Current Year Plenary Sessions

To view each of the speaker's presentation, click on the hyperlinks below (where available).

Disclaimer

Reference herein to any specific commercial products, processes, or services by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Prairie Grain Development Committee. The views and opinions of Plenary Session speakers expressed herein are solely those of the speakers, and publication of these on the PGDC website does not constitute an endorsement of these views by the Prairie Grain Development Committee, its members, or the organizations they represent.

 

2025 Annual Meeting Plenary Session
"Seed Modernization and Role of Artificial Intelligence in Plant Breeding and Agriculture"


8:00 - Welcoming Remarks
Ana Badea - Executive Chair at PGDC

8:05 – Plenary Presentations: Seed Modernization


The CFIA’s Seed Regulatory Modernization update with a focus on Variety Registration (40 mins)
Wendy Jahn- National Manager, Seed Section at Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
Questions / Discussion (10 mins)

Building a Next Generation Seed Certification System (15 mins)
Doug Miller- Executive Director at Canadian Seed Growers' Association (CSGA)
Questions / Discussion (10 mins)

Seed Regulatory Modernization: Salvage Operation? (15 mins)
Lauren Comin- Director of Policy at Seeds Canada
Questions / Discussion (10 mins)

Seed Regulatory Modernization, Grain and Technology Advancement (15 mins)
David Hunt- Chief Commissioner at Canadian Grain Commission (CGC)
Questions / Discussion (20 mins)

10:00 - 10:20 - Health and Networking Break

10:20 - Plenary Presentations: Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Plant Breeding and Agriculture


The Promise of AI in Plant Breeding (30 mins)
Tom Croonenborghs - Senior Director AI at Inari
Questions / Discussion (5 mins)

Variety Recognition and Quality Assessment of Grains and Oilseeds using AI (20 mins)
Sebastian Bergada - Product Manager at ZoomAgri
Questions / Discussion (5 mins)

11:20 – Canadian Food Inspection Agency Variety Registration Office (CFIA-VRO) – Updates

An Update from CFIA-VROto the Variety Registration Recommending Committees in Western Canada (30 mins)
Heather Ryan- Program Specialist, Variety Registration at Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
Questions / Discussion (10 mins)

12:00 NOON – Adjourn for Lunch

***We kindly ask attendees to promptly clear the lunch area to allow for the timely start of the next meeting in this room at 1:45PM***