The National Farmers Union (NFU) has been throwing stones at Federal Agricultural Minister Gerry Ritz this week about the EU / Canada Free Trade Agreement that should be finalized by the end of the year.

In a recent Better Farming story, NFU President Terry Boehm is quoted as saying…….

These measures are so draconian that they would generate a culture of fear in the countryside where farmers would be complying and buying seeds out of fear of losing their farms or having them seized.

I would find it hard to believe that Gerry Ritz would negotiate anything into this agreement that did not allow farmers to save seed if they chose to without breaching plant breeders rights or any attached intellectual property contracts.

My reaction to this kind of quote is pure nonsense and just NFU grandstanding but getting the facts straight is important.   To set the record straight I called Patty Townsend, VP of the Canadian Seed Trade Association about all this stone throwing to get a handle on what is actually being negotiated with the Europeans.

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