Back to September 2015 Newsletter
The Market for Organic and Ecological Seed in Canada
Bob Wildfong
Late last year the Canada Organic Trade Association (COTA) released a groundbreaking study on the market value of organic and ecologically-grown seed in Canada. Reports have been available for many years on the sales and production of certified organic farm produce, but this was the first such study specifically looking at seeds. Produced in partnership with the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security (BFICSS), the COTA report gives us an invaluable window into the organic and ecological seed marketplace, from a farm production perspective.
Reporting separately on vegetable seed and field crop seed (mainly grains), the study found that certified organic vegetable growers purchase about $9 million of vegetable seed per year, and ecological growers purchase an additional $19 million, while organic and ecological field crop growers purchase $20.06 million of seed (although more than half of those field crop growers replant their own saved seeds, which are not counted in that amount).
Based on data from our Canadian Seed Catalogue Index, we estimate that only about $1.3 million to $1.6 million of organic vegetable seeds are sold by Canadian suppliers. It is common knowledge that most organic vegetable farmers buy a large proportion of their seeds from U.S. companies, so this is not surprising.
Also, most of the organic seeds sold by larger Canadian vegetable seed suppliers are marketed to home gardeners, not to the organic farms referenced in the COTA study. And further, the vast proportion of vegetable seed sold by our larger suppliers are imported seeds, not Canadian-grown. Put together, these factors mean that of all vegetable seed planted on Canada's organic farms, much less than 10% is actually grown in Canada. The rest is produced elsewhere in the world and imported.
We can do better than that.
There is enormous, and growing, demand for high-quality certified organic seed in Canada, and equally growing demand for that seed to be locally sourced instead of globally imported. The principles of the BFICSS are rooted in this need, and are a reaction to the conditions that have eroded Canada's ability to be independently seed-secure.
Among COTA's recommendations are the very statements that have long guided Seeds of Diversity's mission for long-term Canadian seed security.
"Increase investment in organic seed research and development to increase availability of varieties that respond to the needs of organic producers."
"Support the scaling-up of organic seed production to provide quality seed in the varieties and quantities producers need. Beginning with expansion of a selection of high-potential crops will build capacity and readiness for future growth."
"[Have] the right seeds for producers to grow the crops buyers need to meet the preferences of end-consumers."
The complete study from COTA, and more information about it, can be found through the following links:
The Market for Organic and Ecological Seed in Canada, COTA 2014 (pdf)
Canada Organic Trade Association
First Ever Organic Seed Market Study in Canada, USC Canada
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Bob Wildfong is the executive director of Seeds of Diversity Canada.
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