Industry seeds Type of business private | Founded 1950 | |
Owners Harry Stine and his four children | ||
Stine seed company tour full version
Stine Seed Company is the world's largest private seed company, and the largest independent seed company in the US. It has over 900 patents, specialising in soybean and corn genetics, is based in the small town of Adel, Iowa, and is almost entirely owned by Harry Stine and his four children.
Contents
History
Stine Seed Company was founded by Harry Stine's father in the 1950s as Stine Seed Farm.
In 1997, they entered into a large-scale collaboration with Monsanto, focusing on increasing corn and soybean yields.
In 2014, Forbes estimated that the company was worth almost US$3 billion, with estimated sales of over $1 billion and margins over 10%.
Operations
It is the world's largest private seed company, has 15,000 acres of Iowa farmland and is almost entirely owned by Harry Stine and his four children. Stine has nearly 400 employees in 16 states, and 500 globally.
Products and patents
The company has over 900 patents, specialising in soybean and corn genetics. Customers include Monsanto and Syngenta. Stine Seed have developed high-density corn varieties, with shorted plants but planted 8-12 inches apart, rather than 42 inches apart when horses were used, allowing for average yields of up to 300 bushels per acre. Stine Seed was hoping to get approval to sell their seeds in China in 2015. They have been partnering with Chinese firms for a few years.