A Minnesota corn, soybean and grain seed production and marketing company has expanded its footprint in Western Canada by buying a Prairie competitor.
Thunder Seed, based at Dilworth, just east of Fargo, N.D., announced Wednesday it’s bought Prairie Pacific Seeds, which operates from offices at Delta, B.C. and Souris, Man., for an undisclosed sum.
Prairie Pacific Seeds’ owner, Alexis Arthur, will remain with Thunder Seeds as its new corn sales manager for Western Canada.
“The strategic acquisition of Prairie Pacific Seeds gives us access to its full complement of silage hybrids,” Thunder Seed owner Paul Adams said in a release.
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To Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, there are two main reasons for recent increases for feed barley and wheat. Haley said on March 12 that there’s an ongoing lack of farmer selling, plus stiff competition from the grain companies looking to export barley.
Also, he said, “the expansive distribution channels of Prairie Pacific Seeds allow us to bring Thunder Seed to a broader market.”
Thunder Seed, Arthur noted, “is continuing the testing and genetic work that Prairie Pacific Seeds has been doing in silage, and is committed to focusing on customer needs and product performance.”
Owned by three Minnesota seed farms, Thunder Seed has supplied seed to growers in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Western Canada for over 15 years.
Hybrid designations for Prairie Pacific Seed products will continue with Thunder Seed, but they now will have a “TS” prefix. For example 2146 CHU, a silage corn variety, will now be TS 2146.
Quarry Seed at Stonewall, Man., which distributes for both Thunder Seed and Prairie Pacific Seeds, will continue to be the exclusive distributor for Thunder Seed products in Canada, Thunder Seed said.
Quarry has a network of over 50 dealers across the three Prairie provinces. — AGCanada.com Network
