Seed E-News

April 15, 2005

Apology
Last week, our electronic mail system sent out multiple copies of ASTA E-News. Apologies to all who were affected and for any inconvenience.

Nominations for ASTA Officers
At the Executive Committee meeting in Alexandria, VA on April 15-16, 2005, the nominating committee slated the following for election at the Annual Convention in Seattle in June:

• ASTA Chairman – Jim Tobin, Monsanto (currently ASTA First Vice Chairman)
• ASTA First Vice Chairman – Gary Arthur, Beck's Superior Hybrids (currently ASTA Second Vice Chairman)
• ASTA Second Vice Chairman - Mike Peterson, Peterson Genetics
• Southeastern Region VP – Harry Collins, Delta & Pine Land Company
• Central Region VP – Tim Johnson, Seed Genetics, Inc.
• Northwestern Region VP – Kevin Turner, The Scotts Company

ASTA's Future Seed Executives (FuSE) Initiative Holds First Educational Unit at Landec Ag
On April 1, 2005, Landec Ag of Monticello, IN hosted the first Educational Unit organized by ASTA's Future Seed Executives Initiative (FuSE). The session focused on FuSE's 2005 theme of "Leading and Reacting to Change" and was attended by fifteen representatives of a wide range of companies including AgReliant, Beck's Superior Hybrids, Campbell Seeds, Hubner Industries, iCorn, JGL, Landec Ag and Monsanto.

Tom Crowley, CEO and President of Landec Ag, kicked off the session with some historical background on Landec Ag, and provided anecdotal insight from Will Rogers that some experiences, "like peeing on an electric fence," need to be learned the hard way. Crowley guided the participants through the logic behind many of the decisions made by Landec Corporation, including the purchase of Fielder's Choice Direct (FCD). When people told him that it couldn't be done, FCD founder Mike Williams nonetheless pioneered the approach of selling seed by telephone and the company grew due to a low cost structure and competitive pricing. For Landec Corporation, a company interested in broadly introducing its proprietary seed coat technology, Intellicoat, there were few seed companies that had national reach and that fit Landecās budget.

Since the acquisition of FCD by Landec, the company has developed proprietary Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) software, which can only be described as "best in class". Dennis Schlott, VP of Sales and Product Management and Bill Gass, VP of Marketing and New Business Development provided participants of the FuSE session a glimpse into this state of the art database tool that provides Landec Seed Consultants (sales people) reminders of specific questions to ask and stores a wealth of information such as hybrids planted last year, soil type, desired characteristics, last date contacted etc. It is virtually impossible to accurately depict the magnitude of data captured in this system, but to provide some perspective Landec has recently hired a resource dedicated to identifying trends and patterns.

The conversation switched gears, as Natarajan Balachander ("Bala"), VP of Research and Manufacturing, gave a lay-person overview of the Intellicoat technology. For the range of products offered by Landec Ag (Early Plant Corn, Pollinator Plusś and Relayś Soybeans), Bala led the group through the technology evolution, the value proposition, and candidly discussed the "lessons learned". Bala successfully avoided what could have been an infomercial and provided valuable insights into the very intriguing technology of temperature and delay coatings.

After lunch, Jay Akridge, Director of Purdueās Center for Food and Agricultural Business and the MS-MBA in Food and Agribusiness Management, presented two Harvard Business Review case studies: Blue Ocean Strategy and XS Ag. The participants received these case studies in advance of the session. Starting with Blue Ocean Strategies, the group discussed how completely new business models (blue oceans) differ from highly competitive, crowded industry segments (red oceans). Using XS Ag as an example of a possible blue ocean, Akridge tied the cases together and got the dialogue moving. With the basics of the cases established, the participants broke up into three small groups to discuss specific questions posed by Akridge. This component of the program was a particular favorite of Wade Wiley, Regional Sales Manager of JGL, Inc. who explained "We don't take enough time from our present jobs to discuss industry topics; the session stimulated very good interaction among participants." The group reconvened for some more lively discussion with Ryan Parkin, Sales Consultant for Beckās Superior Hybrids debating with Justin Wolfe, Director of Marketing for Corn States Hybrid Services, LLC, about whether or not XS Ag did indeed represent a blue ocean.

Akridge had one last surprise in his back pocket. He had arranged for a thirty-minute teleconference with XS Ag's CEO, Fulton Breen, who provided an update on the progress of the company since the case had been written and fielded questions from the participants. This unexpected opportunity was especially popular, with one participant claiming "It helped to have Mr. Breen live to drive home his vision and share his day to day experiences about what he has learned with the XS Ag venture."

The first official FuSE Educational Unit proved to be an enormous success, with many satisfied "customers". Scott Brolsma, Corporate Marketing Manager for AgReliant Genetics, "highly recommend(s) the program for young people looking to move up in their organization."

