Beck’s Hybrids is one of the largest retail seed companies in North America, and now thanks to a partnership with agriculture technology company Benson Hill Biosystems, they’ll be able to accelerate their corn breeding program in the future. Using Benson Hill’s CropOS cognitive platform, Beck’s will gain yet another tool to enhance the ability to offer farmers improved traits. The new system will bring improvement to emergence, stand ability, plant health, maturity and yield.

Benson Hill’s platform combines biological knowledge and genomic data with high-throughput computing—an intersection of disciplines known as cloud biology—to predict biological outcomes and provide critical decision support in advancing breeding programs. CropOS levels the playing field for organizations that desire to use whole-genome information and machine learning to accelerate genetic gains. Researchers can speed up generations of experimentation and pinpoint desired traits for improved plant performance. CropOS’s machine learning intelligently evolves with every experiment or data set, allowing companies to develop higher performing genetics and create more choice in the marketplace.

“To meet global challenges in agriculture and provide farmers with additional choices, we need more innovation in crop genomics. In the face of additional consolidation, we need to empower a broader agriculture community of innovators,” said Matthew Crisp, CEO and co-founder of Benson Hill. “Beck’s mission to provide farmers with the choices they need to succeed aligns with Benson Hill’s drive to build an innovative and sustainable future for farmers, communities and our planet.”

We talked with Crisp at the ASTA CSS this week to learn more about Benson Hill, CropOS, and the significance of this new partnership. Listen to our conversation here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/astacss-16-benson-hill.mp3″ text=”Interview with Matt Crisp, Benson Hill Biosystems”]

ASTA CSS 2016 Photo Album