Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68EUROPEAN-SEED.COM I EUROPEAN SEED I 59 etable contract seed multiplication in Idaho and adjoining states and will also continue Dorsing’s current production and sales of standard and exclusive vegetable varieties. Doug Dorsing and all employees have joined SPS Dorsing Seeds Inc. Monsanto Company and TargetGene Biotechnologies, a pioneer in genome-ed- iting technologies, have announced a license agreement to advance the application of the company’s proprietary techniques in global agriculture. TargetGene is an innovative genome-editing company using RNA-guided gene-editing techniques. Under the agree- ment, Monsanto has been granted an exclusive license to TargetGene’s novel and proprietary “T∙GEE” (Genome Editing Engine) platform to deliver continuous improvements in agriculture. Monsanto has also established an equity position in the private Israel-based company. Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Land O’ Lakes Inc. and Ceres Inc. have signed a definitive merger agreement under which Land O’Lakes will acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of Ceres in a trans- action valued at approximately $17.2 million. Upon completion of the transaction, Ceres will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Land O’Lakes and will complement Forage Genetics International (FGI), a Land O’Lakes subsidi- ary, and bring new advanced plant breeding and biotechnology to FGI’s research and devel- opment pipeline. Monsanto Company and Sumitomo Chemical Company Ltd. have announced a new global agreement that will focus on developing and delivering next-generation weed control solutions to further help grow- ers manage tough-to-control weeds. Monsanto has a robust pipeline of multi-generational herbicide trait upgrades in its research and development pipeline that are designed to provide multiple and additional modes of action for weed control well into the future. This includes PPO-herbicide tolerance traits, which are in the early phases of research and development and are expected to be included in Monsanto’s future generation multi-herbi- cide tolerant trait stacks. La Crosse Seed has announced that it is the new and exclusive owner of the entire family of brands of Cover Crop Solutions. La Crosse Seed now owns the entire portfolio of brands previously used by Cover Crop Solutions LLC including the brand names Cover Crop Solutions, Tillage Radish, Tillage RootMax, Tillage Sunn as well as the entire suite of the popular TillageMax mixes such as Dover, Bristol and others. La Crosse has become the exclusive owner of the brands in both the United States and internationally. Oxiteno and Ashland, leaders in the spe- cialty chemical segment, have entered into a cooperative relationship involving the compa- nies’ operations in the agrochemicals segment, covering emerging markets in South America and Asia. With complementary portfolios con- sisting of both specialty surfactants and poly- mers, Oxiteno and Ashland will provide their clients with an enhanced product offering that will help them face the challenges posed by agribusiness. Du Pont Pioneer and Hexima have announced the discovery of a novel insect control gene that is active against certain crop-destroying insects and will help grow- ers protect their yields. As growers struggle with pest pressure, new solutions are needed to maintain crop productivity. The gene comes from a unique genetic resource pool, and therefore offers a promising new way to protect crops globally from the devastating damage that occurs when insect feeding goes uncontrolled. The Pioneer and Hexima col- laboration has been focused on finding new gene sources for insect control to help delay the onset of resistance development in insect populations. PEOPLE NEWS T he I nt er n at ion a l S e e d Te st i n g Association (ISTA) has announced that Beni Kaufman is leaving the association “to follow other career options.” Kaufman has more than 17 years of experience in developing and managing GMO and genetic purity testing laboratories in the private seed sector. He is also an experienced scientist in the area of molecular genetics analysis and related tech- nologies. Kaufman is currently a member of the ISTA GMO Committee, and was a member of the GMO Task Force. He has also contrib- uted to the ISTA Variety Committee, and par- ticipated in many ISTA Annual Meetings and workshops. The Council of the European Union decided to renew the term of office of Martin Ekvad as president of the CPVO for a period of five years with effect from Sept. 1, 2016. Ekvad, of Swedish nationality, was first nom- inated as president of the CPVO in 2011. Prior to taking up this position at the CPVO, he was the Head of the Legal Unit of the CPVO from 2003 to 2011. Before the CPVO, Ekvad worked as a lawyer in private practice in international law firms in Brussels and Stockholm. T he I nt er n at ion a l Seed Te st i n g Association elected its new Executive Committee, comprised of 11 individuals, for a three-year term. The committee includes the president, vice president and immediate past president along with eight members at large. Committee members are: • Craig McGill, ISTA president, New Zealand • Steve Jones, ISTA vice president, Canada • Joël Léchappé, ISTA immediate past pres- ident, France • Rita Zecchinelli, member at large, Italy • Berta Killermann, member at large, Germany • Masatoshi Sato, member at large, Japan • Ignacio Aranciaga, member at large, Argentina • Leena Pietilä, member at large, Finland • Keshavulu Kunusoth, member at large, India • Mable M. Simwanza, member at large, Zambia • Valerie Cockerell, member at large, United Kingdom With member laboratories in 80 countries, ISTA members work together to achieve uni- formity in seed quality evaluation. ISTA works to product internationally agreed upon rules for seed sampling, testing and accrediting laboratories, as well as promoting research and providing seed analysis certificates and training. According to ISTA, these efforts are designed to help facilitate the trade of seed nationally and internationally. Arvum Group is pleased to announce that it has strengthened its agronomy and commer- cial team with new members Tim O’Donovan and Nigel Whyte. O’Donovan joins the team from Teagasc as the new technical direc- tor for Seedtech and Advanced Fertilizers. Whyte takes over as commercial director at Seedtech and Advanced Fertilizers. Nigel has previously held senior commercial roles in Bank of Ireland, ACC and graduated with a degree in agricultural science from UCD. INDUSTRY NEWS The Pan-European Farmers’ Association (Copa-Cogeca) has announced that inno- vation in plant breeding should be further encouraged in order to help the EU combat hunger and malnutrition worldwide. In March 2016, HFFA Research GmbH conducted a study focusing on the plant breeding sector’s contribution to EU farming in the last 15 years. According to the results of the study commis- sioned by the European Plant Technology Platform, the EU would have needed 19 mil- lion more hectares of farmland to produce the same amount of food with traditional crops. “Innovation in plant breeding counts for a lot, enhancing overall productivity in EU arable farming by 74 per cent,” stated Copa & Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen. He added that the EU’s productivity gains could be used to help combat hunger and malnutrition around the world. Plants are adapting to increasing atmos- pheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study from the University of Southampton.