With the theme “Voyage of Better Seed,” the 2017 American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Annual Convention June 21-24 in Minneapolis will focus on science and policy issues related to the development and free movement of quality seed worldwide.

ASTA president and CEO Andy LaVigne says a number of special sessions and tours are planned for the week, including an Opening General Session panel featuring representatives from several major food companies discussing consumer food trends and a tour of Syngenta’s Seedcare Institute to see its state of the art research and training facility, but the main focus of the meeting is policy. “This year we’ve got a lot of topics in front of us with a new administration, a farm bill out there, all the issues within the farm bill, and how do we develop policy that will benefit the industry into the next year and beyond,” said LaVigne.

Plant breeding innovation is a key issue for the seed industry right now. “We continue to work closely with USDA, the administration, with EPA and FDA on what policy looks like around plant breeding innovation so it doesn’t negatively impact our ability to use tools as they continue to evolve,” LaVigne says.

This meeting is also when new ASTA officers are installed and it includes more than 400 seed industry professionals from every division of the association. Learn more in this interview and make plans to join us on the Voyage! [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/asta-andy-annual.mp3″ text=”Interview with Andy LaVigne, ASTA”]