FuSE programs target professionals with less than seven years of seed industry experience. However, there are even nuggets for veteran seed professionals such as Jim Wolf, VP of Administration at iCorn, who explained, "This session was a great opportunity to learn about a completely different business model (and a company) that thinks outside the box." FuSE will be holding its next Educational Unit on May 20, 2005 in Freemont, NE in coordination with Fontanelle Hybrids and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. For more information about FuSE events contact Alexis Ellicott at (703) 837-8140.

For more information about Landec Ag, visit their website at http://www.landecag.com/. For more information about Purdue's Center for Food and Agricultural Business visit their website at http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/cab.

ASTA Annual Convention 2006
The first opportunity to register for ASTA's 122nd Annual Convention, being held June 18-22, 2005 at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers, is now open. Featuring a top-notch line up of general session speakers, a variety of special events, fun sporting events, and a host of exciting optional tours, this yearās Annual Convention continues to raise the bar on the ASTA convention experience. Some sponsorship and exhibit opportunities are also still available. Registration for the conference, hotel rooms, sponsorships, and exhibits, as well as an updated convention schedule and description of all special events are available.

ASTA Seed Divisions
Currently, membership of ASTAās five Seed Divisions — Corn & Sorghum, Soybean, Farm Seed, Lawn Seed and Vegetable & Flower — is restricted to a member companyās nominated ASTA representative who is the first point of contact on issues related to the Division(s). It is recognized, however, that, with an issue such as Asian Soybean Rust, the ASTA representative may not be able to devote the necessary time and effort to address it. As a result, ASTA has decided to expand membership of the Seed Divisions to include interested individuals. ASTA representatives are requested, therefore, to assign individuals to the Division(s) to which their company belongs. These new members will be added to the Divisions' e-mail address list. If you are uncertain about which Division(s) you belong to, please contact Peter Patterson. Please seek the advice of the Divisions' staff liaisons as necessary in considering the assignment. It should be noted that a company will still have only one vote at Division meetings.

USDA grants Protection to Eight New Plant Varieties
WASHINGTON, April 11, 2005 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of eight new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include fescue and pea. The eight certificates are being issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The certificates require that the varieties be new, distinct, uniform and stable. The owners will have the exclusive right to reproduce, sell, import and export their products in the United States for the duration of protection. The eight certificates are:

1. 1. the Mustang 3 variety of tall fescue, developed by Pickseed West Inc., Albany, OR;
2. the Sweet Ann, Pendleton, Ice Pack and Sherwood varieties of pea, developed by Seminis Vegetable Seeds Inc., Oxnard, CA; and
3. the Cooper*, Tudor*, and Camry* varieties of field pea, developed by Cebeco Seeds, B.V., Vlijmen, Holland.

* In the United States, seed of this variety (1) shall be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed and (2) shall conform to the number of generations specified by the owner of the rights (84 STAT. 1542, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2321 ET SEQ). USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides time- limited marketing protection to developers of new and distinct seed- reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers. For additional information contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at telephone (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291 or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/science/PVPO/pvpindex.htm.

USDA to Hold Creeping Bentgrass Public Forums
WASHINGTON, April 15, 2005 — The U.S. Department of Agricultureās Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will host two public forums to accept public comments on a new variety of genetically engineered (GE) creeping bentgrass. The public forums will be held on May 3 at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center, Exhibition Hall, 7100 Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase, MD., and on May 18 at the Oregon State University Conference Complex in Corvallis, OR. Each public forum will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., local time. You can read the APHIS Press Release Here. Notice of the public forums was published in the April 11 Federal Register. You can access the document here as PDF or here as Text.

Iowa State Researcher Coordinates Early Warning System for Soybean Rust
X.B. Yang, an Iowa State University plant pathologist, has received $389,000 to coordinate sentinel soybean plots in 20 states. The funding will be used to plant and monitor soybean plots and provide an early warning system for Asian soybean rust. Full Story.

Survey Shows Soybean Farmers in Step with Awareness and Preparation for Soybean Rust
When Asian soybean rust appears, most U.S. soybean farmers will be ready. Results from a recent nationwide survey of 1,000 soybean farmers, conducted on behalf of the United Soybean Board (USB), shows that 77 percent of farmers are aware of what can be done to manage rust. Full Story.

Soybean Rust Web Sites
The following links will be maintained through October 2005. Those interested, should bookmark them. USDA's interactive soybean rust web site Soybean Rust Information Site provides timely information on the extent and severity of soybean rust outbreaks in the United States, Caribbean basin and Central America. It will give users up-to-date forecasts on where soybean rust is likely to appear in the United States, reports where the disease exists by county, refers growers to county extension agents nationwide, lists the National Plant Diagnostic Networks laboratories and links to other web sites to give producers effective disease management options. North Carolina State University's Soybean Rust Forecast Center will be updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week.

US Grains Council Global Update
The weekly global update is provided at the request of the Corn & Sorghum Division. Follow the link for the update for week ending April 15, 2005.

