Arcadia Biosciences and Beck’s Hybrids today announced a collaboration to bring high-value yield and stress traits to the market in corn. The collaboration leverages Arcadia’s abiotic stress traits and Beck’s leadership in breeding, commercial seed production, marketing and sales.
Under the agreement, Arcadia and Beck’s will jointly invest in commercial development of abiotic stress and yield traits, and both companies will share in the commercial value of resulting products. The collaboration will focus on commercializing traits that improve yield, nutrient efficiency and stress tolerance under various environmental conditions.
“Beck’s is recognized as a high-quality, customer-focused seed company that is trusted by thousands of farmers in the Corn Belt,” said Roger Salameh, interim president and CEO of Arcadia. “This partnership will give farmers access to breakthrough yield and stress traits in hybrids uniquely suited to their growing conditions.”
Scott Beck, president of Beck’s Hybrids added, “We are excited to collaborate with Arcadia, which has a proven track record of working with regulatory agencies for acceptance of biotech traits. Arcadia and Beck’s have like-minded philosophies in serving customers and sustainably improving the quality and amount of food production worldwide.”
Corn is one of the most important crops in the United States, with more than 88 million acres planted in the U.S. and a harvest value of more than $49 billion. While major gains have been made in corn productivity, farmers still depend on a combination of fertilizers, advanced genetics and traits to increase crop productivity.
Arcadia’s agronomic yield and stress tolerance traits are designed to increase crop yields and improve farm economics by improving efficiency in the use of key inputs, such as fertilizer and water, or by increasing tolerance to environmental stresses, such as drought and water stress. Arcadia’s Nitrogen Use Efficiency trait in particular has demonstrated double-digit yield gains in multiple years of field testing in wheat and rice.
“While we continue to advance our yield and stress trait pipeline in important food crops such as wheat and rice, joining forces with Beck’s on the most important row crop in the U.S. market creates a compelling and highly competitive business opportunity for our companies,” said Salameh.
