Golden Valley, Minnesota
November 7, 2007
As combines roll across the Corn
Belt this fall, it marks the end of another season for corn and
soybean farmers. However, fall harvest is just the beginning for
the seed companies that support those farmers.
“The seed production fields Syngenta is harvesting now will be
processed, bagged and headed back out to farmers in a matter of
weeks so they’ll be ready to plant next spring,” explained Chuck
Lee, head of corn marketing for
Syngenta. “Fortunately,
it’s been an outstanding crop this year so there should be ample
supplies of Garst®, NK® and Golden Harvest® seeds for farmers
next year.” Lee added that the vast majority of the of corn seed
being processed for 2008 planting contains stacked traits,
including Agrisure® 3000GT, Syngenta’s new quad stack that
protects the corn crop against both corn borer and corn
rootworm, while providing tolerance to in-season applications of
both glyphosate and LIBERTY® herbicides.
“The 2007 seed crop is the largest ever produced by Syngenta and
is of exceptional quality despite spotty weather conditions
across the Midwest,” said Mike Hollands, vice president of corn
and soybean supply for Syngenta. “We are harvesting and
conditioning record volumes of seed and shipping larger orders
to more customers in a timely manner.”
The company recently invested more than $25 million in its seed
supply facilities in Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois, and those
investments are paying off now with capacity to dry and process
larger volumes of seed faster.
“Ten years ago a typical seed company might handle 50-60
different products,” Lee said. “With advancements in breeding
and the trait stack options today, farmers can choose from
hundreds of corn products. It takes good planning and the right
production technology to make sure all customers get exactly the
products they want, when they want them.”
Syngenta is working equally hard to provide ample supplies of
top quality soybean seed, according to Gene Kassmeyer, head of
soybean marketing for Syngenta Seeds. “Despite localized
environmental conditions, we have high-quality soybean seed for
the many new NK Brand soybeans we have available for 2008. The
fact that Syngenta produces seed across a wide geography
minimizes the effect of localized weather conditions on seed
supply.”
“We’re filling custom orders with the varieties, treatments and
packaging that the grower requests,” Kassmeyer said. “The
upgrades we’ve made in the past few years help us more
efficiently process the crop and make sure our customers get the
high-quality soybean seed that they need.” In addition to a
range of maturities, some varieties are bred with resistance to
phytophthora root rot, soybean cyst nematode, iron deficiency
chlorosis and other factors. Then, in processing the soybean
seed, Syngenta accounts for different preferences in seed
treatments and package size that ranges from a 50-pound bag to a
2,500-pound bulk container.
Syngenta is a world-leading agribusiness committed to
sustainable agriculture through innovative research and
technology. The company is a leader in crop protection, and
ranks third in the high-value commercial seeds market. Sales in
2006 were approximately $8.1 billion. Syngenta employs around
21,000 people in over 90 countries. Syngenta is listed on the
Swiss stock exchange (SYNN) and in New York (SYT). Further
information is available at
www.syngenta.com.
NK® and Agrisure® are registered trademarks of a Syngenta Group
Company. Golden Harvest® is a registered trademark of Golden
Harvest Seeds, Inc. Garst® is a registered trademark of Garst
Seed Company. NK is a business unit of Syngenta Seeds, Inc.
Liberty® is a registered trademark of Bayer CropScience. |
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