It All Begins with Research

The Research and Technical Services business unit is responsible for developing top-performing proprietary turfgrass varieties. Turf breeding objectives include colour, disease and insect resistance, fine leaf texture, wear tolerance and drought resistance. Technical support is vital to enable the delivery of professional customer service to both distributors and their end-use customers. This support is backed by the interpretation and analysis of extensive regional turfgrass variety trial data.

The Research and Technical Services business unit is stationed at the “Wiley Turfgrass Research Center” (the “Wiley Center”) in Corvallis, Oregon named in honour of the late William Kent Wiley Jr., a co-founder of PICKSEED USA. The Wiley Center, staffed by three Phd’s and two MSc’s, is a 120 acre farm of which 50 acres is dedicated to turf plots and development activities. In addition to advanced experimental varieties, the Wiley Center includes a vast reserve of germplasm, breeding lines and synthetic varieties.

In the United States, turfgrass varietal development is measured by the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP). The NTEP is operated by the USDA in multiple locations in United States and Canada. As one of the leading turfgrass research and development programs in the country, PICKSEED has scored consistently well. Part of this success is attributable to collaborative efforts with industry and institutional (i.e. Rutgers University) research and development programs. In addition to its own variety development programs, PICKSEED screens and licenses varieties from these sources. This enables PICKSEED to be able to provide its customers a broad and competitive product portfolio, geared to the specific needs and challenges of each customer’s agronomic region.