We presented a series of six webinars in January and February 2023 on organic plant breeding for independent plant breeders, farmers interested in selection, regional seed companies and plant breeding students. The webinars were led by the Organic Seed Alliance, eOrganic and collaborators on a NIFA OREI funded project on collaborative plant breeding project in the Upper Midwest. Although the content will be targeted to the Upper Midwest, much of the material will be relevant to other regions as well. Participants will benefit from online interaction with independent breeders, seed company breeders and farmer breeders from around the U.S. Webinars will be interactive and accompanied by an online resources section. All presentations will take place at 11AM Pacific, 12 Mountain, 1 Central and 2 Eastern Time. Registering just once will allow you to attend all the webinars in the series!
- January 10, 2023: Goal Setting and Breeding Project Design. This webinar will explore the early stages of developing a breeding project, identifying the market need for certain traits, articulating clear goals, and designing the project to efficiently achieve the goals. We will cover how to set up organizational systems and use tools such as SeedLinked to streamline data collection. Participants will also learn how to connect with on-farm trial sites and partners.
Presenters: Julie Dawson, University of Wisconsin Madison; Keith Mueller, KC Tomato; Erica Kempter, Nature & Nurture Seeds; Nico Enjalbert, SeedLinked; Jenn Cava, University of Wisconsin; Moderator: Michael Lordon, Organic Seed Allience.
Additional Resources:
- Organic Seed Alliance Plant Breeding Publications: https://
seedalliance.org/all- publications/?fwp_publication_ topic=plant-breeding - Organic Seed Commons: https://www.
organicseedcommons.org/ - Organic Plant Breeding Resource collection from NOVIC project: https://eorganic.
info/node/7609 - Plant Breeding for Organic Systems Article: https://eorganic.org/
node/741 - January 17, 2023: Selecting High-quality Breeding Material. This webinar will include how to vet and access breeding material from a variety of sources, and how to define criteria for selecting parents. Specific topics will include using the National Plant Germplasm System and international genebanks, accessing germplasm from other breeding programs, how to write and negotiate Material Transfer Agreements, and best practices for intellectual property protection. Presenters: Michael Mazourek, Cornell University, Emily Rose Haga, Julie Dawson, UW-Madison, Rue Genger, UW-Madison, Paulina Jenney, UMadison, Michael Lordon, Organic Seed Alliance.
Additional resources
- Organic Seed Commons: https://www.
organicseedcommons.org/ - Accessing Agrobiodiversity (4-part series): https://youtu.be/
w5gfI-sSFaM, https://youtu.be/ AnajTlbYLdA, https://youtu.be/ VJthvO9tHws, https://youtu.be/ KG61yWOYRxY - OSA's IPR Table: https://seedalliance.
org/wp-content/uploads/2020/ 11/IPR-Table_Organic-Seed- Alliance_SPW_4.pdf - On-Farm Variety Trial Guide: https://seedalliance.
org/wp-content/uploads/2018/ 03/Growers-guide-on-farm- variety-trials_FINAL_Digital. pdf - OSA's Introduction to On-Farm Organic Plant Breeding: https://
seedalliance.org/publications/ introduction-to-on-farm- organic-plant-breeding/ - Collaborative Breeding Network Website: https://www.eorganic.
info/collaborativebreeding - January 24, 2023: Management Considerations for Seed Quality. Participants will deepen their understanding of seed-borne diseases and techniques for control. This webinar will include resources and protocols for seed testing in public and private labs, organic-approved seed sanitation procedures, and seed treatment options using hot water or steam. Experts on seed pathology will be presenters and review content. This will be especially relevant to the Upper Midwest, since cold springs and humid summers present challenges in organic seed production. Presenters: Daniel Egel, Purdue University, Erica Kempter, Nature & Nurture Seeds, Julie Dawson, UW-Madison, Michael Lordon, Organic Seed Alliance.
Additional Resources from this webinar:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=MF1e8nn-W7g "Microbial Hitchhikers on Seed: Friend or Foe?" Presentation from 2018 Organic Seed Growers Conference - https://seedalliance.org/
publications/climatic- considerations-for-seed-crops- guidelines-and-field- trainings-for-organic-and- specialty-vegetable-seed- producers/ Climatic Considerations for Seed Crops - https://seedalliance.org/
publications/seed-quality- best-practices-for-vegetable- seed-handling-in-montana/ Seed Quality Best Practices - https://www.npdn.org/ National Plant Diagnostics Network
- https://eorganic.org/node/
33835 Managing Diseases of Tomato in Midwest Using Organic Methods - https://www.
organicseedcommons.org/ Organic Seed Commons - https://www.eorganic.info/
collaborativebreeding Collabor ative Breeding Network Website - Dawson lab tomato seed sanitation protocol
- Hot Water treatment resource from UMass https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/hot-water-seed-treatment
- Seed Ambassadors hot water treatment resource https://www.seedambassadors.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Small-scale-Hot-Water-Treatment.pdf
- National Plant Diagnostic Network https://www.npdn.org/
- January 31, 2023: Getting to Variety Release. This webinar will provide participants with strategies for navigating the process of variety release and commercialization. It will also include considerations about producing and selling seed in-house versus licensing to a larger seed company. We will cover how to make connections with seed companies, intellectual property options, and how to approach royalty agreement negotiations. Presenters will include representatives from company licensing offices as well as independent breeders with successful licensing agreements. Presenters: Emily Rose Haga, Jared Zystro, Organic Seed Alliance, Julie Dawson, UW-Madison, Michael Lordon, Organic Seed Alliance.
