Positive signals but challenges remain
PGG Wrightson (PGW) chief executive Stephen Guerin says that while there are positive signals within the market, there are also challenges.
Plant breeder Richard George leads a team of 13 staff working on the grass breeding pipeline for New Zealand, Australia and some parts of South America at PGG Wrightson Seeds, a member of the New Zealand Plant Breeding and Research Association (PBRA).
He says pooling his team's individual strengths and collaborating helps create better outcomes than working in isolation.
His pathway into plant breeding was typical of many of his peers. Growing up on dairy, beef and deer farms, he was naturally drawn to the sector.
While studying for his degree in Agricultural Science at Lincoln University, he joined the plant breeding team at Cropmark Seeds for a summer internship. After returning for another stint the following summer, he was offered a full-time graduate role in the company's plant breeding team.
"My interest really grew around what the role was. It ticked my boxes, mainly for its connection to agriculture and genetics but also its career opportunities," he says.
"I quickly learned that plant breeding connects you from the farmgate right through to applied science, and that really interested me because you're working in a number of disciplines that you might not get exposed too in other roles."
Richard was encouraged to return to university to complete further study specialising in plant breeding. He credits his early positive experiences in the forage seed industry, coupled with the encouragement of Dr Rainer Hoffman at Lincoln University and the opportunity at PGG Wrightson Seeds to undertake further study.
Richard completed his PhD with the backing of a scholarship from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, that required him to work alongside industry. The configuration of the scholarship meant Richard had the opportunity to work alongside mentors and teams at Lincoln University, Crown Research Institues AgResearch and industry sponsor, PGG Wrightson Seeds.
During his final year of study, he accepted an offer to work as a plant breeder at PGG Wrightson Seeds, where he has been for the past 12 years. Richard continues to receive ongoing mentoring from his local managers but also his global research colleagues in PGG Wrightson Seeds' parent company, DLF.
He still spends some time working in the field but says managing staff has provided surprising rewards for himself after initially thinking he would focus more on the technical side of plant breeding.
"I have realised that to be effective, you do need a bigger team than just yourself and so it's developing those skills to manage people, projects and a team, that's really important," he says.
"Relationship management is one of the key attributes to make a successful plant breeder along with having a technically competent, but empowered team."
He says anyone keen on a career as a forage plant breeder must have strong affinity with agriculture and, in particular, a good understanding of how farm systems work.
"You don't need a PhD but it can certainly help with career progression in a field underpinned by science.
"For me personally, I think it's given me a good foundation in genetics and the ability to understand and critique science pipelines and proposals. But you don't necessarily need to have all these skills yourself, you just need to have a team that does," he says.
The ability to collaborate is critical, he says, especially when it comes to plant breeding strategy and setting goals for what the company will have ready fro commercial release in 10-15 years.
"You are crystal ball gazing, so this is where we heavily lean on some of our external partnerships with science providers like AgResearch or Plant & Food, because they can help guide our decision making."
Plant breeders are always working with many diverse lines of germplasm that could ultimately deliver a new set of cultivars for the farm systems of the future. Eliminating germplasm that fails to perform is all part of the process.
Looking ahead, Richard says the opportunity and motivation is still there to breed and release new cultivars that will create better returns for farmers. "I'd argue with the changes in legislation and changes in the climate, there's actually more opportunity than ever for plant breeders to deliver new options for farmers," he says.
"We still need the sort of incremental gain in the performance of our grasses that we've been delivering for a long period, but with new tools and technology there's actually opportunity to do some exciting stuff that we've never been able to do before."
