What Crop Development Centre - USask does

The Crop Development Centre (CDC) is a field crop research centre established in 1971 within the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. It operates five specialized breeding programs, Cereals, Forages, Oilseeds, Pulses, and Specialty Crops, supported by research infrastructure that includes a 1,450-hectare land base, 1,200 m² of greenhouse space, a 183-chamber Controlled Environment Facility (Phytotron), a state-of-the-art 10,000-square-foot Breeder Seed Facility at Kernen Crop Research Farm, and the Grains Innovation Laboratory encompassing wet chemistry, baking, malting, and milling laboratories. Core technology combines conventional plant breeding with molecular tools, DNA markers, genomic selection, and pre-breeding techniques to expand genetic diversity and accelerate genetic gain across 40+ crop types. Since inception, CDC has commercialized nearly 600 varieties spanning wheat, durum, barley, oat, flax, canaryseed, pulses, forages, and more recently soybeans.

CDC operates as a public research institution rather than a commercial enterprise. Its revenue model is diversified across four streams: (1) seed licensing royalties from variety commercialization agreements with seed companies (royalties had reached approximately $900K by 2009-10); (2) breeder seed sales at published unit prices (e.g., $28/kg for cereals, $25/kg for pulses, $35/kg for chickpea); (3) producer checkoff funding administered through organizations like the Western Grains Research Foundation and provincial commissions; and (4) government grants from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, Agriculture Development Fund, and Genome Canada. Recent multi-year funding commitments include $11.8M from CWRC (2025-2030), $6.5M from Sask Wheat (2025-2027), $1.8M from CBRC (2025-2028), and $4.18M from ADF (2025). The 2019-20 fiscal year encompassed 116 research programs worth $30.1M, with the 2023 ADF commitment of $7.2M providing five-year operational funding.

The primary customer segments are Western Canadian grain producers (Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba), seed companies that license CDC varieties (SeCan, FP Genetics, Alliance Seed, Canterra Seeds, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Brett Young Seeds, DSV Northstar), and agricultural industry partners (BASF, Corteva, General Mills, Sapporo, Warburtons). CDC varieties account for 43% of crops traced back to CDC in Western Canada, with dominant share in specific crops including 96% of chickpea acres, 95% of lentil acres, 87% of flax acres, and 75% of winter wheat acres. An independent economic impact study attributed $3.8 billion in increased producer profitability from 1991-2015 and a seven-fold return on every dollar invested in plant breeding.

Name

Crop Development Centre - USask

Legal name

Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan

Website

https://cdc.usask.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Crop Development Centre (CDC) is a field crop research centre within the University of Saskatchewan that develops and commercializes new crop varieties across 40+ crop types for Western Canadian grain producers, seed companies, and agricultural industry partners through licensed breeding programs and royalty-based commercialization.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research & Plant Breeding

NAICS

Other Crop Farming (1119), Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating (115112)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Plant Breeding & Variety Development (Conventional) (AFAGAIAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Biotechnology & Gene-Edited Trait Development (AFAGAIAG), Seed Conditioning & Processing (Cleaning, Grading, Treating) (AFAGAIAH), Digital Breeding & Bioinformatics Software (Breeding informatics, decision tools) (AFABALAL)

Keywords

• Crop variety development
• Plant breeding research
• Seed licensing
• Breeder seed production
• Agricultural field crops

Headquarters

HQ city

Saskatoon

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Seed Licensing Royalties: Royalties from licensing varieties to seed companies; grew to approximately $900,000 by 2009-10
2. Breeder Seed Sales: Sale of breeder seed produced in small plots; provides original parent seed for all other classes of pedigreed seed
3. Producer Checkoffs: Per-unit financial contributions deducted from sales through producer commissions for wheat, barley, pulses, and other crops
4. Government Grants and Funding: Strategic research funding from Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, Agriculture Development Fund, and federal government programs
5. Public Release Varieties: Specialty varieties available royalty-free to seed growers, producers, and general public

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Crop Development Centre is a field crop research centre within the University of Saskatchewan's College of Agriculture and Bioresources that develops and commercializes new crop varieties across cereals, forages, oilseeds, and pulses. It breeds new varieties using molecular tools, genomic selection, and conventional methods; produces breeder seed at a state-of-the-art facility; evaluates quality through dedicated laboratories; and licenses varieties to qualified seed companies for multiplication, marketing, and distribution, while also making specialty varieties available royalty-free through its Public Release Program.

Product overview

The Crop Development Centre (CDC) at the University of Saskatchewan operates as a comprehensive crop development organization offering multiple interconnected products and services. The core offering consists of five specialized plant breeding programs (Cereals, Forages, Oilseeds, Pulses, and Specialty Crops) that develop and commercialize new crop varieties. Supporting these breeding programs are research services including Crop Quality Research (wet chemistry, quality labs, malting lab), Crop Pathology Research, Molecular Breeding (DNA markers, genomic selection), and Pre-Breeding services. The CDC also provides commercialization pathways through Licensing Services, Material Transfer Agreements, and Research Collaborations. Additionally, the organization produces Breeder Seed through its state-of-the-art facility and maintains a Public Release Program for certain specialty varieties. Since its inception in 1971, the CDC has commercialized nearly 600 varieties across over 40 different crop types.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CDC Cereals Program Development and breeding of barley, canaryseed, durum, oat, and wheat varieties for western Canadian agriculture.
• CDC Forages Program Development and breeding of tall fescue, hybrid wheatgrass, timothy grass, and meadow brome grass varieties.
• CDC Oilseeds Program Development and breeding of flax and soybean varieties.
• CDC Pulses Program Development and breeding of dry bean, chickpea, fababean, lentil, and field pea varieties.
• Breeder Seed Production Production of breeder seed of 65 different varieties representing 12 different crop kinds, processed at the state-of-the-art 10,000 square foot Breeder Seed Facility at the Kernen Crop Research Farm.
• Variety Licensing Services Licensing of CDC varieties to qualified commercialization partners through formal RFP and evaluation process.
• Public Release Program Making specialty varieties publicly available for royalty-free purchase by seed growers, producers, and the general public.

