PGG Wrightson Seeds and Grasslanz Technology have agreed to form a long-term strategic joint venture to discover, develop and market forage innovations internationally.

The joint venture, to be known as Grasslands Innovation, brings together two of the world’s leading developers and marketers of forage products. Its purpose will be to identify and develop on-farm forage technologies for the benefit of pastoral industries in New Zealand and internationally. Grasslands Innovation will develop new varieties of pasture plants, and develop appropriate management techniques to support and maximise returns from them.

The joint venture is for an initial term of 10 years, reflecting the long-term nature of agricultural research. All existing and new research projects between PGG Wrightson Seeds and AgResearch will be funded and managed by the joint venture. AgResearch is New Zealand’s largest Crown Research Institute and a world leader in research for pastoral industries, and is the parent company of Grasslanz Technology.

Grasslanz Technology will be responsible for management of the research programme, protection of intellectual property, production of nucleus seed, maintenance of cultivars and licence administration for the joint venture.

PGG Wrightson Seeds will identify market opportunities, create inventory from nucleus seed, and market the seed products through its distribution channels. PGG Wrightson Seeds will have exclusive rights to market the Grasslands Innovation products.

PGG Wrightson Seeds currently licenses more than 70 products from Grasslanz Technology, for which it pays a royalty. PGG Wrightson Seeds and Grasslanz Technology also co-invest to have AgResearch develop new products. The relationship has been very successful, with sales of products developed by AgResearch well in excess of $20 million per year. Both parties wish to move the relationship to a higher level so PGG Wrightson Seeds can secure a long term pipeline of innovation and AgResearch can secure market access and long term funding for its research.

The Chief Executive Officer of PGG Wrightson, Mr Barry Brook, said the joint venture provided an ideal framework for the parties to build on their existing relationships and their success in developing and marketing forage technologies. “From the company’s perspective, it allows us to focus on capturing the value we can create through our production and marketing capability, whilst the technical innovation and development is handled by a world class scientific team.”

AgResearch Chief Executive Dr Andy West says Grasslands Innovation will provide a significant boost to New Zealand’s world leading forage research. “The joint venture will create a great channel from the laboratory bench to the farmer’s paddock, and that will translate into a major boost to on-farm productivity. This initiative is not only good for the joint venture partners, but good for New Zealand and the rural economy."