Steve Bowley and Donna Hancock were honoured in the Seed of the Year competition at the Royal yesterday. Their variety Dividend orchardgrass was named Seed of the year at the eighth annual Eastern Canada Seed of the Year competition at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.

Through the Seed of the Year application process breeders are encouraged to highlight their research accomplishments in developing a new field crop, forage, fruit, vegetable or herb variety. Any publicly developed Canadian variety is eligible to compete.

Entries are evaluated on innovation, presence throughout the value chain, sustainability, marketability and overall impact on the Canadian agri-food industry. The competition is sponsored by the University of Guelph and SeCan with additional support from the Ontario agriculture ministry and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Congratulations Donna and Steve!