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Bayer acquires soybean seed provider
Bayer CropScience has agreed to purchase Hornbeck Seed Company, a privately-held company headquartered in DeWitt, Arkansas. Hornbeck is a seed company supplying soybean, rice, and wheat varieties in the southern US-market, with an in-house soybean breeding program and proprietary soybean germplasm. According to a news release issued Wednesday, Bayer CropScience will acquire the seed businesses and gain access to soybean germplasm for future variety and trait development. Financial details were not disclosed.
Since its founding in the early 1980s, Hornbeck has provided seed to customers across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
During a conference call Thursday, representatives with Bayer CropScience said that the acquisition is a logical step in a series of investment decisions addressing the needs of southern growers, and in particular soybean growers.
Hornbeck’s focus on breeding soybean varieties will strengthen Bayer CropScience’s position as a seeds and traits provider. Additionally, the acquisition will bring to Bayer CropScience new talent and expertise in the areas of soybean breeding and licensing, as well as in soybean, rice and wheat seed production, seed processing and agronomic services.
Hornbeck varieties with the LibertyLink trait will continue to be a key near term area of focus of the breeding program to help address weed resistance in the southern US soybean market, according to the release.
“Soybean is a strategically important crop for Bayer CropScience, and this acquisition is an important first step towards realizing a fully integrated soybean business,” said Sandra E. Peterson, Chairman of the Board of Management at Bayer CropScience, quoted in the news release. “Hornbeck has a strong seed business and an excellent reputation in the marketplace, and the addition of this company to the Bayer CropScience team will allow us to serve soybean-farmers with complete solutions of seed, seed treatment, traits and crop protection solutions.”
“We are excited to have the opportunity to join the Bayer CropScience organization for a host of reasons – not the least of which is the reputation and reach of the company, and its commitment to providing innovative solutions to growers throughout the southern region of the United States,” said Troy Hornbeck, Chief Operations Officer, Hornbeck Seed, also quoted in the news release.
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