Canterra Seeds announced May 1 it has acquired Alliance Seed for an undisclosed amount, and will continue to operate Alliance as “a standalone brand under Canterra Seeds’ umbrella, with key staff transitioning to maintain continuity and customer relationships.”

Alliance, headquartered in Winnipeg, dates back to 2009, when it formed as a joint venture between two privately held Winnipeg grain and agrifood firms (Paterson Grain, Parrish and Heimbecker) and four Saskatchewan grain terminal firms (North West Terminal, Weyburn Inland Terminal, Prairie West Terminal, Great Sandhills Terminal).

Paterson announced in December 2023 it had bought P&H’s share for an undisclosed amount. North West Terminal — the only other company still holding a share of Alliance at that time — later reported it had sold its stake in November 2024 for $8,300.

Alliance’s roster of seed varieties includes five varieties of Canada Western Red Spring wheat, one Canada Western Red Winter wheat, three durums, two Canada Prairie Spring Red wheats, three pea varieties, three barley varieties and two oat varieties.

Canterra, in a release May 1, described the deal as a “strategic acquisition” that supports its goal of “expanding its footprint in the pedigreed seed market by bringing high-performing, proven varieties such as CDC Endure milling oats and AAC Leroy VB CWRS wheat to more farmers across Western Canada.”

Alliance “has built an impressive portfolio and a network supported by committed seed growers,” Canterra CEO Brent Derkatch said in the release. “With our experience, we’re confident we can build on this strong foundation, help the brand grow, and offer even more value to Canadian farmers.”

Shane Paterson, director of trading and transportation for Paterson Grain and the former president of Alliance, said in the same release that as Paterson “looked for the right successor, it was important to find someone who aligned with Alliance Seed’s culture and commitment to personalized service.”

Paterson, he said, “look(s) forward to continuing our support through our retail network.”

Formed in 1996 by a group of Prairie seed growers, Winnipeg-based Canterra’s stakeholders today include about 175 seed growers, ag retailers and other private investors.

Among those are French farmer co-operative Limagrain, which bought its stake when it set up a wheat breeding joint venture with Canterra in 2015, and United Farmers of Alberta (UFA), which bought a 17 per cent share of Canterra from Ceres Global Ag Corp. for $2.5 million in July last year.

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Please note the following list includes only brand-new variety releases for 2025.

READ MORE: New tools could speed up development of cereal varieties

Alliance Seed

CWRS: CDC Envy is an early-maturity, semi-dwarf spring wheat with high yield potential, yielding 14 per cent more than the check cultivar average in the 2018-2020 Parkland Cooperative Wheat Trials. CDC Envy offers good lodging resistance as well as excellent protection against sprouting. It also delivers reliable disease defence, with intermediate tolerance to fusarium head blight (FHB) and stem rust, moderate resistance to stripe rust and resistance to leaf rust.

Canterra Seeds

Barley: AAC Lariat is a two-row feed barley with very high yield potential, yielding four per cent more on average than CDC Austenson. This variety has short strong straw and excellent standability and produces plumper seeds and higher test weight compared to check varieties. AAC Lariat’s maturity and feed quality tested as good or better than check varieties and it has a good disease protection package as well, making it suitable for all feed barley-growing areas.

Triticale: TriCal Surge TM is an awnless forage spring triticale variety with excellent yield potential. TriCal Surge TM is suitable for all areas where forage crops are grown, and it provides excellent nutritional quality for dairy and beef rations. It has a shorter stature and very good straw strength and offers a good disease resistance package similar to existing commercial forage varieties.

FP Genetics

CWRS: AAC Darby is an awned, hollow-stemmed spring wheat offering high yields equal to AAC Viewfield and AAC Brandon. This midge-tolerant variety has very early maturity that is five days earlier than AC Carberry and one day earlier than Parata, and it also features good protein similar to AC Carberry. AAC Darby has good lodging resistance as well as a solid disease resistance package that includes a resistant rating for leaf rust and stripe rust, a moderately resistant rating for stem rust and an intermediate rating for FHB.

