Organic farming businesses meet to discuss the industry at Organic Grain Buyers Forum

Oct 20, 2023

Organic farming businesses gathered virtually to discuss some of the latest events in the market, and how some sectors look to move forward.

One of those businesses is Bioriginal, which provides organic and nonorganic specialty crops for consumers and businesses.

Derek McDonald, director of bioagronomy and vendor relations, says he found the year was tough for getting contract work.

"What we found this year was we contracted for the first time in many years, I want to say since COVID hit, was little to nothing. We would typically contract quite a bit of seed with a lot of different growers. But when the markets went wonky we noticed a lot of growers really became hesitant to lock in any sort of pricing and for that, I won't blame them."

As well he's also seeing some market changes in terms of what organic crops are being asked for.

"We still do quite a bit of Borage, we contract a few thousand acres of borage each year that are unique to us, it's not a common crop ... years and years ago we used to grow probably 1/4 section of organic borge and that will last us the entire year for supply. It was unique because it went into unique organic formulas where it was required. But it's such a small market for that now that I want to say we would maybe use 300 Kilograms of organic borge over the course of the year now."

Other crops do have a chance to shine through for specialty growers as demand may pick up.

There may be a market for organic Catalina, but again the only reason I bring it up is is we are just starting to dabble in it and we're testing the waters. We're looking to see if there is an opportunity there if it's something that we can offer in addition to the organic flax that we do today. As the more trade shows we go to we just seem to be getting more and more inquiries on this stuff."

Source : Pembinavalley online

Video: Why Your Food Future Could be Trapped in a Seed Morgue

In a world of PowerPoint overload, Rex Bernardo stands out. No bullet points. No charts. No jargon. Just stories and photographs. At this year’s National Association for Plant Breeding conference on the Big Island of Hawaii, he stood before a room of peers — all experts in the science of seeds — and did something radical: he showed them images. He told them stories. And he asked them to remember not what they saw, but how they felt.

Bernardo, recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, has spent his career searching for the genetic treasures tucked inside what plant breeders call exotic germplasm — ancient, often wild genetic lines that hold secrets to resilience, taste, and traits we've forgotten to value.

But Bernardo didn’t always think this way.

“I worked in private industry for nearly a decade,” he recalls. “I remember one breeder saying, ‘We’re making new hybrids, but they’re basically the same genetics.’ That stuck with me. Where is the new diversity going to come from?”

For Bernardo, part of the answer lies in the world’s gene banks — vast vaults of seed samples collected from every corner of the globe. Yet, he says, many of these vaults have quietly become “seed morgues.” “Something goes in, but it never comes out,” he explains. “We need to start treating these collections like living investments, not museums of dead potential.”

That potential — and the barriers to unlocking it — are deeply personal for Bernardo. He’s wrestled with international policies that prevent access to valuable lines (like North Korean corn) and with the slow, painstaking science of transferring useful traits from wild relatives into elite lines that farmers can actually grow. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But he’s convinced that success starts not in the lab, but in the way we communicate.

“The fact sheet model isn’t cutting it anymore,” he says. “We hand out a paper about a new variety and think that’s enough. But stories? Plants you can see and touch? That’s what stays with people.”

Bernardo practices what he preaches. At the University of Minnesota, he helped launch a student-led breeding program that’s working to adapt leafy African vegetables for the Twin Cities’ African diaspora. The goal? Culturally relevant crops that mature in Minnesota’s shorter growing season — and can be regrown year after year.

“That’s real impact,” he says. “Helping people grow food that’s meaningful to them, not just what's commercially viable.”

He’s also brewed plant breeding into something more relatable — literally. Coffee and beer have become unexpected tools in his mission to make science accessible. His undergraduate course on coffee, for instance, connects the dots between genetics, geography, and culture. “Everyone drinks coffee,” he says. “It’s a conversation starter. It’s a gateway into plant science.”