In Stanton, Minnesota, Syngenta leaders, government officials, customers and employees gathered for the grand opening of the company’s new Seedcare Institute. This 38,000-square-foot, free-standing facility features sophisticated laboratories and a premier seed treatment research facility.
Five-times larger than the former Seedcare Institute, formally established at Stanton in 2000, the new structure houses:
· Research and development labs.
· Labs for application, plantability, dust-off and quality assurance.
· Climate-controlled application and planter testing labs.
· Large-scale commercial application and performance area to simulate real-life experiences for customers.
· Modern customer classroom facilities.
· Seed warehouse.
· Office and meeting space.
“The Syngenta Seedcare Institute in Stanton is a state-of-the-art research and training facility, offering enriched seed treatment education, better collaboration opportunities with customers, advanced training and personal application support,” said Vern Hawkins, president, Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC, and region director, North America.
Syngenta invests more than $1.36 billion in research and development globally, or $3.7 million every day.
“Syngenta’s $20 million investment in seed treatment R&D at Stanton reinforces our commitment to helping farmers grow more, while using fewer resources and protecting the environment — today and tomorrow,” Hawkins said.
Syngenta’s Seedcare Institute in Stanton tailors seed-treatment recipes for individual customers, then scales up the recipes from the lab to commercial-size treaters. Syngenta can simulate various climate conditions at time of treatment and adjust recipes for different crops and seed treating equipment.
The new Seedcare Institute will allow Syngenta to meet the increasing demand by farmers and seed companies to protect high-value seeds and seed traits. Seed treatment in North America accounts for more than 30 percent of the global market.
“As the seed treatment industry continues to evolve, we strive to consistently offer more sophisticated products and best-in-class service to our customers to better serve them,” said Ravi Ramachandran, head of Syngenta’s Seedcare Institute for North America. “This facility can provide the intensive training needed by our seed company customers, ag retailers, applicators and farmers to fully realize the value of our seed applied technologies, best-management practices and stewardship.”
In 2015, the Seedcare Institute in Stanton trained 1,170 customers — 368 percent more customers trained than the 250 trained in 2013. This is a measure of Syngenta’s commitment to customer education and stewardship, outlined in The Good Growth Plan, the company’s global strategy to sustainably feed a growing population.
Syngenta’s Stanton campus provides an ideal spot for The Seedcare Institute in North America. It houses Syngenta’s main corn-breeding research station, is close to the majority of U.S. corn and soybean acres as well as many Syngenta customers, and is convenient to the Minneapolis Airport.
Syngenta operates 12 Seedcare Institutes globally.
