You can visit more than a dozen vegetable seed breeders at one location in Hall, NY, during the August trial season. But make sure you set appointments. No walk ups allowed.
Photo by Carol Miller
Each year, vegetable seed breeders and distributors trial their new varieties in different growing conditions around the country. Many of these trials take place near their North American headquarters. But luckily for the industry, the breeders also come together in Upstate New York and Northern California in August, giving East Coast and Western seed buyers and growers a chance to walk fields, talk to breeders and top reps, and evaluate how these varieties fare.
I attended the New York trials this year after a few years of attending the California trials. If you can spare the time in August, reach out to your favorite reps and schedule an appointment to visit. Most breeders conveniently set up their trials in the same large field, allowing you to walk from one appointment to another. Bejo Seeds has its own trial less than 10 minutes away at a lovely farm.
With the trials and attendees so close together, it fosters easy conversations and learning opportunities. Here’s a sampling of what I learned at this year’s trials.
Regional Breeding Emphasis
A few seed companies, even those based overseas, are building regional breeding programs. I met with vegetable breeders who were tasked with developing varieties that can handle the growing conditions of the Northeast or the Southeast.
Most of these breeders did not work at the company’s American home-based labs. Rather, the corporations built smaller labs to support local work. By doing so, they’re able to address unique growing conditions, from crops able to take wet roots to warm crops capable of growing through colder conditions, extending the growing season.
Bejo Seeds holds their vegetable variety trials on a private farm not far from the Hall location. It allows them to showcase a broader array of crops and set up comparison trials where new varieties are tested against existing or competitors’ versions.
Photo by Carol Miller
Long-Term Focus
The regional breeding programs are part of a strategy that looks far into the future. As rainfall patterns and temperatures shift, growers need access to crops that can handle their conditions.
These regional varieties also play into the locally sourced produce movement. With large growers increasing their production across the country, they need varieties that suit those environments rather than their original farm. Doing both feeds into consumer demand and cuts down on shipping crops from, say, California to Tennessee.
Another future development breeders are watching closely is indoor production. If vertical farming lives up to the hype, it will require more crops than leafy greens and other low-habit vegetables. As a result, some breeders are investing in developing crops that can adapt more easily to greenhouse and even vertical growing.
And one last major theme discussed at trials is sustainability. Several companies are developing seed stocks that organic producers can use. Some develop organically produced seed. Others are finding ways to have untreated seeds, even if it’s not certified organic.
Talk to Your Rep
Not everyone can get away from the farm in August. But you don’t want to miss out on the type of far-reaching discussions that take place at trials.
It would be worth your time to set up visits with your distributors and breeders in the off-season. Discuss your needs and find out what trends they’re watching and investing in.
Getting a new variety to market is a long process. It can take 10 years to get a new onion to market. It’s not an industry prone to fads or impulsive decision making. A strong relationship with your suppliers can help you identify market shifts you also need to prepare for, beyond just which crops you plant.
With the information you gain, you can plot your way into a farm that will meet the market needs of the future.