THE BUSINESS OF seed has changed dramati- cally in the past 20 years, with a shift to larger companies that can invest in the research and devel- opment while also shouldering the regulatory costs of bringing those products to market. Generally speaking, it’s the large companies that have been the big innovators with small and regional seed companies licensing those products and offering them in their portfolios. The small- and medium-sized seed companies are closer to the farmer and more agile in their ability to make changes on the fly and offer services that differ- entiate them from their competitors. There are advan- tages and disadvantages of each. Farmers, it seems, are then left with a conundrum: support smaller, local business or support investors? That can be a hard decision for many to make, and many farmers end up somehow splitting their acres between the two. Each year, farmers give the most thought to making the decision of what to plant and from whom to buy. One less talked about business approach is that of cooperatives, which are unique in that a cooperative might have a few owners or well over 100, depending on the kind of business. Cooperatives are nothing new to agriculture. In fact, they’ve been around for more than 170 years and used to be the backbone of the agricultural community. What do old-school cooperatives have in common with new and disruptive businesses? Seed World explores the evolution of our economy and what’s staring us in the face.Julie Deering jdeering@issuesink.com MORE THAN SHARING, NETWORKS AND COLLABORATION 12 / SEEDWORLD.COM JANUARY 2019 DISRUPT