78 GERMINATION.CA JANUARY 2019 TheHeadlinesBusiness | People | Policy | Product | Research Submissions welcome: news@issuesink.com BUSINESS SYNGENTA HITS PAUSE BUTTON ON HYBRID WHEAT DEVELOPMENT WORK IN CANADA Syngenta has decided to scale back its late- stage development work in hybrid wheat in North America, and the company’s hybrid wheat research in Canada will be put on hold for the time being, Carlos Iglesias, head of North America cereals for Syngenta, said in a message to investors. Iglesias emphasized that recent reports saying Syngenta will no longer pursue commercialization of hybrid wheat in North America were incorrect. “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, focusing our efforts on improv- ing the genetic base to ensure we can select and promote hybrids that show excelling heterotic performance along with competitive production cost and end-product quality,” he said. “We will apply the learnings from commercialization in Europe, and plan to ramp up our late-stage pro- gram in North America, following the successful European launch.” JUNE 1 CORTEVA SEPARATION ON TRACK DowDuPont announced the filing of the initial Form 10 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the separation of Corteva Agriscience, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. Corteva Agriscience remains on track to separate from DowDuPont on June 1, 2019. SYNGENTA TO OPEN MAJOR NORTH AMERICAN SEEDS OFFICE IN CHICAGO Syngenta announced it will establish a major global and North America seeds office in the western suburbs of Chicago. Approximately 50 Syngenta Seeds business managers and employ- ees will relocate from other U.S. locations begin- ning in the first half of 2019. The new site can accommodate expansion for planned growth. “The U.S. is the most important seeds market in the world, and we believe the addition of a Chicago office positions us well to support our long-term growth strategy,” said Jeff Rowe, Syngenta president of global seeds, North America and China. “Our purpose for opening the Chicago office is three-fold: it positions us geographically closer to our U.S. customers in the important corn and soy growing region, gives us access to an incredible talent pool for world- leading digital and tech innovation, and readily connects us to other key seeds markets globally through an excellent transportation hub.” Syngenta leaders in seeds marketing, sales and administrative functions will work together in the new Chicago office to continue growing the global and North America business, which is driven by customer-focused R&D. PEOPLE CHEMCHINA APPOINTS TWO NEW SYNGENTA BOARD MEMBERS ChemChina has appointed two additional directors to the board of Syngenta. Following these appoint- ments, the board comprises six ChemChina- appointed directors and four independent directors. Paul Fribourg, chairman and CEO of Continental Grain Company, will join the board as a non-executive director. Erik Fyrwald, CEO of Syngenta, will join the board as an executive director. Erik joined Syngenta as chief executive in June 2016. S&W APPOINTS NEW VPS S&W Seed Company announced the appoint- ment of Don Panter as executive vice president, Americas and promotion of David Callachor to executive vice president, International. The expansion and reorganization follows S&W’s recent acquisition of key sorghum assets that now positions S&W as a middle-market agri- cultural company with leadership positions in multiple key crops. “TRUST INTHE INTEGRITY OFCROP PROTECTION SCIENCEIS CORETOUS ANDOUR BUSINESS.” –LiamCondon