The agreement adds corn and soybean seed production sites in Indiana and Illinois to Beck’s Superior Hybrid’s network while supporting Gro Alliance’s strategic reinvestment in seed production, germplasm and agtech innovation.
Beck’s has acquired Gro Alliance’s corn seed production facility in Howe, Indiana, and its soybean seed production facility in Mt. Pulaski, Illinois.
Gro Alliance will continue field production in the Howe, Indiana and Constantine, Michigan, area. Seed grown there will be dried locally before being moved to the company’s headquarters in Cuba City, Wisconsin, for conditioning, packaging, and distribution. Gro Alliance will also retain its seed nursery station in Mt. Pulaski, soybean seed field production in the region, and John Endsley will remain with the company as soybean division director.
As part of the acquisition, Beck’s will assume Gro Alliance’s lease on 80,000 square feet of warehouse space in Sturgis, Michigan.
“Gro Alliance is widely recognized as one of the country’s elite seed producers. The facilities and production teams at Howe and Mt. Pulaski are both world-class and are perfect fits for the Beck’s network,” Beck’s president Scott Beck said in a news release. “These acquisitions support Beck’s continued growth and mission to deliver the highest quality seed to our customers.”
The agreement also marks the start of a strategic reinvestment plan for Gro Alliance, which will focus on four key areas: seed production, seed nursery services in the U.S. and Chile, germplasm out-licensing through Breeder Direct and agtech incubation support for innovators and new market entrants.
“This is one of the rare, triple-win deals,” Gro Alliance president Jim Schweigert said in the release. “The employees, contractors, and growers at each site will transition to another strong and future-focused family-owned company. Further, Beck’s gets outstanding seed facilities in top growing locations, and Gro Alliance will retain core functions in each area while securing resources to fuel additional investment and growth.”
The acquisition continues Gro Alliance’s diversification. In 2019, the company began shifting to a vertically integrated seed supply chain model spanning multiple crops. In 2020, it launched Breeder Direct (www.breederdirect.com) to provide elite corn and soybean germplasm to independent seed companies. Subsequent collaborations included ZeaKal (www.zeakal.com) in 2021 and BioLumic (www.biolumic.com) in 2023. In 2024, Gro Alliance partnered with Seed-X (www.seed-x.com) to introduce AI-powered seed improvement technology to the U.S. and opened its first vegetable seed improvement site in Davis, California.
These expansions have positioned Gro Alliance as the only independent company offering genetics, production, and services across vegetables, row crops, oilseeds, and small grains.
“A constantly evolving industry offers unlimited opportunity for companies that evolve with it,” Schweigert said. “The most exciting thing is that this is just the beginning. We have additional innovation partnerships signed and are actively supporting new and unique business models for independent seed companies.”
For more information, contact Schweigert.
