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Agriculture Roundup for Wednesday December 15, 2021

Dec 15, 2021 | 9:53 AM

MELFORT, Sask. – Seeds Canada will move forward with plans to hold a stakeholder summit.

The organization said there is a need for additional input concerning the future of the seed system and will begin the planning process for a meeting that will bring together those who are impacted by seed regulations.

Seeds Canada President Ellen Sparry said there is agreement a review of the regulatory framework is needed as the last major review was completed in 1996.

“We believe that an overall vision for the sector’s future and producers’ needs, and realities must be more clearly understood to ensure we’re putting the right tools in place,” she said. “A full regulatory review is unlikely to occur again for quite some time, so we need to get this right.”

The intention of the summit would be to look closely at the current regulations and address what is needed from a modernized seed system.

Seeds Canada will keep stakeholders informed as plans for the summit are finalized.

A first of its kind in Canada technology will be part of an oat processing facility in Manitoba.

Buffalo Creek Mills will purchase and install an oat kiln as part of its plant expansion in Altona.

The new technology will allow the company to process oats for use as conventional food ingredients and for the creation of new oat products.

CEO Ryan Penner said the federal government will contribute up to $5.1 million.

“Buffalo Creek Mills is a young company that started base level processing of oats in 2015 with the aspiration of producing table ready oat products,” Penner said. “The award of this AgriInnovate funding has enabled our company to start a capital expansion project that includes the installation of state-of-the-art equipment that will produce both conventional and emerging new oat products for human consumption.”

Penner said once the project is completed, Buffalo Creek Mills will have grown from three employees at its inception to a projected 45 employees and will have the capability of processing 54,000 metric tonnes of oats each year.

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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