Table of contents

    1. Seven Steps to Better Marketing
    2. Understanding supply factors for agricultural products
    3. How demand and supply determine market price
    4. How exchange rates affect agricultural markets
    5. How interest rates affect agricultural markets
    6. How to use charting to analyse commodity markets
    7. Agriculture marketing clubs
    8. Commodity futures markets
    1. Economics and Marketing – Choosing a Commodity Broker
    2. Margin on futures contracts
    3. Options on futures – an introduction
    4. Using hedging to protect farm product prices
    5. Canola futures contract
    1. Introduction to crop marketing
    2. Basis – How cash grain prices are established
    3. Grain marketing decision grid
    4. Price pooling – How it works
    5. Crop contracts
    6. Grain storage as a marketing strategy
    7. Using producer cars to ship prairie grain
    8. Using frequency charts for marketing decisions
    9. Western Canadian grain catchment
    10. Barley and wheat marketing resources
    11. Wheat basis levels
    12. Wheat quality and protein matters
    13. Wheat pricing considerations
    14. Marketing oats in Canada
    15. US Crops – Where Are They Grown?
    1. Introduction to livestock marketing
    2. Understanding and using basis levels in cattle markets
    3. Forward contracting of cattle
    4. Understanding dressing percentage of slaughter cattle
    5. Understanding the cattle market sliding scale
    6. Predicting feeder cattle prices
    7. Breakeven analysis for feeder cattle
    8. Farm gate values for farm-raised vs purchased calves
    9. Wool marketing in Canada
    10. Marketing feeder lambs
    1. Turf and forage seed trade companies active in the Peace Region
    2. History of creeping red fescue production in the Peace River Region
    3. Alfalfa seed marketing in Canada
    4. Forage seed marketing
    5. Marketing creeping red fescue
    6. Faba bean
    7. Marketing compressed hay
    1. Agricultural Marketing Glossary – A, B
    2. Agricultural Marketing Glossary – C
    3. Agricultural Marketing Glossary – D, E
    4. Agricultural Marketing Glossary – F, G
    5. Agricultural Marketing Glossary – H, I, J, K
    6. Agricultural Marketing Glossary – L, M
    7. Agricultural Marketing Glossary – N, O
    8. Agricultural Marketing Glossary – P, Q, R
    9. Agricultural Marketing Glossary – S
    10. Agricultural Marketing Glossary – T, U
    11. Agricultural Marketing Glossary – V, W
    12. Other Marketing Related Glossaries

Background

Grass and legume seed production involves growing and harvesting seeds from turf, forage, legume and native grass species. The Peace River region of Alberta and British Columbia is the world's second largest grass and legume seed growing region in the world (after the Willamette Valley in Oregon). Because of the significant production and acreage devoted to this industry, forage seed processors have established facilities located throughout the region.

Due to the large number of growers and acres devoted to this industry, other forage seed processors operate in the area, with their facilities located outside of the Peace region. Most local processors will buy and sell bulk seed to customers, many of which are in the United States or overseas.

The forage seed trade

Following are the major forage seed buyers and brokers located in the Peace Region with their most recent addresses and phone numbers. Not included are municipal operated seed cleaning plants and farmer owned plants, which only clean seed on a custom basis. Most companies listed below are large processors. You do not have to be from the region to do business with them.

Comments are included under each listing to provide a general description as to what the companies are involved with. These areas include: custom cleaning and bagging, broker, buyers, production contracts, retailers and accredited seed testing labs.

Growers are advised to deal with a reputable company and understand the specifics of the offered price, whether you are selling seed, forward pricing or growing seed under production contracts. Prices for companies will vary but this could be due to differences in how the prices are structured. For example, a price quoted at one company could be higher than another but the higher priced quote may include the producer paying for cleaning and bagging. Dockage levels have also been known to vary among companies. When signing forage seed production contracts, understand the pricing structure, length of the contract and quality requirements. Make sure that prices are compared on an even basis when contacting companies about selling or establishing contracts.

All seed companies have access to government-accredited labs for seed germination and purity. Notes have been made as to which companies have their labs located in the Peace country.

Forage seed processors

These forage and seed processors are operating in the Peace River Region:

Company Location Contact Phone Number
Ag-Vision Seeds   Janet Stoner 1-306-768-3336
Brett Young Rycroft Ashleigh Bilowus 1-800-661-1289
Nutrien Ag Solutions Fairview Lyle Qin 1-888-882-5435
Foster's Seed and Feed Beaverlodge Doug Thiessen 1-800-379-4804
FSJ Seed Co-op
(Blending Only)		 Fort St John John Beifort 1-250-785-3904
Golden Acre Seeds Fairview Heather Kerschbaumer 1-800-481-7333
Moore Seed Processors Debolt Raymond Walker 1-800-563-0461
DLF Pickseed Canada Ltd Dawson Creek Gino Morrone 1-250-782-3040
South Peace Grain Cleaning
(Blending Only)		 Dawson Creek Shaun Grant 1-250-782-7820

Ag-Vision Seeds

Grid Rd, Carrot River SK S0E 0L0
Contact: Janet Stoner
Phone: 306-768-3336
Email: [email protected]
Comments: Contracts and buys forage seed in the Peace and processes in Saskatchewan locations.

