Alfalfa seed producers to meet in Saskatoon

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

The Saskatchewan Alfalfa Seed Producers Association (SASPA) will be celebrating a milestone when it meets for its 2007 annual conference January 11 and 12 in Saskatoon.

“It’s the SASPA 35th annual business meeting,” explained Wayne Goerzen, SASPA Executive Director. “It’s also the 10th annual business meeting of the Saskatchewan Alfalfa Seed Producers Development Commission (SASPDC), funded through a check-off on Saskatchewan alfalfa seed in order to advance research and development initiatives.”

Goerzen said Saskatchewan is a leader when it comes to alfalfa seed production, which always makes for an interesting and educational conference. “It’s a Western Canadian industry, and the largest segment of it is right here in Saskatchewan,” he stated. “We have the largest alfalfa seed production area in the world, probably over 100,000 acres. There are anywhere from 200 to 250 producers in the industry at present, spread all over the province, but mostly concentrated in the northeast.”

As a niche industry and a diversified area within agriculture, Goerzen noted that alfalfa seed production has a few characteristics that distinguish it from conventional farming. Most notably, it requires a friendly relationship with an insect – the alfalfa leafcutting bee – which producers count on to pollinate their crops.

“We have to manage not only the crop, but the bee that pollinates it, so there is an extra level of management, which is very important to producers,” he explained.

Goerzen said this year’s conference will focus on various aspects of the alfalfa seed industry, both market-related and production-related. “We’ll spend some time discussing the current status of alfalfa seed markets, and we’ll have research people talking about things of interest on the management side of seed production, such as insect, disease and weed control. As always, we will also focus attention on alfalfa leafcutting bee management.”

He added that SASPA doesn’t have to go very far to find experts in areas that are important to alfalfa seed producers. “We have excellent research people at the University of Saskatchewan and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and we also bring people in from Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food.”

Goerzen said the conference has earned a reputation over the years as a good place for producers to come to find out what’s going on in the industry. In addition to the scientific and technical sessions, producers are also able to network with one another and speak individually with the experts and presenters in attendance.

Another attraction for producers is the conference’s tradeshow, Goerzen added, “which is unique in that it highlights alfalfa leafcutting bee equipment-related companies. It’s specialized equipment, so you don’t often have a tradeshow where this type of equipment is on display.”

While the majority of the 100 to 150 people who generally attend the conference each year are alfalfa seed producers, individuals from the seed trade and those involved in research and extension at the provincial or federal government levels also readily participate.

Individuals interested in attending the SASPA conference can register at the door for a fee of $100 for the two-day meeting. More information can be obtained from the SASPA website at www.saspa.com, or by calling Wayne Goerzen at (306) 651-7275.

For more information, contact:

Wayne Goerzen, Executive Director
Saskatchewan Alfalfa Seed Producers Association
Phone: (306) 651-7275
E-mail: goerzenw@innovationplace.com
Website: www.saspa.com