Excerpt from report on Organic Science Cluster Impact Assessment 2009-2023
Written by Margaret Graves
Plant Breeding Done Differently
Qualitative impact assessment of:
OSC2 Activity A.1 (2013-2018): Participatory plant breeding and seed production approaches for Canadian organic crop production.
OSC3 Activity 3 (2018-2023): Evaluation of farmer-selected wheat, oat and potato genotypes under organic production in Eastern and Western Canada.
Led by Dr. Martin Entz and the Bauta Initiative on Canadian Seed Security
“It holds out to me the hope of a greater appreciation for farming done differently, for organic farming, for cooperative farming, for cooperative marketing, for cooperative branding, in a way that we haven’t seen for probably upwards of a generation now.” – Farmer taking part in the participatory plant breeding of organic cereals in BC. Jensen et al. 2024.
If a research project can capture the organic ethos and spirit, it’s this one.
In 2011, the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security (a program of SeedChange) and Dr. Martin Entz’s lab at the University of Manitoba teamed up to try a new, low-tech type of plant breeding that is used in the Global South, as well as the EU and the US. Participatory plant breeding (PPB) of wheat and oats was funded for ten years via the Organic Science Cluster program.
Breeding new plant varieties conventionally is a costly and time-consuming endeavour, especially for a small sector like organic that has different needs. Participatory plant breeding (PPB) offers an alternative. It also offers farmers more control over the seed they use. In PPB, farmers receive a diverse population of seed from a plant breeder, and they select the best-performing plants each year.
Organic farms are different! Usually, there is less soluble N in the soil because synthetic N fertilizer isn’t being used, and there can be more weed pressure too. Certain seed treatments aren’t an option so germination can be lower. Good yields and high quality are totally possible in these conditions, but maybe not from the same genetics as the ones that succeed in the high fertility, pristine conditions of the registration trials.
Michelle Carkner has been working with the PPB cereals program since 2016, did her PhD on the project, and is now a Research Associate with the University of Manitoba. For her, the program’s success is enabling farmers to have autonomy over their own seed and what seed they grow, learning about the genetics and matching that up with their observations. Not only do the farmers gain confidence and autonomy, but their selected lines can outperform registered varieties under organic management — it works.
“It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m a plant breeder. And you guys are just farmers.’ [Martin Entz] really genuinely believes and encourages farmers’ participation because he believes that they have the most valuable input.” – Farmer participant. Storosko, 2022
One of the goals of the PPB program was to be a pipeline to variety registration for wheat and oats. New registered varieties must go through a whole series of trials that are evaluated by a group of industry reps and plant breeders, and the bar is set high for yield and protein content, among other traits. So, although some PPB varieties have been advanced to these trials and performed well, none have made it to the stage of registration yet. This is partially because organic farms have slightly different needs from conventional farms, and partially just a numbers game in a competitive field. If there are hundreds of organic and PPB lines that funnel into a handful of final contenders, there must be thousands of conventional lines.
The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security continues to work towards more openings for organic and farmer-bred variety registration. They recently had a policy win with a proposal in Canada’s Seeds Regulations: “Develop testing conditions and performance standards for varieties bred for alternative systems – organic, low carbon, farmer-selected material, etc.”
In the meantime, there are other ways to make sure organic farmers can get varieties that work for them. One way is to read the seed guide of available varieties with a keen eye to the plant traits that work better in organic conditions. Another, and complimentary, strategy is on-farm variety trials, to test out which perform best for a farmer’s specific conditions.
Across Canada, 80 farmers have been part of the PPB program for cereals since 2013. The program built connections among farmers, the Bauta regional coordinators and researchers. The group had regular calls to support one another with on-farm plant breeding, and it also gave an opportunity for general discussion and support around organic production. In a 2024 survey of PPB farmers, Bauta found that 84% of participants benefited from knowledge exchange among producers, and 75% connected with experts to answer their questions on plant breeding.
“I felt that they had a wealth of information that we were missing here. Most of our agronomists and our extension workers here, are either employed by chemical companies or fertilizer companies, that are giving advice on a different production model.” – Farmer participant. Storosko, 2022.
