SGS announced the acquisition of BioVision Seed Labs on Friday. Founded in 1996, BioVision employs 20 staff between its headquarters in Sherwood Park and facilities in Winnipeg and Grand Prairie. The company offers seed, grain and soil testing across a broad variety of crops. Its labs and experts are accredited under CFIA, CSI and ISO… Read More

Aphanomyces is a soil-borne water mold thatcauses devastating root rots in pulses, especially pea and lentil crops. Unfortunately for farmers, the aphanomyces spores can live in the soil for 10 years, and thrive under wet conditions. That means, not only has this root rot advanced rapidly across many areas of Saskatchewan and Alberta, but it’s… Read More

After years of filming Under the Microscope over Skype, and in crowded trade show hallways, we are beyond excited to publish the next two episodes of our series with BioVision Seed Labs, filmed from their Sherwood Park laboratory. In this episode, Holly Gelech, business development manager, walks us through the company’s treasured herbarium. When most of us think… Read More

Testing for clubroot falls into an interesting classification — it’s a disease, yes, but it’s in soil. Do you send samples to a soil lab or a seed lab? In this edition of Under the Microscope, Holly Gelech, business development manager with Biovision Seed Labs, walks us through how labs test for clubroot and while… Read More

The hangover of 2014’s long, drawn out, wet harvest has already taken a toll on seed supplies of certain crop types for 2015, says Holly Gelech, Biovision Seed Lab’s business development manager. The full fallout, however, has likely not been realized. “Farmers did a great job this fall getting seed samples in early,” says Gelech,… Read More

Change happens fast in agriculture. Just a century ago, Canadian farmers were behind a horse and plow. Today, we talk about cab comfort, the potential for unmanned aerial vehicle spraying, smart phone apps and biotechnology. The seed industry is no different. The process of collecting and testing a sample of seed is continually evolving as well…. Read More