Milling & Baking News - December 4, 2018 - 11

Business

Syngenta scales back hybrid
wheat development in America
KANSAS CITY - After expectations
for the release of hybrid wheat in North
America around 2020-21, Syngenta said
it will focus commercialization on Europe while scaling back late-stage development in North America, although the
company said it remained fully committed to hybrid wheat commercialization.
"We have recently decided to scale
back our late-stage development work in
hybrid wheat in North America, and all
our hybrid wheat research in Canada will
be put on hold for the time being," Carlos
Iglesias, head of North America cereals,
Syngenta Seeds, said in a Nov. 19 message
to Syngenta wheat stakeholders. "We will
apply the learnings from commercialization in Europe and plan to ramp up our
late-stage program in North America following the successful European launch.
"In Europe, we are most advanced with
our program and plan to commercialize
hybrid wheat in the next few years. In the
U.S., we are continuing with our work in
early-stage hybrid wheat.
"In North America, where Syngenta has
a market-leading position in varietal wheat,
we will continue to invest in R.&D. for a
competitive varietal portfolio, in addition
to our work in early-stage hybrid wheat.
"Syngenta remains fully committed
to hybrid wheat, which we believe will
deliver benefits to growers in increased
yield - consistently year-on-year - as
with hybrid barley."
The statement to Syngenta stakeholders
was in response to a recent trade news report that "incorrectly stated that Syngenta
will no longer pursue commercialization
of hybrid wheat in North America."
"That is not correct," Mr. Iglesias said.
Mr. Iglesias said there was no timeline

for when hybrid wheat would be available, but that Syngenta was not pulling
out of research and development after
investing several million dollars, according to a report in Successful Farming. Most
companies have focused on hybrid corn
and soybeans, which have higher shortterm returns relative to
the potential for wheat
hybrids. Mr. Iglesias indicated that the payback
to farmers for benefits
of hybrid wheat currently may not be
enough for them to justify paying more
for the hybrid wheat seed.
"It's not that they are giving up on hybrid wheat," said David G. Green, executive director of the Wheat Quality Council, adding that development of hybrid
wheat was ongoing, including work at
Texas A&M University and the University of Nebraska, as well as at other institutions and private companies.
"While wheat in N.A. has strategic significance for Syngenta, wheat is not a primary crop within our company at the moment," said Mr. Iglesias in a joint comment
with Paul Morano, head of commercial at
Syngenta. "The priority of investment
across the seed industry, and in particular
at Syngenta, is for other crops that could
generate more revenue and result in greater profits than wheat, at the moment.
"Syngenta is committed to continue
generating, promoting and marketing a
stream of elite and competitive varieties
for all major production zones to support
our leading position in varietal wheat."
They said Syngenta has about a 34%
market share in varietal wheat over the
entire United States, with many leading varieties, such as numbers 1, 2 and 3

Viterra to upgrade and expand
two Canadian grain terminals
REGINA, SASK. - Viterra Inc. announced
on Nov. 22 that it plans to upgrade its terminals at Binscarth, Man., and Stettler, Alta.
These investments will result in increased
rail capacity, substantial expansion of storage capacity, and faster throughput.
"This significant reinvestment in our
grain handling network demonstrates
our ongoing commitment to operational
excellence and leadership in our industry," said Kyle Jeworski, Viterra's president and chief executive officer for North
America. "By expanding our rail and
storage capacities in targeted areas, we
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are creating further value for our farm
customers at the local level, as well as our
suppliers and end use customers."
Storage capacity will increase by over
30,000 tonnes at each facility. Railcar capacity at the facilities will more than
double, and each location will be able to
load in excess of 134 railcars once the upgrades are complete. The Binscarth facility is situated on a CP operated rail line,
while the Stettler facility is on Alberta
Prairie Railway, a CP railroad partner.
"We're pleased to continue working with Viterra to advance our plans

planted in North Dakota, No. 1 in the Pacific Northwest, and many others leading
in various states.
"Concomitantly, we are redirecting resources to improving the genetic base of
hybrid wheat, to ensure we could select
and promote hybrids that show excelling
heterotic performance along with competitive production cost and end-product
quality," Mr. Iglesias and Mr. Morano
said. "This will certainly result in a delay
in hybrid wheat launch
dates, but it will ensure
that the products we
bring to the market will
provide ample advantages for farmers to adopt them and benefit
from their production."
In a comment to Milling & Baking News,
Mr. Iglesias said, "The bottom line is that
we are right-sizing our investment in
wheat as part of Syngenta's strategy. As
a consequence, we are focusing resources
to support variety and early-stage hybrid
wheat development along with sustaining the strength of our commercial arm."
In October 2017 researchers at the University of Adelaide (Australia) in conjunction with DuPont Pioneer, published
in Nature Communications the discovery
of Ms1, a naturally occurring wheat gene
that when turned "off" eliminates selfpollination but allows cross-pollination
that will permit breeding of high-yield
wheat varieties. The challenge in producing hybrid wheat is the breeding
and commercial multiplication of the hybrid parent, the report said, adding that
wheat is a self-pollinator, but production
of hybrid seed requires large-scale crosspollination of two pure lines. Discovery
of the Ms1 gene was necessary for crosspollination in wheat that can be used in
large-scale, low-cost production of parent
breeding lines needed for hybrid wheat
production. MBN
in the Stettler area in order to more efficiently serve farmers and the broader
economy," said Joan Hardy, CP's vicepresident of sales and marketing, grain
and fertilizers. "Innovations like this fit
well with our 8,500-foot High Efficiency
Product train model and are integral to
the continued success of the grain supply chain."
Don Gillespie, president of Alberta
Prairie Railway, added, "We are looking forward to continuing our long-term
partnership with Viterra in grain transportation in the Stettler area."
Viterra said its focus on targeted industry investments combined with its strong
supplier partnerships are an essential
component of its long-term strategy. MBN
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Milling & Baking News - December 4, 2018

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