2007 A Decade of Consolidation

In many ways, 2007 marked a decade of seed industry consolidation that started with Monsanto and Holden’s Foundation Seed in 1997. In 2007, the mergers and acquisitions trend struck closer to home with Syngenta’s Golden Harvest group purchase. This round of consolidation continued to adjust the Illinois Crop Improvement membership list and, as a result, how it generated revenues. The seed industry consolidation was driven mainly by rapid changes in biotechnology, which brought a chemistry and manufacturing mindset to the industry. These changes also altered seed company demand for traditional services from Illinois Crop. As Illinois seed company ownership effectively moved out of state, the Illinois Crop Improvement Association continued to aim for a stronger position in providing services to the industry. Still, the rapid industry consolidation negatively affected the bottom line.