Seed Selection Insights for Canadian Farmers

Brian Paff

Sep 18, 2020

Seed selection is a fundamental part of every growing season. After all, much of your farm’s yield potential is determined at seeding. So it makes sense that your investment in seed is one of the most important decisions you will make all season long.

But how do you evaluate the many hybrids and varieties on the market today to choose seeds that have the potential to deliver the most value to your operation?

FBN® Seed Finder is a game-changer for seed selection

FBN Seed Finder—available to all Canadian farmers once they sign up for a free FBN membership* and upload or email a seed invoice and some basic information—can help you put together a seed lineup for the next growing season to maximize your profit potential.

Want to access FBN Seed Finder insights?

Our tool provides you with insights from more than 4.7 million acres of real-world, member-contributed data covering more than 300 seed varieties used across Canada, including canola, wheat, peas, barley and other crops—all delivered conveniently to your mobile phone.

By uploading or emailing a seed invoice and entering some basic information from your operation, you will unlock all of FBN Seed Finder’s insights for your farm and fields, including:

Yield Potential

FBN Yield Potential is built into Seed Finder, helping you evaluate different seed varieties on each field based on real-world performance data in response to soil type and various agronomic practices.

For example, our analysis for our recent report, The Future of the Family Farm, showed that farmers who planted the canola hybrid recommended through Seed Finder outperformed those who planted some other seed variety by an average of 7 bushels per acre.**

These insights have the potential to make a big difference for farmers across the Prairies.

“Using Seed Finder, that’s a game-changer,” says Riley Emerson, a farmer from Alberta. “It’s going to make a difference for our operation when we’re looking at canola hybrids, seeing the yield across so many farms and what works in our area.”***

With Seed Finder at your fingertips, you can browse performance data in response to various factors—planting population, nitrogen, crop rotation, precipitation and planting speed—and find the best seeds for every field on your farm, accounting for your specific soil types, drainage and irrigation.

Want to know more about our data-driven tools?

Price Transparency

Another important component of Seed Finder is FBN Price Transparency. Drawing from more than 1,000 member-provided seed invoices, the tool provides real-world price information on more than 200 commercial seed varieties.

Farmers have traditionally put in a lot of legwork looking for a good price, contacting retailers and sales reps to see what they could find. Our tool is right at your fingertips, frequently uncovering the opportunity for significant savings. 

“Price transparency is fantastic for farmers,” says Darren Sander, a farmer in Saskatchewan. “It gives us a level playing field when we’re buying inputs to know that we’re getting the best possible deal for our farms.”***

The tool allows you to see what prices other farmers in your region are paying for a particular hybrid or variety, helping you make more confident decisions when it comes to purchasing seed.

"Price transparency gives us a level playing field when we’re buying inputs to know that we’re getting the best possible deal for our farms."

- Darren Sander, Saskatchewan***

Seed price and performance insights can help you make more confident decisions when it comes to selecting seed. Get started with your free FBN membership today to put Seed Finder to work on your farm.

Sign up for your free FBN member account

Join a global network of farmers — 30,000 strong and growing—who are already taking advantage of the opportunity to reduce their cost of production and maximize the value of their crops. Sign up for your free membership today.


* Free membership is currently available to Canadian farmers in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Fees may apply for certain product and service offerings other than FBN membership.

** Individual results and performance may vary depending on local growing, soil and weather conditions.

InVigor® and LibertyLink® are registered trademarks of BASF Canada Inc. 

***Testimonials are not indicative of future performance or success. FBN merchandise provided for testimonials.

Copyright © 2014-2021 Farmer's Business Network Canada, Inc. All rights reserved. The sprout logo, "Farmers Business Network", "FBN", and "Farmers First" are registered trademarks of Farmer's Business Network Canada, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. .

Brian Paff

Sep 18, 2020