Calyxt Announces Seed Agreement with Landus Cooperative
Calyxt, Inc., a healthy food ingredients company, today announced that the Company has expanded its geographic footprint for acreage growth and weather-risk diversity by adding Landus Cooperative’s seed distribution, agronomy support, grain storage, and transportation services for Calyxt high oleic soybeans.
This agreement expands the Company’s supply chain network into Iowa’s 10 million acre soybean market, which is about 11% of total U.S. soybean production. The Landus Cooperative farmer-owners will be able to plant Calyxt’s high oleic soybeans in the 2020 growing season.
Landus Cooperative, a farmer-owned company in Iowa, has 30 dedicated agronomists partnering locally with growers to evaluate and recommend sustainable management programs to grow high-quality grain. The diversified cooperative has locations in 60 communities in Iowa, approximately 7,000 members and is the sixth-largest grain company in North America (based on storage capacity) aggregating more than 170 million bushels of corn and soybeans annually.
“By further strengthening our relationship with Landus Cooperative through this added seed distribution agreement, we are underscoring confidence in our ability to achieve 100,000 contracted acres in 2020,” said Jim Blome, chief executive officer with Calyxt. “What’s more, we can leverage their footprint and reach to expedite the launch of our new varieties.”
“Landus Cooperative advocates for our farmer-owners by creating opportunities to elevate the value of their grain with specific acres planted for a specific, consumer-destined purpose,” explained Landus Cooperative CEO, Milan Kucerak. “Our agronomy expertise and programs serve a critical role in building an identity-preserved supply chain with opportunities for future growth. By offering Calyxt’s high oleic soybeans, Landus Cooperative continues to build relationships that connect food companies with our farmers.”
