b'Stephen and Tasha Sendziak with their three children, Jakob, Peter and Christian.PHOTO: SENDZIAK SEED FARMwith everything now located at one main site near Thorsby,and the commercial seed industry is currently facing suppressed Alta., close to the original spot where Donalds father andcrop market values, which, in turn, impact the viability of our grandfather first homesteaded in 1903. pedigreed seed industry.Before, we were operating our business from three separate As pedigreed seed growers, we feel it is crucial that the locations. We decided it was time to consolidate it, and that hasresponsibility of future plant breeding programs have full made us a lot more efficient, says Stephen.support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, as the benefits of new varieties are for the greater good of the public consumer, A Few Challenges says Stephen.Like all farmers, the Sendziaks have faced challenges over the years, not least of which has been the extremely wet conditionsAn Eye to the Futureover the last four crop seasons.The Sendziaks would like to expand their operations in the Never in our history had we ever thought about buying afuture, however, they recognize they first need to build their dryer because our seed always came off in good condition,operational and management teams. While Donald and Stephen says Donald. The environment in the last four years hasfocus primarily on the marketing and research side of things, changed so drastically for us, we had to amend our operationsand other family members are a great help at busy times, they totally. We had to get a grain dryer, which has added valuewant to recruit more people on the farming end of things who and more operations during the harvest that we have had towill be with them long term.manage.Some of the seasonal workers weve had over the past have They also do quality checks at several points in the operation,been very good, but sometimes employment with us is only including a pre-germination test, which is especially importanta short-term goal for them, and wed like to bring on some in years when the weather doesnt cooperate. Last year weindividuals that would join us on a career path for the long term, had three bouts of snow in September, which decreasedsays Donald. the germination value of our seed, says Donald. We didThey do feel there is a lot of opportunity for the seed industry have a loss of value on some of our seed in cases where thegoing forward, especially if more raw agricultural commodities germination wouldnt meet standards we expect. can be processed in Canada, rather than in other countries. Weather is something farmers cant control, so the SendziaksFor example, there is a push right now toward plant-based take those challenges as they come, but they are concernedproteins and we need to jump on that and begin processing about some of the discussions currently underway about howmore of these products here in Canada, says Donald. Canadian seed industry research and development will beThe Sendziaks say they appreciate all of their customers and funded in the future. industry partners for their continued support for their pedigreed There is a lot of resistance for things like end-point royaltiesseed operation in Leduc County. We really appreciate their and trailing royalties because the commercial grower has nobusiness, and we look forward to a new and exciting year working way of recouping any of those costs, says Donald. Marketwith everyone again this upcoming crop season, says Donald.prices are always dictated by global values in the seed chain, Angela LovellSpring 2020 57'