• Photos
• Seed of the Year winner named at Royal Agricultural Winter Fair
• Seed of the Year finalists named
• Background - Seed of the Year
• Plant Science graduate student awarded Seed of the Year scholarship

2008 Seed of the Year Winner OAC Kent:
Left to Right: Wade Montminy, University of Guelph Technician; Dr. Istvan Rajcan, OAC Kent Breeder, University of Guelph; Crosby Devitt, Research Manager, Ontario Soybean Growers; Dr. Robert Gordon, Ontario Agricultural College Dean, University of Guelph; and Martin Harry, Eastern Marketing Manager, SeCan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - NOVEMBER 12, 2008

Canadian soybean named Seed of the Year

(TORONTO, Ont.) – An Ontario soybean variety with outstanding performance, sustainability, marketability and industry impact topped entries in the fourth annual Seed of the Year competition (east division).

OAC Kent, developed by plant scientist Prof. Istvan Rajcan of the University of Guelph, was named Seed of the Year (east division) today at a recognition event at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.

OAC Kent is a soybean variety with a true hilum and a larger-than-average seed size. In the last five years, it has realized more than 8,000 tonnes of recorded seed sales. OAC Kent has been a consistent soybean in yield and agronomics for many growers over the last seven years. Its parent variety, OAC Bayfield, showed similar consistency, and is now entering 16 years in the market. Its success and sustainability has meant it.s in demand by every food grade purchaser of identity preserved soybeans in the province shipping to Japan.

Three other finalists for the east division of Seed of the Year were also recognized at the event. They are OAC Rex, a white bean variety developed by University of Guelph professor Peter Pauls, former professor Tom Michaels and technician Tom Smith; Estival, a crisphead lettuce variety developed by Dr. Sylvie Jenni of Horticultural Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Quebec; and Chapais, a barley variety developed by Dr. Jean-Pierre Dubuc of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Quebec.

The Seed of the Year competition encourages public breeders to highlight their research accomplishments in developing a new field crop, forage, fruit, vegetable or herb variety. Any publicly developed Canadian variety is eligible to compete. OAC Kent was developed with support from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

This was a bench-mark year for Seed of the Year in two ways. First, the competition has expanded nationally, with varieties from eastern and western Canada being named. As well, a scholarship award has been established for both competitions, and will be awarded to a post-graduate student studying plant genetics or plant breeding.

Seed of the Year was designed by University of Guelph and SeCan, with support from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Additional sponsorship was provided by Ontario White Bean Producers, Ontario Soybean Growers, Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association and Ontario Asparagus Marketing Board.

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For more information, contact Martin Harry, SeCan, 519 423-6435; Owen Roberts, University of Guelph, 519-824-4120 Ext. 58278; or visit www.seedoftheyear.ca

Seed of the Year finalists announced

Winner to be unveiled at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

(GUELPH, ON) - Four seed varieties have been named finalists in the fourth annual Seed of the Year competition for eastern Canada, sponsored by the University of Guelph and SeCan.

Estival lettuce, OAC Kent soybeans, OAC Rex white beans, and Chapais barley are finalists in the 2008 competition.

These varieties will be honoured at the eastern Canada Seed of the Year recognition event at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto in November. The winner will be unveiled at that time.

The event will be open to industry professionals, media, farming community members, and plant breeders.

Through the Seed of the Year application process, breeders are encouraged to highlight their research accomplishments in developing a new field crop, forage, fruit, vegetable or herb variety. Any publicly developed Canadian variety is eligible to compete.

Entries were evaluated based on innovation, presence throughout the value chain, sustainability, marketability and overall impact on the Canadian agri-food industry.

The Seed of the Year competition has been designed by the University of Guelph and SeCan with additional support from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

For the first time, this year will feature two competitions, in eastern Canada and in western Canada. Finalists in the western Canada competition will be announced later.

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For more information contact:

Owen Roberts
519-824-4120 ext. 58278
owen@uoguelph.ca

Lindsay Brown, Seed of the Year coordinator
519-824-4120 ext 53511
brownl@uoguelph.ca

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Estival Lettuce was announced as a 2008 Finalist for the Eastern Canadian
Seed of the Year competition. Those taking part in the recognition event
were (left) Roger Chagnon and Sylvie Jenni of the Horticulture Research and
Development Centre Quebec, Lindsay Brown Seed of the Year coordinator and
Martin Harry of SeCan

Chapais Barley was announced as a 2008 Finalist at the Seed of the Year
competition in Eastern Canada. Present at the recognition event were (left)
Martin Harry of SeCan, Radhey Pandeya of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
and Lindsay Brown, Seed of the Year coordinator.

OAC Rex was announced as a 2008 Finalist for the Eastern Canadian Seed of
the Year competition. Those present at the recognition event include (left)
technician Tom Smith, Prof. Peter Pauls, Ontario Agricultural College Dean
Dr. Rob Gordon and Martin Harry of SeCan.

Background - Seed of the Year

OAC Rex is the first white bean variety in Canada to deliver resistance to bacterial blight, a major disease affecting bean yields and quality. Prof. Tom Michaels and technician Tom Smith, University of Guelph, developed the white bean using international genetic resources and an innovative technique to recover germplasm. A distinctive plant architecture which holds the pods higher off the ground makes for enhanced combining. OAC Rex is consistently out-yielding other varieties and realized strong market penetration in its first few years.

Chapais barley is an outstanding sustainable cultivar shown through its duration of 20 years on the market. Dr. J.P. Dubuc of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Quebec, developed this variety through selection in stress-prone soils, accounting for its unique degree of tolerance to acidic soils. Chapais also is the earliest maturing barley, averaging 89 days, making it well adapted to all growing areas. This variety is used as a parent in many breeding lines, successfully producing new varieties such as Encore, and AC Alma.

OAC Kent is a conventionally developed, full-season soybean that has repeatedly been sold out to the Ontario growers and has over 1,400 tonnes of recorded seed sales. It was produced by Prof. Istvan Rajcan of the University of Guelph. OAC Kent has a true yellow hilum and a larger than average seed size. These traits make it ideal for the food grade market and led to large demand by food grade purchasers of IP soybeans. OAC Kent’s parent was OAC Bayfield, indicating high yield and stability.

Estival lettuce is a crisphead lettuce variety showing a high tolerance to bolting and rib discolouration. It was developed by Dr. Sylvie Jenni of the Horticulture Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. Estival has a greater capacity over other popular varieties to produce a high head weight on a short stem. It is a high-quality lettuce variety better adapted to extreme weather conditions and was developed specifically for both the fresh and processing markets.

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