March 21, 2022

The 2022 Crop Application Season Has Begun

CSGA’s Application for Seed Crop Certification and Membership/Renewal Form for the 2022 crop season is now available online in SeedCert. The application packages were sent out via email earlier today, March 21.

All applicants are encouraged to refer to the 2022 Fee Schedule and read the Application Support Document for application requirements and instructions on applying for seed crop certification and membership and highlights of changes for the 2022 crop season.

This Application Checklist can help you navigate the process:

• Read the CSGA Application Support Document
• Review the 2022 version of Circular 6, including changes for 2022 detailed in the Notice of Changes
• Consult the 2022 Fee Schedule
• Contract an Authorized Seed Crop Inspection Service (ASCIS) to inspect your fields
• Submit a CSGA Membership Application/Renewal Form through SeedCert
• Submit one Application for CSGA Seed Crop Certification for each field through SeedCert

If you do not receive your package, please check your junk inbox or email the office or call (613) 236-0497, ext. 8803.

Tags and Parent Seed
Seed tag verification is an essential step in seed crop certification. Providing tags before inspection helps to streamline the appraisal process. If tags aren’t submitted before inspection or at the time of application, there may be delays in issuing your crop certificate.

CSGA requests tags for all parent seed sources not produced by the grower applicant. Tags can be provided when submitting the Application for CSGA Seed Crop Certification online or uploaded in the ‘Forms’ tab in SeedCert. Applicants are also asked to provide the quantity of each seed source sown in kilograms, included on the revised Application for CSGA Seed Crop Certification.

Don’t Forget Your Maps!

Maps are an important tool that helps the inspector and CFIA check inspector (if applicable) find your field and enables oversight. Submitting your map on time allows the inspector to manage their workload better and helps to avoid non-conformances.

A field map and/or GPS coordinates are required for each seed crop and must be submitted to CSGA through SeedCert. A $50.00 incomplete application penalty will be applied per field to accounts with applications without a map or GPS coordinates supplied within the following timeframes.

• If the Application is made by the respective crop application deadline date, a grace period of 14 calendar days from the Application date is given to submit a map or GPS coordinates.
• If the Application is made after the respective crop application deadline date, a grace period of 14 calendar days from the Application date OR one day before the field is inspected, whichever is less, is given to submit a map or GPS coordinates.

Maps must contain sufficient information for the inspector to find the field. Directions and labels should be legible and provided where necessary. To be considered ‘received,’ the map or GPS coordinate must be uploaded in SeedCert in the requested format for each field (sequence).

To further simplify map submissions, you can recall previous land use, GPS coordinates, and maps from fields in production in previous years in the SeedCert application.

Customize Your Data

As introduced last season, growers and crop certificate assignees can now customize the information released in pedigreed seed crop listings that appear in publications, including CSGA’s national Pedigreed Seed Locator and Provincial Seed Guides. Applicants may choose to opt out of this free service. Growers can review their contact information and consent options through the ‘My Account’ tab in SeedCert.

CSGA-Accredited Plot Growers, CSGA-Recognized Plant Breeders or Associate Plant Breeders may give expressed consent to CSGA to release contact information with interested parties looking for Select growers to multiply seed or Breeders to work with new genetics.

Don’t Delay

Ensure you submit your applications online on or before the following deadline dates:

• May 5 for winter canola/rapeseed
• May 25 for fall seeded cereals
• June 10 for fababeans, forages, flax, canola, mustard, corn and field peas
• June 20 for all other crops not listed here
• July 10 for field beans and buckwheat
• July 25 for soybeans

Save The Date For The CSGA AGM 2022

The CSGA 2022 Annual General Meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 6, 2022, starting at 10 am EST.

CSGA’s virtual AGM will be open to all members and stakeholders with pre-registration required. More information will be provided shortly.

CSGA’s British Columbia Branch to Merge With Alberta Branch

At the Alberta Seed Growers’ (ASG) and British Columbia Seed Growers’ Association (BCSGA) Branch AGMs, members voted in favour of a branch merger. Kelly Chambers, ASG Executive Director, has provided an update on the merger process.

To begin the merger process, the ASG By-laws needed to be updated to allow BCSG members to become ASG members with voting rights and the ability to run for Board positions. A special resolution and suggested revised By-laws were sent to members 30 days before the respective Branches’ AGMs. These changes permit seed growers from both provinces to become full members of the ‘new’ organization (expected to be called the Alberta-BC Seed Growers Association.) It is also expected that one government representative will be appointed from both Alberta and BC to the CSGA Board. Paperwork will be filed with the Societies Act and approval sought by the Registrar.

More information will follow when available.

Update on Seed Regulatory Modernization

CSGA recently provided an update on the Seed Regulatory Modernization process at the SeedTalk Prairies webinar on January 26. Everyone is encouraged to watch the presentation here.  

Since the SRM presentation, the Seeds Regulatory Modernization Working Group (SRM-WG) has reviewed several task team reports and initiated strategic discussions concerning:

• Potential public and private sector roles in a new seed regulatory framework
• Alternative service delivery practices – or non-traditional ways of delivering government services, usually by non-government entities
• International obligations for trading seed with other countries
• Future sector trends and changes in business practices and new technologies
• Potential cause-and-effect consequences of amending one part of the seed system – where the amended portion is linked or connected to other parts of the system
• Compliance and enforcement – regulator oversight and the repercussions for not complying with the regulations
• Incorporation by reference – where a standard or requirement exists outside of the regulations but is referenced and considered part of the regulatory framework

The Seed Testing and the Common Seed task teams are now in place. Three additional teams devoted to Import, Export, and Information (Records/Labelling) will follow.

The SRM-WG and the CFIA are taking a ‘co-development’ approach to develop options for regulatory modernization. This means that regulated parties and other stakeholders need to invest in the process from the start to ensure the best possible results in the end. While final proposals for change are still a few years away, the CFIA plans to engage in broad stakeholder consultations next winter. Then, the overall vision for what a ‘next generation seed system for Canada’ might look like will start to emerge.

For more CSGA information on SRM, please visit our website.

Seeking New Members for The Canadian Agricultural Youth Council!

The Canadian Agricultural Youth Council is a high-profile, non-partisan, volunteer council that meets regularly with Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and department officials to discuss important issues for young people in food and farming.

If you are a young person with big ideas on how to improve the future of food and farming in Canada, apply to join the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council. Applications close March 22, 2022.

Canadian Plant Breeder Innovation Scholarship Winners

CSGA is proud to sponsor Germination Magazine’s Canadian Plant Breeder Innovation Scholarship Awards. Each year, scholarships are awarded to students enrolled at a master’s or Ph.D. level in plant breeding or plant genetics. This year, five outstanding students each received a $1,500 scholarship. Read about them here. Congratulations to you all!