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Dozens of new AgReliant hybrids coming in 2019

Maturities range from 72 days to 118 days with 10 conventional hybrids mixed in.

October 31, 2018

3 Min Read
MORE LG: AgReliant’s LG Seeds brand is likely to grow in presence in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

By Chris Torres

Changes to AgReliant's breeding program are starting to bear fruit as the company recently announced its largest introduction of corn hybrids to the market since 2012.

Steve Sterchi, the company's director of product development, says the company is launching 42 new corn hybrids in 2019 ranging in maturity from 72 days to 118 days. The list also includes 10 conventional hybrids.

Sterchi says it's a result of the company's move from large strip trials to smaller, replicated trials where they can get more environmental and genetic responses across different soil types.

"We realigned all of that two years ago," he says. "We're starting to see the fruits of our labor."

AgReliant is the third-largest seed company in the U.S. It was started in 2000 as a joint venture between Groupe Limagrain of France and KWS of Germany. The company says it has increased its corn volume by 300% since 2000. Their brands include Eureka, Agrigold, Wensman and LG Seeds.

Better quality hybrids
The 42 hybrids, which Sterchi says will be formally announced later this year, will focus on better health, grain quality and test weights.

"We feel like the grain quality that you'll see is very important," he says. "That's essentially one of the reasons why this is one of the biggest offerings we've had."

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TRIAL CHANGES: The company attributes the launch to changes in the way it does crop trials.

Sterchi says the new hybrids focus on strong late-season intactness.

"We really like to see that health package of the green stalk and a brown husk," he says.

Bigger presence in the East
One of the company's smaller replicated trials is located just across the border from New York state in Canada, Sterchi says. While the bulk of trial locations are in the Midwest, he says the company plans on expanding to at least 10 trial locations in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

"We see a big potential in western New York, eastern Pennsylvania and the Delmarva Peninsula," he says.

Sterchi says the plan is to expand LG in the East due to its name recognition. He says the company has expanded its sales force with three sales representatives in Pennsylvania, and one each in Maryland and New York.

"We want to make an investment in that area to see from a standpoint how our products will do commercially," he says, adding that demand for conventional hybrids are on the rise in the Northeast.

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MORE GREEN: The hybrids focus on late-season intactness with a green stalk and brown husk.

Conventional varieties start as inbred lines with traits bred into them. When they find a variety that has good growing potential, he says, it goes into their lineup.

The varieties 5470, 98-day maturity, and 5650, 115-day maturity, are conventional varieties that Sterchi says did well this summer.

"We are very committed to providing out in that area the best products possible. To us, we just feel like it makes sense in those areas," he says.

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