Additional resources from the webinar:
- Organic Seed Commons: https://www.
organicseedcommons.org - Collaborative Breeding Network Website: https://www.eorganic.
info/collaborativebreeding - Seed Economics Intensive: Working with Companies: https://youtu.be/
lEEUWqrYq1w - Seed Economics Toolkit: https://seedalliance.
org/publications/seed- economics-toolkit/ - Variety Trial toolkit https://eorganic.org/node/24313
- Running a Small Seed Online Seed Company, OSGC 2022: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=kc0rI5rqKX0 - Seed Commons and Ownership: A Listening Session on IPR https://youtu.be/
0Z7Y1wmVRuk - IPR, Race, and Colonialism: A Community Conversation https://vimeo.
com/606037742 - Organic Integrity Database (use to find seed handlers--fillter the search with seed as the product) https://organic.ams.usda.gov/integrity
- Seed Savers Exchange presentations on seed rematriation https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzNxg5un8z6EVfkbRDiswLYsLBFTSEwmB
- Journal of Plant Registrations https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19403496
- Open Source Seed Initiative https://osseeds.org/
- Open Source Seeds: https://www.opensourceseeds.org/en/home
- All America Selections: https://all-americaselections.org/
- February 7, 2023: Scaling up Seed Production. This webinar will include how to create an enterprise budget for seed production at different scales, including how to do a cost/benefit analysis for producing seed in-house and selling retail, selling wholesale to larger companies, or licensing a variety and letting a third party handle seed production. It will cover how much stock seed to produce for seed company partners to trial, how to maintain breeder and stock seed, how to contract seed production including example contract terms, how to find organic seed production partners and how to conduct quality control for seed produced under contract. Presenters: Tessa Peters, The Land Institute, Erica Kempter, Nature & Nurture Seeds Julie Dawson, UW-Madison, Michael Lordon, Organic Seed Alliance.
Additional Resources
•Seed Economics Intensive Part 1: Inventory Management https://youtu.be/UAGhpdY2yos
•Seed Economics Intensive Part 4: Enterprise Budgets
•Seed Economics Toolkit: https://seedalliance.org/publications/seed-economics-toolkit/
•Organic Seed Production Webinar Part 6: Seed Contracting and Economics: https://youtu.be/XUD-m9N4M3Q
•Seed Contracting Webinar and Forum for Midwest Growers: https://youtu.be/8H8GYuUniyY
•Seed Quality Best Practices: https://seedalliance.org/publications/seed-quality-best-practices-for-vegetable-seed-handling-in-montana/
•Scaling Up Vegetable Seed Production with Steve Peters: https://youtu.be/_TOWOejTdSM
•https://www.organicseedcommons.org/ Organic Seed Commons
https://www.eorganic.info/collaborativebreeding Collaborative Breeding Network Website
https://www.eorganic.info/collaborativebreeding Collaborative Breeding Network Website
- February 14, 2023: Data Management and Analysis. Specific topics will be determined based on the interests of the Midwest regional seed network on the Organic Seed Commons. They will likely include tracking pedigrees, managing crossing blocks, early generation nursery data management, understanding genotype by environment interactions in multi-locational trials, and how to get the most out of the data analysis tools provided through SeedLinked, and resources for more advanced analysis. Presenters: Nico Enjalbert, Seedlinked;
Keith Mueller, KC Tomatoes; Jared Zystro, Organic Seed Alliance; Ambar Carvallo, UW-Madison; Michael Lordon, Organic Seed Alliance.
Resources
- Collaborative Breeding Network Website: https://www.eorganic.info/
collaborativebreeding - Organic Seed Commons: https://www.
organicseedcommons.org - Participatory Plant Breeding Toolkit https://seedalliance.
org/publications/ participatory-plant-breeding- toolkit/ - Methods and Tools for decentralized on farm breeding. Booklet #3. Diversifood Project. https://orgprints.
org/id/eprint/38157/1/ booklet3_decentralized_on_ farm_breeding_BAT_web_A4_2.pdf - Cultivar Testing for Organics Webinars https://www.liveseed.
eu/tools-for-practitioners/ videos/webinars/ - Adaptability Analysis in a Participatory Variety Trial of Organic Vegetable Crops https://www.
researchgate.net/publication/ 330227177_Adaptability_ analysis_in_a_participatory_ variety_trial_of_organic_ vegetable_crops - Breeding Organic Vegetables: A Step-by-Step Guide for Growers https://www.
researchgate.net/publication/ 283346034_Breeding_Organic_ Vegetables_A_Step-by-Step_ Guide_for_Growers - SeedLinked: https://seedlinked.com/