Oat: CDC Anson is a white milling oat with very short plant height and very good lodging resistance and standability. It has excellent milling characteristics that include high plump percentages, low thins, excellent groat percentage, high beta-glucan content and total dietary fibre content. CDC Anson also offers excellent yield potential, yielding four per cent more that AC Morgan and three per cent more than CS Camden.

Proven Seed

CWRS: CDC Imbue CL is the newest Clearfield Plus wheat in the Proven Seed portfolio. This earlier-maturing, semi-dwarf variety has a compact plant height and offers increased yield and protein compared to other Clearfield lines. CDC Imbue CL also features a solid defensive package that includes a resistant rating for leaf rust and stripe rust and a moderately-resistant rating for FHB.

CPSR: AAC Camrose VB is a midge-tolerant variety that is the highest yielding wheat across the Proven Seed portfolio. It has excellent standability as well as an excellent disease protection package, with a resistant rating for stem rust, leaf rust, stripe rust, loose smut and bunt.

SeCan

CWRS: AAC Spike is an exceptionally short-strawed red spring wheat with an earlier maturity than AAC Brandon. It has an excellent disease protection package, with a resistant rating for leaf rust, stem rust and stripe rust and a moderately resistant rating for FHB. AAC Spike also has good resistance to sprouting and is well suited for areas where straw management is a concern.

CPSR: AAC Westlock is a variety well suited to the traditional CPSR wheat-growing areas in central Alberta. It has high yield potential, yielding eight per cent more than AAC Brandon and five per cent more than AAC Penhold. AAC Westlock features a moderately-resistant rating for FHB and a resistant rating for leaf rust, stem rust and stripe rust. It also has good resistance to sprouting.

CWSP: Alotta is a red-seeded wheat suitable for feed, forage or ethanol. This variety has exceptionally high yield potential, yielding 27 per cent more than AAC Brandon on average. Alotta is rated moderately susceptible to FHB, but is rated as resistant to leaf rust, stem rust and stripe rust. It also has a very good rating for lodging.

CWRW: AAC Overdrive is an early-maturing red winter wheat well suited to all growing areas in Western Canada. Maturing five days earlier than AAC Wildfire, AAC Overdrive has an excellent disease defence package, with a moderately-resistant rating for FHB and leaf rust and a resistant rating for stripe rust and stem rust.

Barley: CDC Durango is a two-row feed barley with very good lodging resistance, strong straw and high yield potential. This variety has four per cent more yield compared to CDC Austenson and has 12 per cent more yield and is five centimetres shorter than CDC Copeland.

Oat: ORe BOOST is a forage oat with improved tonnage and quality compared to CDC Haymaker. It is also shorter and has stronger straw than CDC Haymaker, which makes for an easier harvest. It is a late-maturing variety, which provides a wider forage harvest window as well.

ORe BOOST has an upright leaf structure that promotes leaf retention and aids in compatibility with other species in forage blends. It is rated as susceptible to both leaf and stem rust.

It will also carry a Variety Use Agreement (VUA), with royalties going back to plant breeder Jim Dyck at Oat Advantage to support future breeding efforts in feed/forage oats.

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“P&H has been a great equity partner and a strong supporter of seed genetics in Canada, and we thank them for their many contributions to Alliance and the industry,” said Shane Paterson, director of trading and transportation at Paterson in a news release.

Winnipeg-based Alliance Seed began in 2009 as a joint venture between Paterson Grain (a division of Paterson GlobalFoods), Parrish and Heimbecker, Weyburn Inland Terminal of Weyburn, Sask.; North West Terminal (NWT) of Unity, Sask.; Prairie West Terminal of Plenty, Sask.; and Great Sandhills Terminal at Leader, Sask.

With the recent sale, North West Terminal and Paterson are the two remaining shareholders.

“The joint venture, established in 2009, has proven to be mutually beneficial, creating synergies
that have contributed to the success of all shareholders. P&H looks forward to continuing on as a
channel partner with Alliance.” said Anthony Kulbacki, president of P&H’s grain division.

Alliance operations will not change as a result of this transaction, the news release said.

—Geralyn Wichers is associate digital editor of AGCanada.com. She writes from southeastern Manitoba.

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