Bellevue, Iowa, USA
June 14, 2013
Cornelius Seed is pleased to announce the introduction of Cornelius Soybeans. This proprietary soybean line will be for sale this fall for the 2014 planting season.
"This is an exciting chapter in our 78-year history,” says Chuck Cornelius, president.
Cornelius has historically provided soybeans from other private labels while it concentrated its resources on developing high-performance corn hybrids. However, with the advent of new genetics, new soybean traits on the horizon and new seed treatments, all of which can affect performance, Cornelius determined its customers would be best served by bringing those same resources to bear on the future of soybeans.
As a result, Cornelius Seed will introduce nine new varieties this August at its sales kick-off meeting. The varieties range in maturity from 1.8 to 3.1. They are in a number of public plots and third-party trials for prospective customers to see this summer and fall. "These varieties are at the cutting edge of performance over anything we see in the industry,” Cornelius says. "I think anyone NOT planting them will sacrifice yield.”
Cornelius will assume full authority over genetic research and selection, seed production quality and timeliness as well as trait and treatment selection. "Our soybean introduction will augment the high-performance corn business we offer our customers,” Cornelius says.
"This move into our own line of soybeans aligns well with our core mission of providing leading genetics, traits and services in order to maximize profits on every acre.” Cornelius says. "We’ve been heavily involved in the soybean industry now for 20 years. Because of that history, we can select genetics, produce appropriate quantities in a timely fashion and at higher levels of quality.”
The Cornelius soybean launch follows strategic growth plans the company has been laying for several years. It has added substantial seed processing facilities with upgrades, expansions and new construction since 2006. In the past four years, two sons, Will and James Cornelius, graduates of Iowa State University, have returned to the business in management roles.
Cornelius has also added to its sales force with additional districts, additional leadership experience in those districts and most recently added industry veteran David Aeschliman who will oversee future growth at Cornelius.
"Soybean yields will increase rapidly as better genetics get combined with better traits offering specialized performance capabilities in soybeans,” points out Cornelius. "By moving these decisions under our control, we believe we are in a better position to make decisions that are right for our targeted marketplace. And, we have access to more genetic and trait packages than other companies.”
In the past decade, Cornelius opened its corn trait access to all three multinational trait developers, a strategic move that allows Cornelius to literally offer more genetic and trait combinations than the country’s largest seed firms.
"This is the driving force behind our continuing commitment to operate an independent seed company,” Cornelius explains. "It gives farmers more options than three multinationals fighting it out over turf. We have access to all of the results those developers have introduced. That allows us to perform across genetics, trait platforms and seed treatment options. We can’t help but provide a broader range of options than those who pursue only their developments.”
Aeschliman points to the company’s exceptional customer satisfaction and retention levels. "For a company’s customers to build the kind of loyalty we see with the Cornelius brand, they trust our judgment on genetic selection, trait incorporation into those genetics and the management advice we provide on how to maximize profit. And they trust our dealer sales force to treat them well with good selection, good advice and good service. We think we can now extend that mutual respect into soybeans.”
He also points to the broad availability of genetics and traits Cornelius has at its disposal targeting its specific marketing area. "There is no company with fuller access to genetics or traits designing hybrids and varieties for a specific 3-state area.”
Cornelius services farmers in the eastern and northern halves of Iowa, southwest Wisconsin and the northern one-half of Illinois. Its footprint covers approximately 10 million acres of corn and of soybeans.
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