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Dont Miss These Free Seed Webinars

The 2021 webinar series from the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security will explore how farmers and plant breeders are working to save and improve important Canadian crop varieties, as well as the regional seed systems that make those varieties available for the benefit of all Canadians. Join us for this national conversation about seeds in Canada! All webinars are free!

Rutabaga: Learning Biennial Seed Cultivation - October 25, 2021 @ 3:00 EST

Speakers: Denise O'Reilly and Clint Freund

Description: Biennials like rutabaga are among the more challenging crops to save seed from. They require lots of space, population, and isolation distance, not to mention advanced planning and effective overwintering strategies. Join us for this conversation about best practices for biennial seed crop cultivation and selection, using the hardy, delicious, and humble rutabaga as our case study.  This webinar is for farmers who love growing rutabaga, seed growers who would like to increase their biennial seed saving, and CANOVI participants trialing rutabaga.

How to Breed Your Own Potato Variety - Fall 2021 (date to be confirmed)

Speakers: Helen Jensen, Christopher Kelly-Bisson, Duane Falk

Description: Farmers across Canada have been breeding potatoes on their farms, with the support of The Bauta Initiative, since 2013.  Join our guests for this fascinating conversation about the rationale, agronomy, and policy implications of farmer-bred potatoes, and what lies ahead for farmers who are blazing a new trail of potato diversity. This webinar is for the many farmers breeding their own potato varieties as part of our PPB program, as well as everyone interested in potato breeding.

Red Carrots: A Participatory Breeding Project - November 2021 (date to be confirmed)

Speakers: Chris Thoreau, Solveig Hansen

Description:  This webinar presentation and discussion will explore the participatory red carrot breeding work that farmers have been engaging with, with the support of researchers and coordinators in British Columbia, California, Oregon, and Wisconsin. In breeding this beautifully bright biennial, researchers and growers alike have experienced some real challenges and triumphs, and the process has a lot to teach us about collaboration in our seed systems, the value of perseverance, and the importance of having multiple redundancies built into a plant breeding project. Join us to hear the full story! This webinar is for farmers and seed growers who are interested in carrot breeding and who have been participating in these efforts, including those who trialed red carrots for the CANOVI program.

Back to September 2021 Newsletter