Centre de criblage Marc Bercier Inc. in St-Isidore is expanding its services – launching the company’s own brand of seeds under the CCMB label, with products specifically created for growing conditions in Eastern Ontario.
“As experienced seed growers, conditioners and distributors in Eastern Ontario, we’ve been listening, throughout the years, to our dealers and clients’ needs and challenges in the field,” said CCMB’s co-owner and manager Karine Bercier.
CCMB has partnered with an innovative seed developer to offer the best quality and performance lineup of seeds for its customers.
“With CCMB varieties, our objective is to provide a portfolio of seeds that are grown locally at a competitive price and that promote sustainable farming,” Bercier explains. “As sustainable farmers ourselves, we serve our clients and dealers with quality seeds while reducing our environmental footprint.”
While Centre de criblage Marc Bercier Inc. will be offering its own products to distributors and end customers, it will also continue to offer seeds from other companies.
“We will continue to work with our great affiliates such as C&M Seeds, Secan and Semican Inc. but we wish to add a different option in the mix,” Bercier said.
Karine and her husband Guillaume Bercier – who is in charge of the company’s fields – represent the fourth generation of the Bercier family on the St-Isidore farm. Guillaume’s parents Chantal and Marc met at Alfred College in while studying there between 1983 and 1985. Both generations are equal partners in CCMB, which was incorporated in 1996.
“Marc has always had the vision of having a sustainable farm and he’s always thinking of the future generations in all of his products,” said Karine Bercier. “We, as the next generation, have that same vision.”
CCMB cleans seeds and distributes products for many other companies and has always been satisfied with its suppliers, the company’s manager said. However the Berciers wanted to develop seeds specifically geared towards the conditions faced by the farmers of Eastern Ontario that the company serves.
“We’ve always wanted varieties that we had more control over,” says Karine Bercier, noting each of the offerings were tested on the Bercier farm. “We’ve built a lineup of varieties that have had success in our region.”
The CCMB varieties offered use minimal treatments to reduce costs and help boost sustainable farming. She noted the reduced costs will be of benefit to both distributors and the end users.
“We just apply the necessary treatments with varieties that perform well here,” said Karine Bercier. “That’s what the local market was asking for.”
As initial offerings, CCMB is featuring the following products:
HALTIFO – Clear Hilum Soybean – 2600HU – Great complementary in yield and protein level – Protein – 44.3% – Yielded on Bercier Farm this year at 1.41MT/AC.
STARLITE – Hard Red Spring Wheat – Early variety with great performance in Eastern Ontario – Protein – 14.7% – Falling number – 390S – Yielded on Bercier Farm this year at 1.99MT/AC.
ARIBER – 6-Row Barley – Excellent yield in grain and straw – Disease resistant – Yielded at 2.43MT/AC at our local grower.
ALISE – Dual Purpose Oats – Top yield in grain and excellent yield in forage with high protein – Protein – 14.25% – Yielded at 1.6MT/AC at our grower.
