New breeding force arise from a merger of two green giants

Since the DLF's acquisition of Pickseed in July 2013 R&D staffs at various US locations have worked intensively to complete what seems to be a perfect merger of several strong breeding programs.

When you add green to green what do you get? Supergreen? That seems to be the case, at least when you speak with Chief breeder and Research Director of DLF Pickseed USA, Steve Reid, who has been heading the merger of research departments of Pickseed and Seed Research of Oregon with that of DLF. All three departments have successful breeding programs, which now have been merged into one strong entity located at the Philomath, Oregon research station. The name of the combined research is DLF Pickseed USA, serving three brands; DLF USA, Pickseed USA and Seed Research of Oregon.

Having consolidated the seed inventory at Philomath, Steve and his team have now almost doubled their gene pool. ”Such an extension of our genetic resources holds a plethora of new opportunities for making superior grass varieties”, Steve says. Fortunately, this opportunity is also backed up by a planned expansion of offices, greenhouse facilities, and field trials. The strategy is to increase R&D activities in the US, to meet the growing demand for high quality varieties in all areas. “In front of us lay all the benefits that comes along with a compilation of talents, equipment, and a strong grass portfolio, so we are very excited to see where and how far our new setup will take us”.