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January/February 2007 Monsanto and Landec announce two separate agreements that are potentially valued at more than $70 million. Monsanto's American Seeds, Inc. (ASI) subsidiary acquires Landec's direct marketing and seed sales company, Fielder's Choice Direct (FCD), based in Monticello, IN. The sales price for FCD was $50 million in cash paid at the close on December 1, 2006, with a potential additional earn-out amount of up to $5 million based on FCD results for the twelve months ending May 31, 2007. The parties also announce they have entered into a five-year global technology license agreement for Landec's Intellicoat polymer seed coating technology. Under the agreement, Monsanto will become the exclusive sales and marketing agent in corn, oilseeds and cotton and receive an option to buyout the technology. CNH Global announces the promotion of Lorenzo Sistino as Pres of New Holland agricultural brand. He takes over from Marco Mazzu who will assume other responsibilities within the Fiat Group. Sistino joined Fiat in 1987 and was most recently responsible for worldwide sales of the Fiat brand since June 2005. Pilgrim's Pride and Gold Kist enter into a definitive merger agreement under which Pilgrim's Pride will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Gold Kist common stock for $21 per share in cash. The transaction has a total equity value of approximately $1.1 billion, plus the assumption of approximately $144 million of Gold Kist's debt. Together, Pilgrim's Pride and Gold Kist will create the world's leading chicken company in terms of production and the third-largest U.S. meat protein company by revenues. Farmers National Company (FNC), Omaha, NE, now offers agribusiness valuation services, as well as agribusiness sales and marketing services, through Farmers National Marketing Group, LLC, in partnership with Farrell Growth Group. Bob Dow of Farrell Growth Group will lead the business valuation service. FNC also announces it has acquired Boyd Real Estate, Arcola, IL. The firm's founder and Pres, Mac Boyd, will continue as an employee of FNC. Boyd Real Estate offers professional farm management services to approx 25 landowners. It is also active in real estate sales and land appraisal. Professional Seed Research Inc. (PSR), Sugar Grove, IL, forms PSR Global Genetics LLC, a new corn genetics company to the seed industry. Since 1995, PSR has used its Rapid Inbreeding technology to develop inbred lines from unencumbered public materials. "PSR Global Genetics is a natural evolution of our RI breeding program which allows quick recycling of the best selections for yield improvement within a population," says CEO Jim Dodd, Ph.D. "We came up with the idea of creating this company five years ago, but our germplasm just wasn't quite there yet. Today, our lines are outperforming others in tests." Arysta LifeScience, Cary, NC, announces its management team and business structure following its acquisition and integration of BASF's MicroFlo unit. Following are the key appointments: Bill Lewis, Business Head; Jeff Tweedy, Business Dev; Hugh MacGilliveray, Row Crop Head; Dale Chaney, Horticulture & Turf/Ornamental Head; Gary Sabolik, Row Crop RSM, and Craig Brekkas, Western Canada RSM. AgVenture, Inc., Kentland, IN, hires Chuck Schneider, as Reg'l Bus Dev Mgr where he will lead efforts to expand the company's reach into the eastern Corn Belt and the eastern shore of the U.S. Schneider served as Nat'l Channel Mgr with Mycogen Seeds/Dow Agro Sciences managing national seed accounts, the professional farm management channel and dairy nutrition specialists across the country. Bayer CropScience, has received registration from the EPA for its TRILEX Advanced Seed-Applied System for controlling key cotton seedling diseases. Also at Bayer, USDA formally approves a strain of genetically engineered rice whose discovery in commercial stocks earlier this year triggered a food market dispute with the European Union and Japan. In August, the Food and Drug Administration and USDA announced that testing by Bayer had discovered the genetically modified rice in bins in AR and MO. The genetically engineered rice has a protein known as LibertyLink, which allows the crop to withstand applications of an herbicide used to kill weeds. Lindsay Manufacturing Co., Omaha, NE, changes its name to Lindsay Corporation. Informa Economics, Memphis, TN, names Thomas Scott as Pres. Scott has been with the company for 17 years, most recently as head of the firm's Project Consulting Group. His specialized work has included business strategy, agribusiness economic development, feasibility and site selection work, as well as various market analyses. Named as Exec VPs are Richard Andersen, who is co-executive responsible for Informa's livestock, meat, poultry and dairy activities, and William Motes, who is co-executive manager of Informa's Washington office. Promoted to Senior VPs are James Allwood, Energy Consulting leader; Brad Anderson, co-executive of the Crops Group; Ken Eriksen, Transportation and Logistics Services leader; Mark Jekanowski, co-executive