DuPont: U.S. Corn Seed Supply Sufficient for 2013

DuPont seed division will have sufficient overall supplies of corn seed to sell for planting next year in the U.S., but supplies of some hybrids will be limited due to damage from drought to the seed-corn crop, a senior executive said Tuesday.
 

DuPont Pioneer this year planted a "significantly larger" seed-corn crop than last year, but it has been damaged by the severe U.S. drought just like other crops, said Paul Schickler, president of the chemical company's seed subsidiary, in an interview at the Farm Progress Show.
 

"Will every grower get their No. 1 choice [of hybrid] in the quantities that they want? Likely not. But we've got good second choices and third choices to make up," Mr. Schickler said.

"Supplies are going to be tight when you get down to the hybrid level," he said, "but if you just look at the overall ... we are going to have a good supply" in the U.S. and Canada.
 

Pioneer's corn-seed production is spread geographically across the Farm Belt to help reduce overall weather risks for its crop, Mr. Schickler said. The company also plants extra crops to account for such risks, and nearly 70% of the company's seed crop is irrigated, he said.
 

Pioneer is also starting to produce corn seed in Argentina and Chile that could help "fill in gaps" in U.S. supplies next year, he said.
 

Pioneer this week will likely harvest at least some corn at all of its production sites, so it will have more information over the next few weeks on its actual seed supply, he said.

Mr. Schickler also said the drought won't fuel higher prices for Pioneer corn seed since the company's pricing is not based on market levels, although higher commodity prices do affect Pioneer's costs.
 

Mr. Schickler also said the market for drought-resistant corn seed is currently about 15 million acres of land in the western Corn Belt that frequently suffers from insufficient rain. But he said that over the next 10 to 20 years, the potential market could become the entire U.S. corn crop as Pioneer develops drought-resistant seed also more suited to eastern Corn Belt areas with less-frequent droughts and higher yield demands. Pioneer offers a drought-resistant seed product called Optimum AQUAmax, which it began selling to farmers in 2011.