Seeding BC: Angus Richardson

Landscape Trades Magazine

There are probably few Canadians who know as much about seed, and the seed industry, as Vancouver’s Angus Richardson. Richardson has spent his entire life in the seed business. He was born in Inverness, Scotland, where his father own a farm-supply company. As soon as he graduated from Gordonstoun, Drummond Brothers of Sterling, one of Scotland’s main seed companies, took an interest in him and asked him to apprentice. Richardson eagerly joined the firm and began learning the international seed industry by studying in English laboratories and warehouses, and at Dutch and Danish plant-breeding and seed farms.

In 1961, Drummond Brothers sent Richardson to learn about Canada’s seed industry by working for New Westminster’s Brackman-Ker (B&K), which had facilities in Edmonton and Peace River. Richardson worked in a seed plant and warehouse in Edmonton, then spent five months buying seed from Peace River farmers, an experience he remembers fondly. “It was a great responsibility for a young man. I recall them telling me to not buy more than $10,000. worth of seed a day!”

At the end of 1961, Richardson returned to Scotland. Upon his departure however, B&K told him that if he ever left Scotland, a job would be waiting for him in Canada. And when he got home, Drummond Brothers didn’t have an immediate opening. He returned to Canada, met his wife Jean, and the question of where he’d make his life was settled.

Richardson then decided to complete his education and in 1970, graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in agronomy. In the meantime, he worked for B&K, which had been bought by Buckerfield’s. By 1975, Richardson was manager of Buckerfield’s seed division, but when the company moved to BC’s Fraser Valley and its competition, United Grain Growers, closed its Vancouver facility, Richardson saw an opening in the market, decided to take the opportunity and opened Richardson Seed Company.

His decision proved to be fruitful. Richardson Seed Company is now the largest in British Columbia. It supplies agricultural, turf and reclamation seed, primarily to B.C. What makes the company stand out from the rest, other than its seed quality, is the fact that it is the only BC company that handles seed exclusively—no vegetables, no flowers (except wildflowers), no fertilizers and no chemicals.

In agriculture, Richardson supplies seed to farm dealers, as well as pasture grasses such as orchard, brome grass, clovers and alfalfa, to many of BC’s 1,000 dairy farms.

Reclamation seeds are provided wherever land has been disturbed and grasses, legumes and wildflowers are required for re-vegetation. Richardson supplies Western Canada’ largest coal and copper mines, natural gas operations, and highway projects, including the Coquihalla Highway Project, which involved BC’s largest-ever single planting of banks, boulevards and medians. Richardson’s newest reclamation projects for the forest industry–sod-forming grasses such as creeping red fescue, rye, timothy and orchard, are planted at clear-cut sites, to prevent soil erosion and stream pollution.

Richardson’s third speciality is turf grass, and he counts among his clients most of BC’s school districts, park boards and golf clubs. He supplies high-profile lawns such as Minter and Butchart Gardens, and he provided the BC Summer Games and the Commonwealth Games sites with their sport field seed mixes. He also supplies lawn seed to garden stores, and produces the high-End Rich Lawn line of seed, now the market leader among the 15% of BC homeowners who demand top-quality lawns.

Richardson, now 53, remains fascinated by the business. “I was always attracted to plants and agriculture and I’m still amazed by nature’s process –every year, land is ploughed, seeds are sown and bare ground becomes this startling great production. And there’s always more to learn, about different types of grasses, their preferred environments, their flowering patterns… 

“This is a complex business, especially in BC. There are thousands of grasses, and we have vast climatic differences; in December, roses are flowering in Victoria and it’s 45 below zero in Fort St John. Each year, Vancouver gets 40 inches of rain, Kamloops gets 10 inches. Then there are the varying soil conditions relating to elevation.

“And it’s a specialized industry. Developing a seed mixture is the same as mixing a prescription. Each mixture is customized for the project, and our skill is knowing what to choose and how to mix it.”

Richardson’s business operates from a 16,000 sq-ft warehouse in Burnaby, where he stores an average of one million pounds of seed. There is some risk in the high inventory investment, but Richardson says he has to carry all varieties in case clients need them. Seed is harvested in August, sold in April and lasts for three years (although it rarely sits for that long—unsold seed is used for feed). Business explodes in spring when the soil is ready and customers begin to collect up to 80,000 lbs of seed a day.

