Meet SB 101 Field Crop Class, Lafayett, IN

The UC Davis Seed Biotechnology Center recently expanded the Seed Business 101 course by offering a curriculum focused on field crops.  This second class based on the new curriculum was hosted by the Indiana Crop Improvement Association last week, September 17-21, 2012, in Lafayette, IN.

The twenty-one participants represented a wide range of companies with regional, national and international reach.  Congratulations on the completion of the course to the following seed industry professionals: Erin Armstrong, Canterra Seeds, Canada; Jorge Cartin, BASF, USA; Brent Collins, Bayer CropScience, Canada; Cynthia Ernst, Dow Agro Sciences, USA; Anthony Fisher, Dow Agro Sciences, USA; Scott Fleming, Dow Agro Sciences, USA; Gregory Ginisty, Bayer CropScience, France; Caitlin Hamstra, Corn Genetics Inc., USA; Beverly Horton, Dow Agro Sciences, USA; Renato Luzzardi, Bayer CropScience, Brazil; Gayle MacDonald, G-Mac's AgTeam Inc., Canada; Emily Albert, Dow Agro Sciences, USA; Jenelle Meyer, Dow Agro Sciences, USA; Dana Peach, BASF, USA; James Pearson, Bayer CropScience, USA; Liz Pestow, Indiana Crop Improvement Association, USA; Suresh Prabhakaran, Dow Agro Sciences, USA; Dorien Rombouts, Bayer CropScience, Belgium; Mohan Sarda, Dow Agro Sciences, USA; Daniel Tomso, Bayer CropScience, USA; Jason Wistehuff, Bayer CropScience, USA;

The team of instructors (Tom Francis, Dave Westphal and Rale Gjuric) was supported by guest speakers that included well-respected industry experts, Stevan Madjarac (Monsanto Company), Javier Lopez (Dow AgroSciences) and John Larimer (Partners Brand Seed).  As a part of the program, the participants enjoyed a visit and hospitality at Beck’s Hybrids R&D and Operations in Atlanta, IN.

Seed Business 101 is a one week course designed to expose participants to the five functional areas of a seed company (R&D, production, operations, sales and marketing and administration).  By creating a virtual seed company and case studies for each functional area, the course content is delivered in a very interactive way.  During each of the 4 case studies, participants assume a different functional responsibility within the company.  The course gives employees that are new to the seed industry a broad understanding of the major aspects of a seed company’s operations and cross-departmental knowledge of best practices for profitability. The course is taught by widely respected seed business executives with additional help of industry experts participating as guest speakers.

The next session of Seed Business 101SM Field Crops will be held in Davis, CA, January 28-February 1, 2013.  For registration and course details please visit sbc.ucdavis.edu or contact Jeannette Martins at jmartins@ucdavis.edu.

The Seed Biotechnology Center was established at UC Davis in 1999 to mobilize the research, educational and outreach resources of the University of California in partnership with the seed and biotechnology industries, and to facilitate discovery and commercialization of new seed technologies for agricultural and consumer benefits.