Canada’s canola sector is navigating a period of pressure and possibility, shaped by global trade uncertainty, farm profitability concerns, and rapid technological change. Against that backdrop, investment decisions by major crop science companies are increasingly focused on whether innovation can help farmers manage volatility while maintaining long-term returns.
In this interview with RealAgriculture, Antoine Bernet, head of Bayer CropScience Canada, says geopolitical instability has intensified the need to support Canadian growers as they face tighter margins and less predictable markets. Tariffs, shifting trade relationships, and protectionist policies abroad are adding risk to an already complex operating environment for canola producers. “The question for us at Bayer is how we can help farmers to go through this uncertainty and help them to keep profitability on their farm and make sure that they drive and they use innovation on farm,” Bernet says.
Bernet points to sustained investment in research, breeding, and infrastructure as central to that strategy. He highlights Bayer’s focus on developing new canola hybrids with improved disease resistance and yield stability, alongside capital investments such as the company’s seed treating and packaging facility in Coaldale, Alta. The goal, he said, is to bring new genetics to market faster while ensuring farmers have access to on-the-ground support throughout the growing season.
Looking ahead, Bernet says that breeding priorities are evolving beyond yield alone. With climate variability making growing conditions harder to predict, consistency from year to year is becoming just as important as top-end performance. He said new precision breeding approaches are allowing researchers to design hybrids intended to deliver more reliably across different weather scenarios. “We need to be able to develop this new generation of hybrids where farmers can count on, regardless, I would say almost regardless how the weather will look like,” he says.
While challenges remain, Bernet said Canada’s scale, professional farm operations, and integrated canola value chain continue to make the country a compelling place to invest. In his view, those fundamentals position Canadian canola to remain competitive, even as global uncertainty reshapes agricultural markets.
Read more from Bayer here.