Our Research Commitment

Betaseed breeds and produces new varieties of hybrid sugarbeet seed for the beet sugar industry and growers in the United States, Canada and other countries. Our objective is to create ever-improved varieties with increased sugar yield and better tolerance to diseases and pests. Enhanced emergence, stand establishment and harvestability are also key objectives.

We maintain a broad-based research program that draws upon genetic resources from our own gene pool, as well as that of our parent company KWS, and also from the USDA (Beltsville, MD; East Lansing, MI; Fargo, ND; Fort Collins, CO; Pullman, WA; Salinas, CA; Sidney, MT) and other worldwide sources. Two breeding programs – one based at Shakopee and Moorhead, Minnesota, mainly for non-irrigated growing areas in the East, and another based in Twin Falls, Idaho mainly for irrigated growing areas in the West – are separate, but coordinated, and work toward commonly agreed objectives.

It takes 10-12 years to breed and produce a modern sugarbeet variety ready for marketing. During this period Betaseed conducts field trials in all the major sugarbeet growing areas. The results of these trials are used to select the new hybrids that go forward into registration trials. No variety may be marketed without prior approval within each specific growing area.

Shakopee, MN

Kimberly, ID

Disease Information