Quantifiable outcome

• 43% of Western Canadian crops trace back to CDC varieties
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Canadian Barley Research CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 September 2025CBRC committed $1.8 million over three years to extend core breeding agreement and support development of barley varieties with improved agronomics, disease resistance, and end-use quality.
• Saskatchewan Wheat Development CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 July 2025Sask Wheat committed $6.5 million to support establishment of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission Applied Genomics and Pre-breeding Chair at USask.
• Canadian Wheat Research CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 January 2025CWRC committed $11.8 million over five years to core breeding agreement with CDC for wheat variety development.
• Saskatchewan Ministry of AgriculturecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 January 2025Government of Saskatchewan through Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) providing core operating funding and research grants to CDC.
• Saskatchewan Pulse GrowerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership; in 1997 signed agreement for annual grant of $340,000 with CDC assigning marketing rights of new pulse varieties. SPG purchased land for pulse research.
• SeCancoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor seed company marketing partner for CDC barley varieties including CDC Armstrong, CDC Churchill, CDC Fraser, CDC SKrush, and CDC Jimini lentil.
• FP GeneticscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMarketing partner for CDC Copper barley, CDC Westgate oat, CDC Landmark VB wheat, CDC Anson oat, CDC Arborg oat.
• Alliance SeedcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMarketing partner for CDC Precision durum and CDC Endure oat varieties.
• Canterra SeedscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMarketing partner for CDC Alba canaryseed, CDC Lumio, CDC Cibo, and CDC Calvi varieties.
• BASFminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrivate sector partner engaged in crop development collaborations.
• CortevaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrivate sector partner engaged in crop development collaborations.
• General MillsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrivate sector partner engaged in crop development collaborations.
• Nutrien Ag SolutionscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMarketing partner for CDC Saltking hybrid wheatgrass forage variety.
• WarburtonsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK bakery that chose CDC Teal wheat variety as key ingredient in flour blend due to superior dough strength.
• Agriculture and Agri-Food CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal government research partner providing access to research centres and collaborative research programs.
• Protein Industries CanadaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry-led not-for-profit focused on developing Canada's plant protein sector; CDC research into production and use of plant protein.
• Saskatchewan Barley Development CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProducer commission funding barley breeding research at CDC.
• Saskatchewan Oat Development CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProducer commission funding oat breeding research at CDC.
• Saskatchewan Oilseeds Development CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProducer commission funding flax and oilseed breeding research at CDC.

Scale indicators20 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Syngenta Group: Global seed-and-crop-protection major with cereal and pulse variety programs relevant to Western Canada; comparable as a broad incumbent in the same upstream crop-development space as CDC.
• Corteva Agriscience: Global seed-and-trait major and listed CDC private-sector partner; comparable as a much larger incumbent with internal plant-breeding programs targeting overlapping Prairie cereal and oilseed markets.
• Bayer Crop Science: Global seed-and-trait major (including legacy Monsanto) with canola, wheat, and oilseed breeding programs targeting Western Canada; comparable as a broad incumbent competing in overlapping Prairie crop categories.
• BASF Agricultural Solutions: Global agriscience major and listed CDC partner; comparable as a broad incumbent with a seed-and-trait portfolio that overlaps CDC's wheat, oilseed, and pulse crop territory.

Direct peers

• FP Genetics: Western Canadian seed-marketing partner that commercializes CDC Copper barley, CDC Landmark VB wheat, and CDC Arborg oat; comparable as a CDC license partner in the same regional distribution channel for cereals.
• Canterra Seeds: Canadian seed company marketing CDC Alba canaryseed, CDC Lumio, CDC Cibo, and CDC Calvi varieties; directly comparable as a CDC license partner bringing CDC varieties to market.
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC): Canadian federal research agency with its own network of research centres conducting field-crop breeding (wheat, barley, pulses); directly comparable as a publicly funded peer institution in Canadian plant breeding alongside CDC.
• SeCan: Canada's largest seed-marketing cooperative and a core CDC licensee for barley (CDC Armstrong, CDC Churchill, CDC Fraser) and lentil (CDC Jimini) varieties; directly comparable as a channel that multiplies and markets CDC-derived varieties to Western Canadian farmers.
• Alliance Seed: Canadian seed company marketing CDC Precision durum and CDC Endure oat; comparable as a regional commercialization partner in CDC's variety licensing model.
• CIMMYT: International public wheat and maize breeding center that collaborates with CDC on wheat genomics (e.g., Pozniak-chaired 2019 International Wheat Congress); directly comparable as a global public plant-breeding institution with overlapping mandate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CDC_USask
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/crop-development-centre-usask

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Crop Development Centre - USask