Jodi Souter

Jodi Souter grew up on a mixed grain and beef farm in northeastern Saskatchewan. Jodi always had an interest in the grain part of the business and, starting in her undergraduate studies, pursued her passion in plant breeding. She earned a PhD from the University of Saskatchewan and became a CSGA-recognized plant breeder. Jodi is also an adjunct professor at the Irving K. Barber School of Science at the University of British Columbia and was recently recognized as one of 2023’s Next Generation Leaders by Germination Magazine. 

Following her entrepreneurial roots, which she developed on her family’s farm, Jodi cofounded an independent plant breeding company, J4 Agri-Science Limited, in December 2019. Recognizing that starting a private plant breeding company is rare in Canada but not in the rest of the world, Jodi wanted to dive into startup, independent, and small plant breeding companies that exist internationally to understand the challenges they face and the successes they have achieved. Jodi wanted to compare international approaches to plant breeding with the landscape that exists in Canada to explore why small, independent, and start-up plant breeding companies struggle to exist in Canada.