New agreement ensures lucerne varieties not lost to Australian farmers

Australian farmers will continue to have access to the current leading proprietary lucerne varieties and germplasm in Australia, thanks to an agreement signed between Pioneer Hi-Bred Australia and Australian company South Australian Seed Distributors.

In February 2005 Pioneer Hi-Bred Australia announced it was exiting the lucerne seed business in this country at the end of the year. However, a new production and marketing agreement with Seed Distributors means these popular proprietary lucerne products, and the innovative GOLD STRIKE® technology, will still be available in Australia from December 15, 2005.

“The combination of very strong customer loyalty to current Pioneer® brand lucerne varieties and potential release of new generations of varieties with unique traits developed in the Australian research program, make it imperative that Pioneer lucerne varieties continue to be available to Australian farmers,” explains Keith Glasson, managing director for Pioneer Hi-Bred Australia.

Seed Distributors’ managing director, Rob Damin, said he was delighted to be taking over responsibility for Pioneer’s Australian lucerne program. “Pioneer brand lucerne varieties have built a large following in Australia and set industry benchmarks based on yield, forage quality, pest and disease resistance, seed quality and the GOLD STRIKE® pre-inoculation process,” Mr Damin said.

“Seed Distributors will continue to provide seed of these varieties to the same high quality standards set by Pioneer, and we plan to continue to introduce leading-edge, unique products across all dormancies from the Australian research program in the future. This agreement will allow Australian farmers to have continued access to germplasm from throughout the world and provide an excellent choice of new varieties adapted to local conditions.” The range of lucerne varieties currently marketed by Pioneer include Australia’s most popular variety, Pioneer brand L55, the new semi-dormant L56 (introduced this season), the highly winter-active L90, and the specialist high quality hay varieties, 54Q53 (winter dormant) and 57Q75 (winter-active). Lucerne is a complementary addition to the current Seed Distributors’ range that includes proprietary lines of clovers, medics, ryegrasses and other forage products. “The addition of the leading proprietary lucerne range is in line with our goal to become the leading pasture seed supply company in Australia,” Mr Damin said.

South Australian Seed Distributors is an Adelaide-based company that concentrates on wholesaling pasture seed products. The company has built a good reputation among retail agribusiness across southern Australian states based on its ability to be a reliable supplier of both proprietary and public products at competitive prices.

Mr Glasson said, “Pioneer made a business decision earlier this year to concentrate on our core product range of corn, grain sorghum, forage sorghum, canola and inoculants. However we were determined to ensure that the Pioneer brand lucerne varieties and germplasm continued to be available to our farmer customers in future years through another reliable source. We are very pleased that Seed Distributors will take the management and distribution of Pioneer lucerne varieties into the future.

“Seed Distributors was the logical choice as our licensed production and distribution partner due to their existing wholesale expertise with other proprietary lines, their widespread involvement in the Australian pasture markets and that they have had a very close and successful relationship with Pioneer, as one of our top Selling Agents, over many years,” Mr Glasson said.

Seed Distributors have employed Graeme Ralph, formerly Pioneer Hi-Bred Australia’s national sales manager, to oversee the transfer of the lucerne business and strengthen Seed Distributors support for the NSW and Queensland markets. Names of the existing Pioneer lucerne varieties will be retained by Seed Distributors to make it easier for farmers to source their preferred lucerne variety.

For more information on obtaining Pioneer® brand lucerne varieties please contact Seed Distributors on 08 8445 1111 or contact your nearest Seed distributors representative.