Lynn Jacobson,

CFA Board Director, Alberta Federation of Agriculture

Growing up working on his grandfather's farm, the progression of Lynn Jacobson taking over the family farm was "a very natural thing to do." The homestead began over a hundred years ago in 1909, and has since grown to 1,500 acres. Lynn is currently producing grains, oil seed and pulses. They used to raise cattle as well, until moving away from that line of business just last year.

On the farm, Lynn manages everything with the help of his brother. "I spend my time doing almost every role," said Lynn, "You name it, I probably do it." One of the biggest changes over the hundred year history of the farm has been the massive developments in machinery. "Raising a crop to harvest has been changed dramatically (because of new machinery)," said Lynn. "Without the developments in technology, we wouldn't have been able to get as far as we have without any hired help."

For Lynn, there has been a lot to be proud of over the hundred-year duration of his family farm. He's proud of all the technological advancements that have been put into place, his family's ability to maintain a decent living, and of his personal ability to give back to the farming community via work he's been able to do on various farming boards. An example of an adjustment that Lynn's farm has made over the years is switching to a minimum till technique. "Adjusting to minimum till has increased efficiencies in production by lowering soil disturbances and keeping more organic matter in the soil," said Lynn. "Minimal till also helps preserve more moisture in the soil."

Lynn's favourite aspect of farming is "doing the job itself, being in the fields." "There is nothing better than that," said Lynn. His least favourite part of farming is the long hours that a farm can command. "It would be nice to have longer holidays," said Lynn, "Sometime I find farming can be too regimented, with tight timelines." "The lake keeps getting more and more attractive," said Lynn with a laugh. In regards to retirement, Lynn is currently contemplating his options. "At this point, we're not sure if a family member may be interested in taking the farm over, or whether it would be best to keep the farm and rent it out." "That being said, we're taking our time with this decision."

Farm safety is something that Lynn and his brother are always working on. "We talk about it all the time," said Lynn. "We don't have any employees, so we don't have an 'official plan', but it's something we take very seriously."

Lynn sells his products to the Canadian Wheat Board, as well as other buyers in the open market. "Open marketing has added another level to the process in terms of management," said Lynn. "We have to watch the markets much more closely now."

In regards to his role with farm organizations and his work on various farming boards, Lynn believes that their influence and impacts are "very much needed." "Farm organizations are very important on the policy and political end of things," said Lynn. "Producers are sometimes reluctant to get involved, it's important that we change that." "It's a work in progress, but various policy changes are leading to more and more involvement." One thing that Lynn wouldn't want to change is farming in Alberta. "Farming in Alberta is great right now," exclaimed Lynn. "We've been fortunate enough to have some great returns over the last few years." 

Bill C-18, Agricultural Growth Act, contains significant amendments to the Plant Breeders' Rights Act (PBRA).  These proposed amendments will do the following:

• Modernize the act by expanding the rights afforded to plant breeders for the varieties they develop,
• Give Canada the option of moving towards the ratification of UPOV '91
• Increase the areas along the value chain and within the seed reproduction chain where plant breeders can collect royalties,
• Grant the 'farmers privilege' by allowing farmers to save and condition seed for use on their own farm,
• Maintain the ability for CFIA to grant compulsory licenses to ensure that in certain situations,  plant varieties are available at reasonable prices, widely distributed and of good quality.

These potential changes could have the following impact on Canadian farmers:

• Enhanced Plant Breeders' Rights provide increasedintellectual property right protection for private companies.
• Providing this protection increases the ability to collect royalties on plant varieties and ensures a return on investment for breeding research.
•  Effective intellectual property rights means that Canadian farmers will have access to the results of private breeding research from Canada and other countries.
• The farmers privilege allows farmers to retain seed from a protected variety for their own use without paying additional royalties.