A few farms have made it to the proverbial end of the line with PPB: they are growing farmer-bred wheat and selling it direct. This is an uncommon choice in a world where most farms are growing standard varieties and selling to grain elevators, and it makes for a great story.
“This year we again offered what we now call PPB Fraser Red (hard red spring wheat) to our largely Vancouver-based CSA program. We’ve had great reviews from our CSA members and bakers.” – PPB participant, winter 2025
“When I saw the side-by-side trial results and Martin Entz had done a presentation through the legacy network that I was still part of from the PPB program, and this one variety outperformed the others by 15% under organic management… so I asked for that seed back, multiplied it out and last year we harvested a 35 acre field. Fueled by people’s concerns about food security during COVID, we had developed a market to the point where, by the time we harvested last year, 2/3 of our customers were already repeat customers who mill their own flour in their own kitchen and who want to buy seed locally.” – PPB participant, fall 2025
“That I participated in selecting a wheat cross that performed notably better than conventional varieties in organic trials, and that I will hopefully be able to grow this on a field scale for farm direct sales. It is a wheat that will be more genetically diverse, and feasibly more resilient in the face of climate change.” – Farmer participant in the Prairies on the most important difference that the Bauta work made for them or their farm. The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, 2021
The Organic Science Cluster funding has now ended, but the farmer-bred cereals program continues.
Michelle Carkner is investigating some of the excellent PPB wheat populations to see if they could be the next, and better, red fife for sourdough and artisanal baking. Red fife has long been the standby for a heritage wheat variety, and artisanal bakers swear by it. But she says, “it doesn’t perform well in the Prairies compared to other varieties, with low yield. We could do much better and have a great story with farmer selected populations.”
The University of Manitoba is working with 10 farmers on yet another strategy of farmer selection. Farmers are sent a package of highly diverse wheat seeds, and over 10 years they will grow them out and let selection happen passively. Research from the EU shows that the characteristics of the population should stabilize over time, resulting in adaption to the local conditions and farming practices. Reach out to the Natural Systems Agriculture Lab if you want to participate!
I leave you with some final quotes illustrating the broad and radical impact of the farmer-bred cereals program:
“What I liked about the public funding for plant breeding was that . . . all of the society of Canada paid for that whole process, for the betterment of the overall good of Canada.” – Farmer participant. Storosko, 2022.
“Seed is so important, and being able to participate in a program that allows us to strengthen the seed supply in organic agriculture is pretty special. That’s a big part of what is motivating me to be a part of the program in the first place, is that whole aspect of empowering organic farmers to be able to make their own choices and make their own seed is really important.” – Farmer participant in the Prairies. Jensen et al. 2024
“Started thinking about field crops as food and not commodities” – Farmer participant on the most important difference that the Bauta work made for them or their farm. The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, 2021
Background information:
Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security. 2021. 2020 Farmer Survey Results. Available from: https://www.seedsecurity.ca/images/survey-report/Bauta_FarmerSurveyResults_EN_2020.pdf Accessed 2025 Sept
Carkner, M. 2024. An evaluation of farmer-selected spring wheat genotypes from Canada’s first organic participatory breeding program. PhD Thesis, University of Manitoba.
Jensen, H., Storosko, I., and Dang, M. 2024. Research brief — An exploration of farmer selection methods and perspectives on participatory plant breeding of organic wheat and oat varieties. The Bauta family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security. [date accessed: 2025 May] https://www.seedsecurity.ca/images/resources/on-farm-research/PPB_Selection_Methods_Research_Brief.pdf
Storosko I. 2022. Participatory plant breeding in Canada: The political ecology of participatory research networks for organic agriculture [MA Thesis]. https://repository.library.carleton.ca/concern/etds/nz8060836
Published July 23, 2026
This article is part of the Organic Science Cluster Impact Assessment under Organic Science Cluster 4, an industry-led research and development endeavour co-managed by the Organic Federation of Canada and the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada at Dalhousie University and supported by the AgriScience Program under Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership together with over 80 funding partners.