Brett Young – Rycroft AB

Box 100, Rycroft AB T0H 3A0
Contacts: Ashleigh Bilowus
Phone: 780-765-3069 or 1-800-661-1289
Fax: 780-765-3960
Email: [email protected]
Comments: Brett Young Seeds bags and cleans rough seed. They are involved with production contracts and retail some forage seed. Also have a government-accredited lab for both purity and germination.

Nutrien Ag – Fairview AB

Box 813, Fairview AB T0H 1L0
Contact: Lyle Qin: Assistant Manager
Rob Lyons: Buyer
Phone: 780-835-4908 or 1-888-882-5435
Fax: 780-835-3064
Email: [email protected]
Comments: Nutrien Ag buys, cleans and bags rough seed and is involved with production contracts. Also does cleaning and is involved in retailing of forage seeds. Handles some native grasses.

Foster's Seed and Feed Ltd. – Beaverlodge AB

Foster's Seed & Feed, Beaverlodge, Alberta

Box 210, Beaverlodge AB T0H 0C0
Contacts: Doug Thiessen
Sherry Corvalan, Amanda Longson, Seed Analyst (Precision Seed Testing, 354-2259)
Phone: 780-354-2107 or 1-800-379-4804
Fax: 780-354-8955
Email: [email protected]
Comments: Foster's buys, cleans and bags rough seed. They are also involved with production contract sand retailing of most forage seeds. Foster's has a lab that is government accredited for both purity and germination. A second facility is located in Grande Prairie.

FSJ Seed Co-op – Fort St John, BC

10273 East Bypass, Fort St John, BC V1J 4J3
Contact: John Beifort
Website: fsjseedco-op.com
Phone: 250-785-3904
Fax: 250-785-3903
Email: [email protected]
Comments:Forage seed retail and blending only.

Golden Acres Seeds – Fairview AB

Golden Acre Seeds, Fairview, Alberta

Box 1090, Fairview AB T0H 1L0
Contacts: Heather Kerschbaumer
Website: goldenacreseeds.com
Phone 1-888-787-1192 or 1-800-481-7333
Fax: 780-835-4595
Email: [email protected]
Comments: Golden Acres offers a custom cleaning and bagging service. They handle some native grasses. They do not buy seed but they will act as a seed broker for clients.

Moore Seed Processors Inc. – Debolt AB

Moore Seed Processors Inc., Debolt, Alberta

Box 360 Debolt, AB T0H 1B0
Contact: Raymond Walker (Manager), Todd Smith
Website: dlfpickseed.ca
Phone: 780-957-3964 or 1-800-563-0461
Fax: 780-957-2580
Email: [email protected]
Comments: Moore's buys, cleans and bags rough seed. Production contracts are available for most forage seed crops. Moore's are also involved in retailing seed.

DLF Pickseed Canada Inc. – Dawson Creek BC

DLF Pickseed Canada Inc., Dawson Creek, BC

Box 2407, Dawson Creek, B.C.V1G 4T9
Contact: Gino Morrone
Phone: 250-782-3040
Fax: 250-782-2252
Email: [email protected]
Website: dlfpickseed.ca
Comments: DLF Pickseed buys, bags and cleans rough seed, (mainly CR fescue). Production contracts are available. They also retail most types of forage seeds.

South Peace Grain Cleaning – Dawson Creek, BC

213 Rd, Dawson Creek, BC V0C 2C0
Contact: Shaun Grant
Website: spgrain.ca
Phone: 250-782-7820
Fax: 250-782-1646
Email: [email protected]
Comments: Forage seed retail and blending only.

Merchandising seed

After a grower has harvested his crop, contact as many seed buyers or brokers as possible to let them know that you have forage seed to sell. Let them know how much you have for sale and what quality it is. Most companies will do dockage tests and a germination test. Seed companies usually keep lists of prospective suppliers they can contact when sales opportunities arise. However, be aware that some companies do not buy clean seed. Buying unclean ("rough") seed helps companies keep their cleaning facilities operating as much as possible.

It is a good idea to send a company good representative samples of your seed and ask them to estimate grade and dockage. This way, both the grower and the firms know what weeds are present and if the seed can be cleaned to qualify for certain markets. Many U.S. states cannot accept any seed containing couch and cleavers.

Knowing what each company considers to be dockage is also helpful. Often companies will offer similar prices, be prepared to negotiate a better deal. Growers of pedigreed seed should contact the specific companies and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for proper certification procedures and protocols. Many companies offer forward pricing contracts on forage seed. This provides a producer with an opportunity to lock in a price for future delivery. Forward pricing contracts may be available throughout the year but timing of the contracts is dependent on market conditions.

Compare offering prices

Most of the trade's quoted offering prices for seed are based on net cleaned seed. Sometimes, the prices quoted on any given day by different companies are the same or nearly the same. However, to accurately compare the offers, each company’s dockage estimate of the sample must be known. A firm that really wants to buy seed may offer the same price as its competitors but will guarantee a lower dockage. In that case, the firm guaranteeing the lowest dockage is actually paying the higher net price for the seed.

A note of caution

Most forage seed companies are long established businesses and should be sound. However, forage seed firms do not need to be licensed or bonded or prove their solvency in the way that grain companies must.

Producers are encouraged to be careful when they are dealing with companies with which they are not familiar.

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