Richardson Seeds has 10 long-term employees, most of whom have degrees in agriculture. His sales reps deal with farm and residential suppliers, and with end-users such as school boards, landscape architects and garden stores. Each project requires teamwork—Richardson’s people go to each site, analyse the soil, study which grasses will work, then produce the best mixture.

“Some clients know what they want,” says Richardson. “It is true that the farmer’s shoe is the best manure—they know what works. But they often underestimate the amount of seed they need, and they suffer the most from weather problems. So when they need seed, they need it quickly. Speed is important.

“Contactors, landscaper and landscape architects require help in selection. Usually their knowledge is very broad, they may not know about specific species. And in the case of golf courses, the architects are often American and aren’t familiar with our climate, so we have to work very closely with them. Greens require a specialized preparation—we generally supply creeping bent grass. The same applies to school yards where there is little time for grass to rest. Right now, we’re encouraging Barclay Rye Grass, the first pseudo-stoloniferous grass introduced here, which regenerates quickly and resists wear and tear  and weed growth.”

Richardson spends much of his time researching plant materials; he does this by going to where the plants grow. “I spend a lot of time looking for new seed varieties from plant breeders so we can bring them here, test them, adapt them and then introduce them.”

In the process he’s come up with varieties that no other BC company carries, such as Hallmark and Benchmark Orchard Grass, the Dutch Elka, and Barclay creeping rye grass. He imports seed form the western US and from all parts of Canada. Wheat grasses come from Argentina, white clover from New Zealand. At the moment, his most unusual item is the German Poa Supina, which may be the closest grass to no-mow ground cover that has yet surfaced. It has been under observation for about 15 years, and this is its first year of trials, but despite its $75 per pound price tag (it has to be collected with a special vacuum), if it’s successful, it will be the ideal grass for low-maintenance situations.

Richardson Seed Company has special status as an establishment authorized for minimal clearance by Agriculture Canada. This status allows the company to have seed delivered directly to its warehouse, without inspection. “We are a bonded warehouse, which means we’re subject to audits, rather than constant monitoring,” Richardson explains. “We earned that status through our experience and reputation. They know they can trust us.”

Richardson worries about non-bonded companies and how they’ll operate in the future. “With Agriculture Canada’s budget restraints, I’m concerned about the loosening of regulations and the lack of manpower to monitor imports. As it is, many shipments bypass inspection. We declare everything, but not everyone does. With less manpower, offshore shipments may go undeclared and lower-quality seed could be introduced into the market.

“Our clients rely on us to delivery healthy seed. Most seeds are disease-resistant, but they can carry diseases which attack plant material. With modern communication and our knowledge, we know what’s susceptible to disease—that’s a large part of our business. But we reply on suppliers and plant breeders. Everyone works together and there’s a large element of trust involved.”

Richardson stays in touch with his colleagues by attending the annual International Seed Convention, as well as twice yearly conferences in Ottawa, where Canada’s seed merchants meet to discuss legal problems and find mutually-beneficial solutions. “There is a lot of politics and bureaucratic red tape in this business, “ says Richardson. “Government regulations should change more rapidly. For example the long delay in the granting of breeders’ rights hurt agriculture and horticulture in Canada.”

Richardson also participates in BC grass seed research. He managed and co-financed the BC Seed Crop Evaluation Project, which identified seed production areas for BC, and provided partial funding for research into the genetic resistance of eyespot in Creeping Red Fescue.

And he continues to enjoy all aspects of the seed industry. “This is a stable, complex specialty industry, and few people know much about it. Each seed is an amazing genetic package, and there’s still so much diversity in nature that no genetic engineering is required.

“There is a true art involved. We’re not just dealing with plants—we also must deal with weeds. Every seed carries some weed, so we must select seeds with low weed content and weeds have to be harmless. The art is to know seeds, know what to select and what to buy. For example, bargain basement lawn seed carries 15% chaff; we guarantee no more than 3% chaff in Rich Lawn seed. Our customers know they can trust us, and they appreciate our helping them to do well.

Richardson also exports, to a minor degree, Canadian seeds such as Creeping Red Fescue and Timothy, which are shipped to America, Japan, Germany, Holland and England. And he looks forward to working with the former Soviet counties.

“Prior to the communist domination, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary were dominant seed producers. Now, they want to improve their agriculture—they’ll be buying from us.

“The future for BC’s seed merchants is exciting,” continues Richardson. “We have a very active domestic market with increased demand for recreational facilities, a large retiree population, and a growing public appreciation of green spaces. We look forward to being part of that.”