We Cultivate the Grain of Tomorrow
Interview with Alexis von Rhade, Managing Director of Nordsaat Saatzucht GmbH
Agriculture faces major challenges - on one hand the war in Ukraine, which also has consequences for the European grain market, and on the other hand the increasing uncertainties of the weather and creeping climate change. Nordsaat Saatzucht GmbH is very aware of these challenges and is breeding new grain varieties that will deliver good yields and be healthy under changing conditions in the future.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. von Rhade, Nordsaat is one of the leading plant breeding companies in the grain sector. What challenges do you face?
Alexis von Rhade: The challenges of the past few years have led to significant cost increases, while we must keep our core task as breeders – the breeding of new grain varieties – in focus. And here we are still strong. We are a medium-sized plant breeding company, but some of our breeds are leading in Europe. Our barley 'AMIDALA' is the largest brewing barley in Germany and is contained in every third beer.
Wirtschaftsforum: What does your market position look like?
Alexis von Rhade: The grain sector is our core competence. Our business is very capital intensive, as the development time for our products is between 10 and 13 years. We have to pre-finance it completely. We therefore also rely on the basic research from federal institutes. We have strongly pushed internationalization. For example, we have established a research triangle between the UK, France, and Germany with partners and breeding programs on site. Certainly, Brexit is a hindrance in this regard. However, other research is also important, such as sunflower breeding in Romania. We are a strong partner who can serve the markets through internationalization and cooperation.
Wirtschaftsforum: How does your company present itself today?
Alexis von Rhade: Currently, we employ 120 staff in the areas of plant breeding and agriculture. Our company has been in existence since the early 20th century. Today, there are seven shareholders, including my uncle and myself as managing director. Last year, we were able to achieve a turnover of 25 million EUR.
Wirtschaftsforum: What is the focus of your products?
Alexis von Rhade: Winter wheat as the world's largest cereal type but also brewing barley and oats as high-technology products. The brewing barley is used for beer production, while oats are found in oat drinks and oatmeal. Here, higher quality requirements apply than for wheat, which is a real mass product with lower requirements from the food industry. Breeding is challenging for all cereal types. Then follow triticale and winter barley, both of which are almost exclusively used for fodder.
Wirtschaftsforum: What role do weather and climate play?
Alexis von Rhade: Those are the two unknowns. I can cite our location in Saxony-Anhalt as an example, which is in the rain shadow of the Harz Mountains. Behind us lie three years of maximum drought, which meant a severe deficit in rainfall. This year there has been more than enough rain, causing protein values to plummet, which in turn causes problems for the flour mills. Overall, regarding weather and climate change: It is becoming more unstable and dry, but we want to continue working on breeds here in the future that can cope with the changing conditions.
Wirtschaftsforum: So, the topic of genetic engineering is indeed of interest to you?
Alexis von Rhade: Today, European breeding is based on Mendel's laws. We are allowed to look as deeply as possible into the plant with every technological development to understand it and, for example, to find good parents for crossing. As breeders, we are open to new technologies, but they must not, as currently planned by the EU, lead to the patenting and licensing of biological material that can also occur naturally. This is referred to as 'patent-blocked genetics.' All breeders should be able to take genetics in the sense of 'open source' to fuel their further development. Anything else would decrease diversity and innovative power and increase dependence on corporations. Plant breeding must remain open to ensure innovations. The patentability of natural material is a no-go. New breeding technologies like CrisprCas must be used without giving multinationals a platform for monopolization.
Wirtschaftsforum: What are the innovation themes for Nordsaat?
Alexis von Rhade: We conduct broad research. Digitalization, for example, is used to count ears of grain. This year, we were able to do this for the first time using a mobile phone. We are currently establishing a breeding software that accumulates all the data and can evaluate it. Data management is extremely important and minimizes risks. We want to further develop plants with a focus on sustainability and deliver good products that secure value creation for farmers. Good personal advice is important to us, as there will never be purely digital purchasing.