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| Full disclosure: I am a genetic advisor/product manager for an Independent breeding company in Southern Illinois and we breed seed corn germplasm and license it out to Independent seed companies. I also manage the small plot production fields we have for inbred increases and run a seed distributorship carrying Independent companies products. I say that to add credence to what I am about to say. We conduct meetings with industry insiders all year long and much of what is said in this thread is insanely accurate. The big ag companies do under produce popular hybrids in order to create demand for hybrids they have carry over of, they do have twerps working in upper management that don't know the difference between BMR and field corn, there is a real issue going on with cold and warm germs, they do price gouge, and so on and so forth. It's not really a conspiracy if it's all true. The other compounding issues to production and lack of hybrid stock is that Dekalb and Pioneer both had major production failures due to wind storms last year. So when they under produce and then have a production failure, it's a massive hit to the farmer but not really to them. They bank on the farmer just switching to a hybrid they have inventory of. I have real issues with the big ag companies and their practices. While the DSM's, agronomists, and sales people have farmers interests at heart, the CEO's couldn't care less about us. In all honesty, if you're not planting Dekalb, Channel, Pioneer, Brevant, Golden Harvest, or NK and you're planting an independent companies seed, you're still planting Bayer, Corteva or Syngenta germplasm. It's very rare to find a company that has their own germplasm and rarer still to find the hybrid that that company created. The major issue is these 3 companies have a strangle hold on seed, corn and soybeans, and they control well over 90% of the market. They have it down to a science on how much to charge for seed, fertility, and chemical to remove all but operating ROI from the farmer. It's shameful what they have been allowed to do | |
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Corn seed availability?
