Agricore United is celebrating the successful introduction of an exciting new forage variety to western Canada with a sell out in 2005.

AC Knowles Hybrid Brome was developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Saskatoon, SK and granted as an exclusive product to Agricore United's Proven Seed in 2000. Over 20,000 acres of forage ground have been planted with AC Knowles, a dual purpose hay/pasture brome grass.

"AAFC provided the exclusive release to Proven Seed and we've delivered on successfully commercializing this new variety, despite back-to-back droughts during the key seed multiplication years and launching this new variety in a depressed market due to BSE," says Todd Hyra, Product Manager, Proven Seed.

Hyra says up until 2005 there has been a limited supply of seed for sale, making this year the first big commercial year for the variety.

The variety was developed and named after Dr. Bob Knowles, a well known and respected AAFC Plant Breeder. AC Knowles is a hybrid meadow/smooth brome grass chosen over other hybrid lines for its better seed type, reduced creep, good re-growth, excellent lodging resistance and fall greenness. It's a true dual purpose forage species for hay or pasture, with characteristics of both meadow and smooth brome grass parents.

For the 2005 season, Agricore United once again committed to its forage establishment guarantee, "The Proven Seed Performance Promise Plus program". This Program was designed to encourage forage producers to continue planting new stands during these trying economic times. If the proprietary Proven Seed forage varieties and/or blends fail to establish, Agricore United will replace 100 percent of the seed required for re-planting in the same field the next growing season.

Proven Seed is the exclusive seed brand of Agricore United, one of Canada's leading agri-businesses. The prairie-based company is diversified into sales of crop inputs and services, grain merchandising, livestock production services and financial markets. Agricore United's shares are publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "AU.LV".