Industry and People
If your company or organization has any personnel changes or other developments that you would like to see included in the ASTA E-News, please send details to ppatterson@amseed.org.

ASTA Conferences and Activities

June 18-22, 2005
122nd ASTA Annual Convention
Sheraton Seattle Hotel and Tower
Seattle, WA
Registration

November 5-8, 2005
ASTA Farm & Lawn Seed Meeting
Westin Crown Center
Kansas City, MO
(held in conjunction with the Western Seed Association)

December 7-9. 2005
60th Corn & Sorghum and
35th Soybean Research Conferences
Hyatt Regency
Chicago, IL

January 2006
Vegetable & Flower Seed Conference
Amelia Island Plantation
Amelia Island, FL

Other Upcoming Events

April 2005
ISTA Ordinary Meeting 2005
At the invitation of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DOAE) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, ISTA will be holding its Ordinary Meeting 2005 in Bangkok, Thailand April 25-28, 2005. To register, follow this link ISTA Online. The meeting is aimed at discussing and deciding on proposals for changes to the ISTA International Rules for Seed Testing and business items of the Association, with the international participation of ISTA delegates and representatives from both the seed industry and governments, including experts in seed technology, scientific research and laboratory accreditation. The final program can be downloaded Here.

May 2005
Seed Technologist Training Workshop
The annual seed technologist training sessions hosted by Mid-West Seed Services, Inc. will be held May 16-20, 2005 in Brookings, S.D. This week of workshop training teaches germination, purity, seed identification and tetrazolium testing theories and methods. New for 2005 is a one-day session lead by Ken Stoner, Canadian Seed Institute explaining the Canadian grading system.

Sessions are designed for seed analysts, seed technologists, genetic technologists, quality assurance personnel and others interested in traditional and seed testing analysis. They are particularly helpful for those planning to take future seed technologist examinations. The workshop format is comprised of both lecture and hands-on experience. Speakers include Dr. Loren Wiesner, recent retiree from the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Ft. Collins, Colorado; Dr. Denis McGee, Iowa State University; Sharon Davidson, RST and owner of Agri Seed Testing in Salem, Oregon; and various MWSS staff.

For more information or to register please visit www.mwseed.com/workshops.htm or contact Mid-West Seed Services, Inc at workshops@mwseed.com.

International Seed Federation Congress 2005
The ISF World Seed Congress 2005 will be held in Santiago, Chile, May 30-June 1, 2005. The web site can be accessed here.

July 2005
Colorado State University Seed Analyst Workshops
Two five-day Seed Analyst Workshops will again be held at Colorado State University (CSU), in Fort Collins, Colorado, July 11-22, 2005. Each will be restricted to 10-20 students. The July 11-15 workshop, "Seed Identification and Purity Analysis," provides an extensive hands-on experience with seeds of legumes, cereals, grasses, revegetation species, vegetables and flowers. The emphasis will be on grass species identification and the use of blowing points and multiple unit factors for determining pure seed. Noxious weeds common to these groups are also emphasized. Participants in this workshop will have the opportunity to collect seeds of many different grasses and legumes. The July 18-22 workshop, "Seed Viability," offers lectures and practical experience in viability testing, including germination dormancy, vigor and tetrazolium. The emphasis will be on the use of tetrazolium when testing seed viability of native species. An educational tour of regional seed labs and a visit to the Denver Botanical Gardens are included with this workshop.

The workshops are an excellent preparation for taking the qualifying exams to become a Registered Seed Technologist (RST) or a Certified Seed Analyst. The workshops provide a review of fundamentals of seed anatomy, identification, purity, physiology, and viability testing. The fee for each workshop, including materials, is $200 ($350 if both workshops are taken). Reasonable accommodations are available at nearby motels. The workshops are offered in conjunction with the Seed Analyst Training Program offered by CSU through its Division of Educational Outreach. This program introduced in early 1998, is comprised of the following courses, some of which may be prerequisites for the workshops, depending on the studentās training and experience:

These courses may be taken throughout the year, anywhere in the world. To date, over 350 students have enrolled representing 24 states and 7 countries. The courses are recommended by AOSA/SCST for beginning and experienced seed analysts. Credits apply towards points needed to take the RST accreditation examination. To register for the courses and workshops, contact:

Colorado State University
Division of Continuing Education
1040 Campus Delivery, Spruce Hall
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1040
Phone: 1-877-491-4336 OR 1-970-491-5288
E-Mail: info@learn.colostate.edu
Website: www.learn.colostate.edu

For information or questions on the courses and workshops, contact Carissa Schow (970-491-6295) or Jim Bruce (970-495-3246).

November 2005
Soybean Rust Workshop
The American Phyto-Pathological Society has scheduled a workshop in conjunction with USDA and the American Soybean Board for November 15-16, 2005 to discuss soybean rust. This will be a national level workshop based on science. There is no venue yet for the meeting.