Pulse Market Insight #232

May 26, 2023

Weather is and always will be the dominant driver of crop markets. That’s obvious. All other factors – geopolitics, trade wars, government policy, hedge funds – take a back seat to rainfall and temperatures. This time of year is the most critical, as crops emerge and yield potential is already being determined.

While every growing season is different, western Canada has seen extremes in the past 3-4 years. In some areas, 2020 was already a drought year, which then widened and deepened in 2021. Most, but not all, areas saw relief in 2022. The 2023 growing season started with widespread concerns about dryness, especially in central and northern areas that are typically wetter at the beginning of the year. Just in the past week though, welcome rains fell in northwest Alberta and north central Saskatchewan. But that still leaves large parts of Alberta facing dry conditions as the crop emerges.

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Video: Democratizing Gene Editing - Pairwise’s Vision for the Future of Agriculture

Pairwise has built its business around an idea that runs counter to how many companies approach innovation: make transformative technology easier to access.

In this Seed World interview, CEO Tom Adams discusses why broader access to gene editing could speed crop improvement, expand innovation opportunities and help agriculture address emerging challenges. He explains why Pairwise believes no single company can solve all of agriculture's problems alone—and why making advanced breeding technologies available to more organizations could accelerate progress across the industry.

The conversation explores how consumer trust influences technology adoption, why innovations like pitless cherries and seedless blackberries matter beyond convenience, and how future crop improvements could help address labor shortages, automation, harvest efficiency and other production challenges. Adams also shares his perspective on what the industry may be underestimating about the next wave of gene editing innovation.

Watch the full interview to hear why Pairwise believes agriculture is approaching an important inflection point for gene editing, and why the pace of innovation over the next decade could surprise the industry.

Topics Covered:

o Democratizing agricultural innovation

o Consumer trust and technology adoption

o The business case for sharing innovation

o Expanding innovation beyond major crops

o Next-generation breeding technologies