Seed Innovation Company Working to Improve Soybean Seed

Benson Hill is a seed innovation company that is based in St Louis, focusing on soy quality traits and ensuring the end users needs are met, that according to company representative, Christie Dixon.

“So if you think of all the innovation that's gone into soybeans, a lot of that is in yield. So we're looking at things like protein, digestibility, better nutrition, finding ways that we can make this soybean even better so then it can lead to better feed, better food, and better fuel down the line. For the end user, people didn't ask the end user what they needed in soy. They just created commodity soy. So a lot of what we're doing at Benson Hill is talking and working with the end user to get their needs met.”

Dixon shares an example of how this works.

“Like a poultry integrator, if they're looking to have more digestible soy to go into their soybean meal and poultry feed, we can actually have that happen for them at the genetic level. So if we offer those genetics to growers within their chain, that's an option for them to control costs, to improve margin, to add better nutrition to their soy meal that's going into their proprietary feed. We're also working with Seed Company, seed dealers, distributors.”

She says there are about 150 scientists at Benson Hill that conduct research with a focus on three pillars. One is cloud based plant breeding. The second is an indoor crop accelerator facility, and the third is a focus on germplasm, building on soybean genetics.