b'PARTNER CONTENTFarmers Drive Everything We DoBY DAVID PEARSON, HEAD OF BRANDING AT LIMAGRAIN FIELD SEEDSW henever Im asked what is at the heart of Limagraincompanies are specialists in one or two crops, we offer 10 crop Field Seeds, I am incredibly proud to be able to givespecies in Europe and always try to offer four or five in any one clear answer: we are farmer-owned and farmer-led.given geography. Thats because farmers depend on multiple Limagrain was formed as a farmers cooperative in 1965crops in their rotations, and we want to help farmers optimize and today we are owned by nearly 1,500 farmers in centralthose rotations. France. Being owned and run by farmers is key to who we are. At Limagrain, we have a strong commitment to using scien-Over more than 50 years, the Limagrain group has growntific technology to improve and adapt plant varieties for max-to become the fourth largest seed company in the world with aimum regional yields. To meet this commitment, we have 84 presence on six continents and sales to farmers in close to 80research sites globally and invest roughly 1516% of our income countries. directly back into technology-driven research. R&D investment is We havent grown to the size we are today because weour biggest single budget item. have an ambition to be the largest seed company in the world.Our research takes into account our goal of reaching farm-Our ambition for Limagrain Field Seeds is to be the leading pureers globally, large or small. We estimate that in Africa we reach field seed specialist through multi-crop genetics and to be closeabout 25 million farmers, some of whom are very small, but allies of farmers of all sizes wherever they are located globally.who have the same needs as the huge ones. For us, no farm is However, our size does allow us to be competitive and to havetoo large or too small. Whether youve got half an acre in West the resources we need to invest in research that delivers highAfrica or half a million acres in South America, you are dealing performance seeds and services to farmers around the world with the same fundamentals, just on a different scale. You need delivering local solutions thanks to Global resources = LG adequate rain at the right time, and you need warm sun and Our LG brand is a leading global seed brand, but it is alsohealthy soil. As importantly, you need top performing high quality our identity. It has become a symbol for multi-crop products dis- and reliable seeds: thats what we deliver. tributed across a wide geographic space. The brand includesFarmers make long-term decisions because they are always seeds that are genuinely global: what we call our strategic crops.thinking of how the choices they make today will impact the Corn, wheat, sunflower and winter rape fall into this category.next generation and the one after that. The farmers who own Depending on where farmers are in the world, we also haveand run Limagrain are no different. Every decision we make is regionally adapted barley, soybean, millet, rice and pulse seeds.done with long-term vision and the stability of local and global Our strategy is to be genuinely multi-crop. While some seedfarmers in mind.NOVEMBER 2024|SEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPEISEED WORLD EUROPE I 5'