Jennifer Mitchell Fetch

SeedHeads / Les Semeurs

In this episode, Steph talks to pioneering Canadian organic oat breeder, Jennifer Mitchell Fetch. Raised in southwestern Saskatchewan, Jennifer Mitchell Fetch has degrees in Biology and Agriculture from the University of Saskatchewan and a PhD from North Dakota State University. Jennifer has been involved with the breeding of a variety of crops, as well as some work with Fusarium Head Blight in wheat. Jennifer became the oat breeder at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Cereal Research Centre in July of 1998. She began working on organic oat breeding in 2002 and has been involved in the development of 12 oat cultivars in western Canada, including 2 developed for organic management. She retired in 2020. In this episode Jennifer and Steph chat about her career in the public plant breeding sector, the process she went through to register her two organic varieties: Kongsore and Oravena, and the value of women and farmers to plant breeding.