Ontario Grain Farmer December 2021/January 2022

how the line does. Also, at the advanced testing level, the lines may undergo a bioassay test for various diseases,” says Eskandari. Overall, it is very apparent that Eskandari is passionate about what he does. “The goal is to get the farmers good lines, it doesn’t matter which program they come from, there is great support and collaboration. It is important that breeders have good communication with farmers and farmer organizations. If a problem is starting, breeders need to work on it ahead of time to be ahead of the problem instead of always chasing it.” INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT As the soybean reaches the end of the breeding line, product developers and others from seed companies will be paying particular attention to what is coming out of the pipeline. Once the soybean variety has been purchased from a breeder, or in some cases companies take their own varieties to commercialization, there is another two to three years before it ends up in a farmer’s shed. Mike Urquhart a soybean technician with Pride Seeds, explains that they take breeder seed that has been selected for their particular company and grow an approximately 2.5 acre plot. At this stage they are looking for any rogue, off types which they will remove, this process begins at flowering and is done all the way up to harvest. They are also looking at yield and if the variety is placed in the right maturity area. At this point, the variety may continue to commercialization, or it could be deleted if it is not what the company was hoping for. Following the breeder seed harvest, Urquhart hopes to have 100 to 150 bags of seed, which will then be sent out to foundation seed growers. Certain growers are accredited to grow this seed, they must meet certain standards and follow a list of requirements. “The main thing is purity when it comes to soybean seed production,” Urquhart says. “Yield is important, but purity is key.” At harvest of the foundation seed season, the fields are scouted by a private agency who is audited by the Canadian Seed Growers 30 Association and by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, who are also making sure there are no off types, among other things. Harvest occurs when the crop is 11 to 14 per cent moisture level, ideally at 13 per cent. If seed grown is outside of the parameters set for harvest and quality, the grower can lose premiums. A sample of the seed is taken at harvest when filling bins and sent to the seed company for initial quality checks and preliminary germ. Further checks are done when the seed is delivered into the production facility. When asked about what is done when production is low due to a drought or other weather issue, Urquhart explained that if they get a lower production than anticipated, they work with it. It is not like with corn where when it is sold out it is sold out. With corn, sometimes it would be sent to winter production for more seed, but it isn’t economically feasible to do that with soybeans. So, they spread out their risk and varieties enough to hopefully get good yields coming in. “Even in tough years where soybean harvest has taken place in December, it still ended up ok. Soybeans are very resilient,” says Urquhart. From here, the seed can either become certified seed and treated, ending up in a bag in a farmer’s shed, or it can be reintroduced into foundation seed (also receives a treatment) again to help grow the seed that will be available to farmers in future years. Fromstart to finish, it is a 10 to 11 year process. l continued from page 29