The Rural Voice, 2005-02, Page 25Starting a new
seed company
takes courage
Starting a new seed company
from scratch takes a lot of
courage. Well that wasn't put
quite as colourfully as Vince
Trudell said it but you get the
picture.
Trudell and wife Rosemary
started De Dell Seeds Incorporated
in 1999 after 25 years working for
large seed companies because he
felt farmers needed an alternative
to the way agriculture was
developing with tech fees, etc.
"Someone's got to take a different
stand," he said.
They bought the rights to
several hybrid lines from plant
breeding sources. What the
average farmer doesn't know is
that independent breeders, some
that are bigger companies than the
giants in the seed business, provide
the genetics for seed that goes into
bags of various companies, he
says. The U.S. market is huge with
hundreds of companies for these
breeders to deal with including the
familiar giants. There could be 15
companies selling the same hybrid.
Every year they test thousands
of new hybrids and pick a handful
to bring to market. Their seed is
grown on irrigated tobacco sand
near Tillsonburg and they
warehouse it in London.
As well as testing new varieties,
the Trudell family including
children and their cousins are busy
each July in the hot corn fields,
putting on shoot bags and tassel
bags to make infinite crosses to
develop their own hybrids. They'd
like to develop an outstanding
hybrid that would be all their own,
saving them the royalty fee they
must pay to the developers of other
lines.
"It's been a struggle," he
admits. "If it was easy, everyone
would be doing it." Still, each year
a few more people discover the
company. They are actively
looking for new dealers to help
spread the word. °
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FEBRUARY 2005 21