Page 12 - AWA Vol.36-No.5

SEEDS

BENSON HILL CONTRACTS alliance in March 2020 with the object-
ive of uniting DENSO’s automotive tech-
30,000 ACRES OF PREMIUM nology and Certhon’s horticulture tech-
nology to meet the diverse demand for
agricultural solutions globally. By estab-
SOYBEAN FOR 2020 lishing the sales company, DENSO and
Certhon will build a sustainable agricul-
tural business by providing cutting-edge
ing for new opportunities to improve technologies to global growers.
the profitability and predictability of
their operation beyond the traditional
commodity landscape,” said Kevin Van
Trump, CEO of Farm Direction. “Benson
Hill understands how to serve these mar-
kets and how to serve the farmer. Their
dual focus unlocks a massive opportun-
ity for those who want to be part of the
A crop improvement company ded- evolution underway in food and agricul-
icated to unlocking the natural genetic ture.”
diversity of plants to develop healthier, In addition to the premium meal and
more sustainable food choices, today oil ingredients these acres will deliver,
announced it has contracted 30,000 Benson Hill recently announced the first
acres to advance its cutting-edge soy- commercially available soybean vari-
bean varieties through partnerships in eties that can effectively replace soy Through the global expansion of
the consumer food, animal feed, and protein concentrate via typical soybean next-generation greenhouse techno-
aquaculture markets. Grown across wide crushing. Available in the 2021 crop logy, DENSO will contribute to sustain-
geography within the United States, Ben- year, this innovation will enable food able agricultural production as well as
son Hill’s non-GMO soybean product companies to eliminate costly energy aim to create the food value chain busi-
line combines superior nutritional qual- and water-intensive processing steps ness providing new value for the food-
ities and oil content with highly compet- across the consumer food, animal feed, agro sector.
itive yields, offering benefits from seed- and aquaculture markets. Circle 11 on enquiry card
to-shelf.
Circle 10 on enquiry card
“The consumer food, animal feed, and
aquaculture markets are demanding in- KEYGENE FIRST TO
novation that improves the health and DENSO AND CERTHON
sustainability profile of their ingredi- SUCCESSFULLY AP-
ents,” said Chris Wilkins, Chief Operat- ESTABLISH DENSO
ing Officer of Benson Hill. “Our portfolio PLY SELECTIVE DNA
ers this innovation through a full range of ARISTECH SOLUTIONS
of high-quality soybean varieties deliv-
in-demand, premium attributes, includ- SEQUENCING IN
ing better digestibility, heart-healthy -TO THE GLOBAL EX-
omega fatty acids and higher protein PLANTS
that benefit farmers, producers, and con- PANSION OF NEXT
sumers and further allow Benson Hill to
deepen its relationships across the en- GENERATION HORTI- Scientists of KeyGene are the first to re-
tire value chain.” port the successful application of adapt-
ive DNA sequencing in plants, applying
CULTURE the Read Until tool of Oxford Nanopore
Technologies. Using a combination of
the Oxford Nanopore Technologies Min-
The joint venture will offer customers
DENSO’s agricultural products, such ION sequencing device, a powerful GPU
equipped computer and the Read Until
as the Proform T-cube*, and Certhon’s
world-leading horticulture products software, the team was able to achieve an
and service. Moreover, it will provide eightfold enrichment of 800 regions in a
melon genome that were selected to be
next-generation turn-key horticulture selectively sequenced.
solutions, including agronomy consult-
ing and aftermarket-services tailored to This breakthrough will further de-
customer needs. Supported by a busi- crease the time and money needed to in-
Benson Hill provides its cutting-edge ness collaboration with Toyota Tsusho vestigate regions in the genome that are
soybean food and feed-grade seed vari- Corporation, DENSO AgriTech Solutions known to be involved in important plant
eties through its Benson Hill Seeds divi- will strengthen sales of greenhouse solu- traits, such as fruit color, taste, or resist-
sion. These varieties meet farmer and tions in Japan and other Asian countries. ances to pathogens. By sequencing and
distributor requests for product choices DENSO and Certhon formed a capital analyzing these regions in detail, vari-
and transparency to fully leverage new ation can be explained and used for se-
market opportunities. By delivering lections in the breeding process. In this
quality traits like lower anti-nutrients, way, improved varieties can be brought
high oleic and low linolenic oil, and to market faster.
higher protein content, while maintain- Technology
ing competitive yields, farmers are able
to diversify their operations with confid- Adaptive sequencing allows for the se-
ence and realize a strong profit per acre. lection of DNA regions to be sequenced.
“More than ever, farmers are look- When a DNA fragment runs through a
Circle 25 on enquiry card
10 Vol. 36 No. 5

36-5.indd 10 7/5/20 12:53 PM