What goes on here at the Syngenta experimental farm in Naples, deep in southwest Florida, has impact all over the country. Syngenta team members, seed customers and cooperators met here this week for one of two annual field trials. Even a couple major retailer representatives showed up, indicative of a growing interest at the retail level about what is going on at the farm.
Southeastern growers, in this news post you can hear what’s being said in this crowd that will affect what’s grown this year on the farms in this deep southeast region.
Jim McIntosh, Retail Business Representative for Syngenta, was our tour leader for the day at the farm, and he starts us of with this interview to discuss the purpose of the field tour and who all was a part of it.
Download Audio
Butch Brady and Nathan Decker represent Syngenta Seeds for Florida and Georgia growing regions, respectively. We appreciate these guys for their comments, as each of them briefly discuss what’s up in their regions and what growers are dealing with this year.
Butch previously spent much time in Georgia with Syngenta, and is now more focused on the Florida market.
Download Audio
Nathan was assigned a big part of the southeast region a few months back, so his travels now include Georgia and some of north Florida as far south as the I-10 corridor.
Download Audio
Seedlings development and sales are also a growing deal at Syngenta. Through its Full Count Transplant Program, the company continues to expand its efforts to meet a growing demand. Eastern Business Manager Craig Mathis is the region’s resident expert for this part of Syngenta’s Seed business, and in this interview he explains not only how growers can get precisely the number of plants they want, but also how to get additional get replacements if and when they need them.
Download Audio
And last but certainly not least for this news post, is this interview with Scott Langkamp, who is over Syngenta’s Vegetables Division for all of North America. Scott offers some interesting insight about what is driving Syngenta’s seed developments, and the growing role of retailers in what can often become a high-risk but high-values vegetable deal.
Download Audio