Sugar Producer

10 Sugar Producer MAY 2019 Off the Top News and Updates from the Sugarbeet industry ACH Seeds Awards Sugar Bounty Winners ACH Seeds announced the winners of the 2018 National Sugar Bounty Program at the 2019 American Sugarbeet Growers Association annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., in February. The national winners, Craig and Michelle Herickhoff of H & H Acres LLC in Belgrade, Minn., were awarded a customized John Deere Gator as well as trip expenses and registration to the ASGA meeting. Seven regional winners were also invited to the ASGA meeting, and received a plaque and Sugar Bounty Program jacket. The regional winners were chosen from 36 district winners throughout North America. The Sugar Bounty Program encourages sugarbeet growers across North America to combine their cultural practices and beet seed genetics in order to achieve the highest sugar per ton and per acre. The program recognizes growers who meet these criteria when planting ACH Seeds Crystal brand beet seed varieties. Honored as national winners of the Sugar Bounty Program were (from left) Mark, Michelle, Craig and Donna Herickhoff of H & H Acres in Minnesota. Valent U.S.A. Appoints McBay VP of Sales Valent U.S.A. LLC has appointed Dion McBay as vice president of sales, effective Feb. 25. McBay succeeds Rick Kraus, who has transitioned to a new role as national sales director of integrated farms and land management. In his new role, McBay will be responsible for leading the sales team and directing the sales process for Valent's products and services across North America. He will also serve as Valent's executive lead to the customer channel and support the global initiatives of Valent's parent company, Sumitomo Chemical. Wilbur-Ellis Acquires Wiles Brothers Fertilizer Wilbur-Ellis Company LLC, a recognized leader in precision agriculture technology and the distribution and marketing of plant protection, seed and nutritional products, has acquired the assets of Wiles Brothers Fertilizer, Inc., a top independent agriculture retailer in Nebraska. Family-owned and -operated since 1976, Wiles Brothers Fertilizer has been a successful, independent ag retailer, providing its customers with fertilizer, crop protection, seed products and application services. This purchase expands the Wilbur-Ellis footprint into the highly productive crop areas of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. The Wiles Brothers business and location will serve as a major platform from which Wilbur-Ellis can test and launch a collection of agronomic advisory services and cutting-edge technologies. As of Feb. 13, Wiles Brothers Fertilizer employees and assets became part of Wilbur-Ellis Company. Nick Waters has assumed responsibilities as branch manager and can be reached at (402) 298-8550 or at NWaters@wilburellis.com. ZONE? TILL-IT logo is a trademark of Wilbur-Ellis Company LLC. K-0117-480 Corteva, ZeaKal Announce R&D Collaboration Corteva Agriscience, the agriculture division of DowDuPont, and ZeaKal, a plant science innovator focused on improving agricultural productivity, have entered into a strategic research and development collaboration. Together, they will advance ZeaKal's innovative technology to help improve seed quality and increase crop yield by enhancing the photosynthetic capacity and efficiency of plants. ZeaKal and Corteva will work together to develop and test ZeaKal's proprietary PhotoSeed technology, which uses a novel mechanism for increasing a plant's intrinsic photosynthetic capacity. PhotoSeed plants can harvest more sunlight and fix more carbon dioxide, which allows for significant improvement in seed and grain yield. PhotoSeed also improves seed composition quality by increasing both oil and protein content. As part of the alliance, Corteva Agriscience will take a minority equity stake in ZeaKal. Kubota Accelerates Its Large Tractor Business Kubota Corporation announces its decision to utilize the development and production capabilities of Buhler Industries Inc. for a new series of tractors. Buhler has a proven track record of designing, manufacturing and distributing large tractors in North America. Kubota has chosen to take this direction with a view toward improving development lead time and optimizing product specifications to meet local requirements. This new agreement enables Kubota to add tractors in a horsepower range greater than that of its currently largest 170-horsepower line to accelerate its large tractor business in the North American market. These new large tractors have been customized exclusively for Kubota through the company's engineering expertise for ease of operation and functional design. The tractors will be launched in the U.S. and Canada in the second half of 2019 as Kubota continues its strategy to penetrate the North American large tractor market.

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