OCTOBER 2026  |  SEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE  I  SEED WORLD EUROPE   I   51
T
he summer of 2026 brought record-breaking heat waves, 
historic droughts and unprecedented wildfires to many 
European countries, resulting in significant crop reductions 
and economic strife across the continent. It also highlighted 
something we’ve known for years — climate change is going to 
have wide-ranging consequences for agriculture that the seed 
industry needs to help address.  
Greater volatility and weather extremes will continue to 
impact everything from the timing when crops are planted and 
harvested to disease pressure, seed quality and yields. Some 
crops or varieties that are widely grown throughout Europe will 
likely need to shift northwards. Meanwhile, growers in southern 
regions may find themselves abandoning traditional crops for 
other ones that are better adapted to our new climate reality.
Staphyt is a contract research organization (CRO) with 25 
self-sufficient experimental seed stations located in 12 European 
countries that together provide access to an extensive network of 
field sites comprising over 300,000 microplots. We are capable 
of managing trials that conform to strict standards. And each of 
our stations is equipped with high-quality, innovative equipment 
that allows us to manage everything from small local seed trials 
to large projects for international breeding companies and seed 
distributors. 
Our services are diverse. While pre-registration and 
post-registration variety trials make up the bulk of our business, 
we also have the capacity to manage seed multiplication and 
production, line screenings, disease, stress, density and seed 
treatment trials, and more.
PARTNER CONTENT
Preparing European Agriculture For a 
Climate it Can’t Predict 
BY: PASCAL BASTA, HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT – EU SEEDS, STAPHYT
Our field teams are experts in what they do and are always 
ready to adapt to the situation on a season by season basis and 
to change course, as necessary, to aid our clients in finding the 
best way forward. 
Twenty years ago, those clients were focused primarily on 
crop yields. More recently, their needs have shifted towards 
agronomy, and we have shifted with them. While the bulk of our 
work continues to involve variety trials, we are seeing growing 
interest in abiotic stress tests, new crop types and new tech­
niques. The last decade has also seen us adopt new technolo­
gies, allowing us to assess crops using drones, satellite imagery 
and other cutting-edge tools. 
Last year we had the opportunity to take another step 
into the future by acquiring France-based Héliantis Group 
Subsidiaries, making us the top CRO in Europe. The industry-lead­
ing expertise at Héliantis has opened a whole new world of 
possibilities for our local and global clients, expanding our plant 
breed, stress testing, data collection and, most importantly, our 
seed production services. 
We measure our success by the faith our clients place in 
the quality of our services. When I see the same organizations 
coming back to the same location with the same program year 
after year, that gives me confidence that we are offering quality 
services that are helping our clients succeed now and will con­
tinue to do so well into the future.  

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