Three plant varieties have been named as finalists in the inaugural “Seed of the Year” competition. OAC Kent soybeans, OAC Rex white beans and Guelph Millennium asparagus are being recognized in the competition’s inaugural year.

These finalists will be recognized at the Seed of the Year awards ceremony, taking place at 3 p.m. on Friday, November 4, 2005 in the Royal Room at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.  At this time the winner will be announced.  

This event is open to industry professionals, media, members from the farming community and public and private plant breeders.

Through the Seed of the Year application process, public breeders were encouraged to highlight their research accomplishments in developing a new variety of fruit, vegetables or field crops. In its inaugural year, Seed of the Year focused on attracting submissions from public seed breeders in Eastern Canada.

Seed varieties were evaluated based on their performance, sustainability, marketability, value chain and end use potential, and overall impact on industry.

The competition has been designed by the University of Guelph and industry representatives from SeCan, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Additional sponsorship has been provided by the Ontario Asparagus Growers` Marketing Board, Ontario Bean Producers’ Marketing Board and the Ontario Soybean Growers.