Dairyland Seed Co., Inc., of West Bend, Wisconsin, is a third generation seed company established by Simon and Andrew Strachota in 1907. At that time, it served as an accumulator of locally grown clover seed. Today, Dairyland Seed has evolved into a company that is unique in the seed industry. Recognized as an industry leader, Dairyland is the only family-run seed company in the 800-member American Seed Trade Association with proprietary plant breeding programs in hybrid corn, soybeans and alfalfa.

The evolution of the company the past 98 years is a result of responding to needs and opportunities as they arose. In 1940 Simon's son, Orville Strachota, became president and continued the accumulation and conditioning of locally grown clover seed. With the assistance of his wife Marie, Orville expanded the seed business and in 1960 began its dealer merchandising efforts. Through the aggressive efforts of Salesman Ray Kubly, it successfully became the first seed company to offer a complete line of forage seed and hybrid corn through a farmer-dealer network. In the mid 60's, soybeans rounded out the Dairyland product mix.

Sales growth continued steadily through 1976 when sons, Steve and Tom, decided to join the company. In 1977, Dairyland made a major commitment and acquired research facilities, breeding programs, germ plasm, and patent rights from another seed company. In 1981 Dr. Paul Sun, joined Dairyland as its Director of Research. Shortly after, son John joined in early 1982. Today, Steve serves as President, Tom as Chief Executive Officer, John as Vice-President, and Paul Sun as Vice-President of Research.

The key to Dairyland's success has been the decision of its management to make an unwavering commitment to invest time, dollars and talent in long-term plant breeding efforts. In the past 25 years, the Dairyland research commitment has continued to grow. Most importantly, that commitment has allowed for the introduction of over 100 new products in the past five years. During this time, Dairyland has spent 15% of its revenues on research compared to 7-8% for our global competitors. In addition, approximately 40% of Dairyland's employees have been working in its Research Department.

The Stealth hybrid corn breeding program is Dairyland's fastest growing area of research. The Stealth research program emphasizes consistency in hybrid performance. The breeding approach used is one that focuses on the relationship between genetic composition and environmental response, otherwise known as the GENI (Genotypic Environmental Interaction) approach. Simply stated, GENI stands for each unique hybrid corn's ability to adapt to changes in the environment it is grown in. As a result of this effort, leading Stealth hybrids have been released that provide consistently strong performance. New technology efforts include the incorporation of various sources of Bt for improved corn borer resistance as well as herbicide tolerant traits.

Dairyland has also identified certain hybrids as "HiD.F." (Highly Digestable Forage) hybrids. Many HiD.F. hybrids contain the soft kernel trait or have shown other positive silage traits. Our Stealth-1297 is currently being used as a high quality check in University of Wisconsin trials.

Dairyland's DSR soybean breeding program is the oldest private soybean breeding program in the country. Dairyland's testing network is extensive as it ranges from Canada to the mid-South and from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. The DSR history features a remarkable list of firsts in developing varieties for pest resistance such as brown stem rot, iron chlorosis, phytophthora root rot, and soybean cyst nematode. The DSR program became the first soybean breeding program in the world to release herbicide tolerant soybean varieties in maturity groups I, II and III-our exciting DSR/STS varieties. Dairyland has a documented record of attaining the first 70, 80, and 90 bushel yields in state trials with herbicide tolerant soybeans.

In March of 2001 Dairyland announced the release of the world's first hybrid alfalfa, HybriForce-400. Developed through its exclusive, patented msSunstra® Hybrid Alfalfa Technology, this product provides substantiallly more yield for the hay grower. Led by Magnum V and Magnum V-Wet, this program has captured more state trial wins since 1977 than any other seed company - by nearly a 2 to 1 margin. Dairyland has also developed specialty alfalfas that farmers can choose from to match their needs. Magnum V-Wet has a specially designed root structure, nicknamed "smart root", to help it flourish in low and other saturated soil conditions. This alfalfa has also shown improved tolerance to heaving thanks to this root structure. Dairyland also introduced MagnaGraze, a unique alfalfa adaptable to grazing and heavy traffic thanks to its sunken crown.

Dairyland's patented Sequential Maturity Alfalfas, provide the tools to open your harvest window to harvest more bud stage alfalfa. New Forecast 1001 matures 5 days earlier than other alfalfas. New Forecast 3001 matures 4 days later than other alfalfas. Select the maturity that fits your farm and harvest like you currently do, however, you have a greater opportunity to harvest more bud stage hay, resulting in more milk per acre.

These breeding programs have helped identify Dairyland as an industry leader in the field of genetic advancement. The fact that Dairyland products currently are being either sold or tested on five continents provides evidence that this research is world-class. Today, these breeding programs are among the oldest, largest, and most dynamic in the industry.

"Based on the productivity we've seen from our breeding programs, we view research as an investment in our future," says Dairyland President Steve Strachota. "With our commitment to research and the high caliber of personnel that we have, we will continue our tradition of bringing improved products to American farms."

The Dairyland breeding programs were established in 1966 and today includes company breeding and nursery facilities in Clinton, WI: Gibson City, IL; Otterbein, IN; Gilbert, IA; and Sloughhouse, CA. Dairyland also utilizes winter nursery sites at various locations in the southern U.S., Hawaii, Central and South America.