The new 100-year-old seed company

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    The new 100-year-old seed company.

    Name: Charles Brown

    Title: President, Brownseed Genetics and CBSeed

    Career: Third generation owner of Bay City, Wisconsin-based seedcompany; Vice Chair Organic

    Seed Committee, American Seed Trade Assn.

    AM: Tell us about the founding of Brownseed Genetics.

    CB: The Brown family has been in the seed business since 1911, whenmy grandfather was

    fortunate enough to have had excess stored seedfollowing a drought year. Supplies were short, he

    sold the excess seedto neighbors in need, and we've been in the seed business eversince. In those

    early years, Brown offered open pollinated products, andwe began selling hybrids by the late

    1920s.

    My father picked up where my grandfather left off, and my brotherand I came on board in the late

    1970s. We purchased the Jacques Seedfacility in Prescott, WI, in 1996 and then sold that facility

    along withour retail line to Nu-Tech in 2006.

    Brownseed Genetics was formed in 2001 to develop and license corngermplasm. We just launched

    our new retail brand, CB Seed, in Januarythis year.

    AM: Why did you form CB Seed?

    CB: Farmers told us they wanted more choices in hybrids withshorter maturities and select traits

    that still offer proven highyields. Since 2006, we've been exclusively focused on researchingand

    developing corn hybrids that perform in northern climates, andwe've had outstanding results in

    third-party trials with a numberof our select trait, conventional and organic options.

    As a result, we thought the time was right to sell these hybridsunder our own retail brand of CB

    Seed.

    AM: What are its competitive advantages?

    CB: Because we're focused on the northern U.S., we can offerhybrids that contain only traits

    necessary to maximize performance inthis climate. As a result, yield is not sacrificed, but our price

    pointis well below many stacked trait options.

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    In addition, we're one of a few remaining corn breeders whospecializes in early maturity (less than

    100-day RM) conventionalhybrids. We believe there is a significant market for conventional

    andorganic seed and our proprietary research gives us an advantage inproviding new products to

    an underserved market.

    AM: Why do you think it will succeed?

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    CB: Our products target a number of underserved markets, and weproject we will hit our sales

    goals by successfully meeting the needs ofthese producers.

    In addition to our select trait and early maturity hybrids, weoffer high protein and high-oil corn

    hybrids that deliver a premiumprice to farmers. We've also begun developing markets for the

    grainfrom these hybrids and are currently contracting acres to fill a5-million bushel order for a

    poultry operation in the Mideast.

    We also want to become a significant supplier to the organic marketby offering certified organic

    seed that provides grain and silage withhigh energy content.

    AM: How do you take advantage of today's technology to improveconventional hybrids?

    CB: Probably the most significant way we employ technology isthrough DNA analysis. We work

    closely with another area company,BioDiagnostics, to employ marker-assisted breeding. This

    process usesDNA-based detection technologies to find any known gene in plants, andapply

    molecular markers for genotyping and molecular breeding. It allowsus to save a tremendous

    amount of time and we can more quickly identifyvalue-added hybrids that offer the most potential

    for yield.

    AM: What is your sales/distribution system?

    CB: We sell through distributors in five states, and we selldirectly to the producer when a

    distributor is not available. We alsolicense germplasm to several companies in the U.S. and

    internationalmarkets.

    AM: What types of marketing and communications activities are youimplementing to support the

    brand?

    CB: We completed an initial launch in January to put our flag inthe ground and let farmers know

    that we're here.

    To support this initial launch, we produced a full-page ad seriesthat is running in regional farm

    publications in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. We also are on the web with

    www.CBSeed.com, and we haveon-going public relations tactics being implemented, including

    mediarelations and an active speaking schedule.

    We have seed available to sell for this growing season, but ourfirst big marketing push will be forthe 2012 season, which will bekicked off in September with a celebration to mark our 100-

    yearanniversary.

    AM: Anything else you think the ag industry would find of interest?

    CB: The world's increasing demand for protein will open manynew opportunities for companies like

    ours. Broilers will be the proteinof choice for consumers in many countries, and our high

    oil/proteinhybrids provide a significant feed efficiency benefit for these birds.We look forward to

    serving agriculture for another 100 years byproviding grain and oilseeds for the highest quality

    livestock andpoultry feed available.