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Seed production on pace with tech boost

As corn has been picked out of the fields, the seed for next year is getting packed up. Despite drought, production hasn’t been an issue in central Iowa, leading to no concerns about supply next spring.

“We’ve had some fairly timely rains that has helped,” said Jake Pantry, field production lead at the Bayer Corn Production Facility in Grinnell, Iowa. “We aren’t seeing any concerns on yield. (At the start of October) we still have a third of the crop to bring in the door, but there are no concerns about drought impacting things.”

With the yields expected to come in, it should be a typical year for the facility, receiving nearly 140 trucks per day and producing nearly 2 million seed bags annually, 70% of which are for the DEKALB brand.

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Think Bigger, Invest Smarter | On The Brink: Season 3, Episode 6

Video: Think Bigger, Invest Smarter | On The Brink: Season 3, Episode 6

How much skin do independent seed companies have in the game? About $1.7 billion in infrastructure across SeCan’s membership, says General Manager Jeff Reid.

That investment helps get improved varieties into Canadian farmers’ hands. But how can smaller businesses invest more in the breeding behind those varieties without the individual financial resources of the big multinational players?

Jeff’s answer is to invest smarter, together. He joins On The Brink to explain how farmers and independent seed companies can combine resources, build on Canada’s existing breeding programs and support a trusted system for testing and registering new varieties. The goal is better choices for farmers, backed by data they can trust.