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Shannon Bieman, CSGA President<\/p>\nOn our farm near Belgrave, Ont., my husband Blair and I have learned that nobody succeeds on their own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shannon Bieman, CSGA President<\/p>\n
We grow pedigreed soybean and cereal crops, run a beef cow-calf operation and keep a flock of sheep, but not one of those things happens without our veterinarian, our nutritionist, our mechanics and a whole network of people who help make it work. Agriculture is a team sport. I\u2019ve carried that lesson into everything I do.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the perspective I\u2019m bringing to my role as president of the Canadian Seed Growers\u2019 Association (CSGA). Elected at this week\u2019s AGM in Whitehorse, I\u2019m stepping into this position at a moment when the seed sector has no shortage of important conversations to navigate: regulatory modernization, new technologies, changing markets, and the challenge of attracting the next generation into agriculture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My priorities are straightforward: strengthen relationships, create more opportunities to work together, and make sure we\u2019re actually listening to one another.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always believed that it doesn\u2019t matter how big or small of an operation you are, everyone has something valuable to contribute. There is a wealth of knowledge throughout our sector, and if we\u2019re willing to listen to each other, we can accomplish a lot more together than we ever could on our own.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why strengthening relationships will be a central priority during my term as president.<\/p>\n
Whether you\u2019re a seed grower, plant breeder, retailer, analyst, processor, or researcher, you\u2019re part of a system that helps Canadian agriculture succeed. We may not always agree on every issue, but we all have a role to play.<\/p>\n
One thing farming has taught me is that you can\u2019t make good decisions with blinders on. If you\u2019re only looking at an issue from your own perspective, you\u2019re going to miss something important. Good decisions come from listening, asking questions, and being willing to understand someone else\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n
That approach will be especially important as discussions around seed regulatory modernization continue. I know there are strong opinions on all sides, and that\u2019s okay. What matters is that we keep talking to one another and keep working toward solutions that make sense for the future. We already have a strong foundation in Canada\u2019s seed system. The goal isn\u2019t change for the sake of change \u2014 it\u2019s making sure our system stays practical, responsive and ready for whatever comes next.<\/p>\n
Another priority for me is the next generation, and this one is personal.<\/p>\n
When I was in high school, nobody told me you could study plant breeding or talked about careers in seed certification or seed analysis. I wonder sometimes where my path might have gone if someone had.<\/p>\n
Innovation is another important part of the conversation. Advances in plant breeding, genetics and other technologies are helping us develop crops that can better handle challenges like drought, disease, and changing weather patterns, and that gives farmers more tools to succeed.<\/p>\n
At the same time, new technologies require thoughtful leadership. Tools like artificial intelligence offer tremendous potential, but they also raise real questions about data ownership, privacy and transparency. Farmers have invested generations into their operations and protecting that legacy has to stay part of the conversation.<\/p>\n
When my term is done, I want to look back and see an industry that listens better, trusts more and has more young people excited about what\u2019s possible here. We have the foundation. Let\u2019s build on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On our farm near Belgrave, Ont., my husband Blair and I have learned that nobody succeeds on their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20272,17,116,3780,11574],"class_list":["post-117775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-associations","tag-canada","tag-news","tag-people","tag-seed-world-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}