An interview with David Witherspoon, brand manager, Garst Seed Company

Late last year, Syngenta's purchase of Garst Seed Company was finalized. How will Garst benefit from Syngenta's ownership?

Syngenta is fully vested in agriculture and has a long-term commitment to the industry. This level of commitment leads to considerable investments in breeding, biotechnology and production that will benefit Garst customers. While we were already known in the industry as a leader in trait conversion and mapping, Syngenta's research investment of more than $2 million per day will enable Garst to continue to strengthen our product lineup and take our business to the next level.

What changes will Garst customers see as a result of the new ownership?

Part of Garst's success in doubling our corn sales and tripling our soybean sales since 1995 is our experienced sales-force, agronomist and customer-service teams. Our customers rely on the expertise of their dealer, agronomist and customer-service personnel — their Garst Guys — and they know these people bring real value to their operations. These teams and customer relationships will remain the same.

With that said, the acquisition does create some new opportunities for our customers. In the very near future, we will be able to offer expanded genetic and trait options in our seed, made possible through Syngenta's capital resources. Our customers are already seeing some immediate benefits of our new ownership, such as our ability to offer Syngenta's highly effective seed-applied insecticide and fungicide treatments Cruiser Extreme Pak and Cruiser Maxx Pak on some of our 2005 seed. These products greatly help protect a product's yield potential. We anticipate continuously offering these added value opportunities because of our ownership by Syngenta.

This year will be the first full year of operation under Syngenta ownership. Tell us what Garst is most excited about in the coming year.

Garst will celebrate 75 years in the seed business in 2005, an accomplishment we are extremely proud of achieving in this rapidly changing seed market. This milestone would not have been possible without the support from growers, retailers and distributors throughout the years. We thank everyone for their business and continued support. In the future, we look forward to strengthening the relationships we've built by continuing to bring forward products and services that offer real value.

Is Garst planning to make changes in the distribution channels for its seed?

The Garst brand has tremendous recognition and value in the industry. Syngenta realizes this and is committed to keeping the Garst brand separate from its other seed brands as well as keeping Garst's current seed distribution channels the same.

Like our customers, retailers and distributors will see continual advancements in the products, service and support Garst offers. Of course, there will be greater access to traits and products. It is through Syngenta's resources that we also will be able to offer retailers and distributors services that were not possible before. One example is the online ordering and account management Garst plans to launch this fall.

What new opportunities exist for customers as a result of the acquisition?

Garst's past success is because of our ability to deliver products and services that offer real value to customers and add to their profitability. Garst has always offered a broad lineup of products with a wide selection of traits and strong field performance. However, with Syngenta's tremendous trait discovery capabilities and ability to commercialize proprietary traits, we will be able to deliver more trait options to the market and offer seed that exceeds customer expectations. Providing more trait options and adding competition in the trait market will ultimately benefit our customers.

David Witherspoon oversees all brand management and marketing decisions for seed at Garst Seed Company. He is based at Garst's brand headquarters in Slater, IA.

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