The Partnership
- In May 2025, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (SPG) launched a new breeding collaboration with J4 Agri-Science.
- J4 Agri-Science is an independently owned and operated Saskatchewan-based private plant breeding company, co-founded by plant-breeder Jodi Souter. Jodi has a PhD in plant biology from the University of Saskatchewan. Jodi was also a 2020 Nuffield Scholar and awarded Germination magazine’s Next-Gen Leader award. Her family is involved in primary production with a mixed farm in North East Saskatchewan where Jodi is still actively involved in the grain side of the operation.
- This new partnership adds pulse breeding capacity for faba beans in Saskatchewan.
The Focus
- Faba bean breeding.
- Based in Saskatchewan with an office in Saskatoon, main testing site in North East Saskatchewan, and additional selection and testing sites across the Western Canadian prairies.
- Both SPG and J4 Agri-Science are contributing germplasm and SPG is providing upfront investments to the collaboration.
- Breeding priorities are focused on growers’ greatest priorities, identified by SPG, with speed and a commercial focus, including:
- Low vicine/convicine levels
- Early maturity
- Improved yield
- Improved disease resistance
- This work builds on previous projects that SPG funded in 2022 where J4 Agri-Science focused on developing populations of early-maturing tannin and low-tannin faba beans, as well as resistance to chocolate spot. The populations developed out of these projects will feed into the new faba bean breeding collaboration with SPG.
A full-scale field program began with seeding in 2024 and will continue building in 2025 and beyond.
The New Commercialization Process
- New varieties will be commercialized through seed companies.
- New varieties will be royalty-bearing.
- Farmers will purchase certified seed through seed companies.
- The mechanism for royalty capture on all acres will be determined on a variety-by-variety basis made through a Steering Committee of which SPG is part.
Timing & Expectations
- New varieties will start to be released to growers under this new collaboration as early as 2030.
- SPG is excited about the innovation J4 Agri-Science brings, with a background in breeding, global connections, and focus on the end goal: step change in varieties for growers. Real advancements are expected in yield, maturity, and disease resistance, to name a few. As new crosses are just getting started it will likely take 10 years before growers will see the real benefits of the investments.
- Breeding is a long-term process and it takes several years to move from the beginning of the breeding process to having new varieties ready for commercialization.
