Seminis Seeds

“What we are looking for is these little black seeds that come out of that when they process that”. These tiny onion seeds are big business for Idaho agriculture. At Seminis seeds in Nampa, harvest of onion, carrot and Sweet corn seed is underway. Farm Bureau leaders have seized the opportunity to host Idaho lawmakers on a tour of the plant and help educate them on the importance of this sector of Idaho agriculture that helps feed the world. Dir. of government affairs for Idaho Farm Bureau, Russ Hendricks: “ The whole idea is to invite legislators to come out and learn about agriculture. We try and pick a different aspect every year. This year we are talking about GMO’s since that is a hot topic. We want to help them learn about not only where their food comes from but why the technology behind where their food comes from is important.”

 

Seminis Seeds, a part of the Monsanto Corporation, does biotech research on the varieties of different vegetable seeds they process here. Tour guests hear firsthand why biotech and GMO crops offer major improvements in food production. Dir. of governmental and public affairs for Monsanto Trent Clark explains: “ The major improvement is a reduction in the amount of inputs a farmer has to put out. In many cases it is a reduction in herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals that are poisonous in one way or another. If you are able to use less of those add-ons then you get less residue and you get food that has less trace. People generally believe that that is an improvement.

 

Lawmaker Gary Collins appreciated the opportunity to learn more about Idaho agriculture: “Tremendous. I was raised on a farm so I've got some roots but it has changed so much and the importance of agriculture here in Idaho is very interesting.”