticing that the CWB, CN, and CP were sponsors and the wheat growers were actively lobbying against positions held by all three of them. Whoops.

All their sponsors money is the same. Turncoats!

[jimmy]

Off the topic a little but Agenda 21 is right on track.

[Irsa Major]

The NFU is putting on a free online webinar about the seed royalty issue with Terry Boehm tomorrow February 21 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm CST (MB and SK) that's 11 am in AB. Everyone is welcome.

Terry farms near Colonsay SK and has been following seed issues for many years. He will talk about the implications of the proposed End Point Royalty or Trailing Contract royalty schemes that would have farmers who use their own seed pay millions of dollars more to seed companies every year, and make illegal the ancient practice of freely saving and reusing seed by creating new regulations under the Plant Breeders Rights Act. He will explain how the proposed royalty system would harm farmers, citizens, and society in general — and what we can do to stop this from happening.

This webinar will be held on the Zoom online meeting platform. If this is your first Zoom meeting, please go to https://zoom.us/ and “sign up” at least 10 minutes before the meeting starts. If you are using your smart phone you may need to download the app before you join the meeting.

Join the webinar
By computer or smart phone — click https://zoom.us/j/923097026.
By telephone — call 1 647 558 0588, meeting ID is 923 097 026.


To stay informed on the #SaveOurSeed campaign and farm saved seed royalty issues, you can subscribe to the SOS Action Group - go to https://www.nfu.ca/campaigns/save-our-seed/ to sign up.