of its Washington office; Rob Murphy, co-executive of the Livestock, Meat, Poultry and Dairy Group; Scott Richman, Commercial Consulting leader; and Juan Sacoto, Financial Consulting leader. Jeremy Scherr is named Dir of Publishing. Mike Naig joins the Agribusiness Association of Iowa as its Dir of Regulatory and Public Policy. He had been with CropLife America. David C. Palshaw joins Palshaw Measurement, Inc., Carmel, CA, as a VP. He previously held marketing, sales and analytical responsibilities in multiple organizations, including ConAgra and Foster Poultry Farms. American Vanguard Corporation acquires BASF's global Counter insecticide product line and the Lock 'n Load closed delivery system. The Counter product line consists of the active ingredient terbufos, the trademark Counter, the manufacturing and formulation know-how, registration rights, intellectual property rights and inventories. Counter generated sales of approximately $25 million in 2005. Bunge North America, announces it has promoted five people as part of a company reorganization. Todd Bastean becomes GM of the newly created Bunge Biofuels unit; Greg Bechtel is named GM of Bunge Oilseed Processing; Rodney Perry becomes GM of Bunge Milling; Bailey Ragan is named GM of Bunge Grain; and Mike Snow is promoted to Mgr of the newly created Industrial Management Department. United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) announces it has agreed to buy Arkema's shareholding in Cerexagri Group, King of Prussia, PA, for $111 million (EUR) subject to closing adjustments. Based in India with U.S. headquarters in Trenton, NJ, UPL is one of the world's largest manufacturers and marketers of generic crop protection products. Dave Fox joins Pioneer as Sr. Mktg Mgr for the Northern Market U.S. He had been with Nitragin/LIPHATECH, Inc. Engineered Storage Products Company announces the hiring of Rick Dripps as Sls Mgr for its Slurrystore brand of manure storage, containment and management systems. Dripps has spent most of his career with companies servicing municipal and agricultural water quality and waste management markets. Darrell Honn, Moline, IL, joins Fontanelle Hybrids in the new position of Eastern RSM. He has been in the seed business for 27 years. Krystal Large joins the firm as a Mktg Ass't. Tom Hall joins Monsanto as an Area Agronomy Mgr in Kansas, eastern Colorado and northern Texas. He most recently was Stewardship and Security Leader for CropLife America. He has also been with VantagePoint, Doane and the American Society of Agronomy where he helped found the Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) program. Bayer CropScience purchases the assets of California Planting Cotton Seed Distributors (CPCSD), Bakersfield, CA, and the assets of Reliance Genetics LLC, Harlingen, TX. The combined price for the related transactions amounts to approximately $20 million. The CPCSD transaction serves to broaden the geographic reach of Bayer CropScience's U.S. cotton platform, as well as strengthen its germplasm portfolio, particularly in the area of enhanced fiber quality. Reliance Genetics is a specialized cotton breeding program, which will further complement Bayer CropScience's current FiberMax offering and expand the company's germ-plasm library. In acquiring the assets of Reliance, Bayer CropScience will gain the ability to introduce additional varieties into its FiberMax line, including many that have the latest insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant traits. Becker Underwood expands and forms two new units, an Inoculants Business Unit and Seed Enhancements Business Unit. The Inoculants group is headed by Paul Holliday who will oversee all sales and marketing activities, and all inoculants manufacturing operations in North America. Prior to joining the company, Holliday worked for Bayer CropScience and Dekalb Genetics. The Enhancements group includes seed colorant and polymer product lines and the Seedbiotics business and is headed by Bill Romp who has been with the company for eight years. Robert Curtis joins ABG, Indianapolis, IN, to lead its market research. He was with Pulse Perfect, LLC, where he was a founding partner of a company that implemented a marketing strategy for an innovative mathematical technique in the electronics industry. Previous experience includes working as the Area Dir of Europe for DEKALB Genetics and the Reg'l Dir of Latin America for Pioneer Hi-Bred International. IN MEMORIAM Johnnie Bryan Hunt, Sr., one of Montana Tractors' three owners, passed away at age 79. Mr. Hunt had been in critical condition after sustaining a head injury from a fall on the ice on December 2, 2006. He had a long and successful career as an entrepreneur who had the ability and instincts to build numerous successful businesses from scratch and turned many a dream into reality. J. Douglas Maus, 51, Pres and CEO of Farms.com passed away after suffering a heart attack in London, ON. He was a successful, visionary entrepreneur and founded M& F Livestock that has evolved into Farms.com Ltd. Tweet |
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