Adrien Momont

Adrien Momont, former chairman and CEO of the Momont seed company, passed away on December 8, 2022, at the age of 96.

He joined the family business in 1946, which at the time specialized in the production of sugarbeet seed. Supported by his brothers Léon and Michel, he refocused it, in particular by breeding multigerm sugarbeet and cereals.

In the 1970s, he realized that monogerm seed would become more popular in sugarbeet and established links with the Hilleshög company in Sweden. Momont thus took part in this breeding revolution, as a result of which the company came to dominate the French sugarbeet seed market for more than 20 years.

Under his leadership, the company also made successful advances in other crops, particularly wheat, barley and oats.

In 1986, he responsibly and confidently handed over the reins to his son Thierry Momont, who continued the company’s development by moving it closer to the KWS Group, enabling it to quickly assume a leading position in rapeseed and malting barley and consistently exploit the companies' advantageous complementary nature. Adrien Momont, who was committed to the company’s sustainable success, always supported and encouraged these developments.

All those who knew Adrien Momont remember his great humanity and straightforwardness. He was very popular with the employees of Momont, who held him in high esteem.

KWS will preserve and honor the memory of Adrien Momont. |

Hans-Henning Voß

On January 30, 2023, our sugarbeet breeder Dr. Hans-Henning Voß passed away at the age of 44 after a long and serious illness. After studying agricultural sciences at the Georg August University in Göttingen, he completed his doctorate at the State Seed Breeding Institute of the University of Hohenheim on the subject of “Resistance to Fusarium Head Blight in Winter Wheat” and subsequently gained experience in practical wheat breeding. In 2010, Hans-Henning Voß then tackled a new challenge at KWS as one of the first candidates of the Breeders’ Academy. After a very short familiarization period with sugarbeet breeding, he began working in the Curly Top breeding program at the Western Research Center in Kimberly, Idaho, and was fully in charge of it from 2011. In the years that followed, he added other areas of product development in the shape of the Roundup Ready backcross program and development of experimental hybrids for the North American market. He built his close ties to the market by cultivating the American growing regions of Idaho, Western Sugar North, Wyoming Sugar and California and nurtured intensive and successful dialog with the sales teams of Betaseed and ACH Seeds. He was given the opportunity to take over the global Rhizoctonia resistance program for sugarbeet in 2013. That led him back to Einbeck and also gave him the chance to help run his parents’ farm near Bad Gandersheim.

Hans-Henning Voß was active and networked at various interfaces at KWS, not only in his direct area of responsibility but also beyond it, for example in the further expansion of contraseasonal Rhizoctonia trial planting and observation in Chile, in improving genomic predictions in his own breeding program, in testing the first tools for voice input of evaluations in the field or in establishing KWS’ i-garage ideas contest. His farming origins and experience abroad made him an exceptionally grounded, yet always inquisitive and innovative breeder. Hans-Henning Voß remained a highly successful breeder for the German and Chilean markets until his passing.

Hans-Henning Voß leaves behind a big gap, both professionally and personally. We have not only lost an experienced and passionate breeder, but also a popular colleague and team player whose positive attitude towards life and subtle humor we will always remember. Our deepest sympathies on his far too premature death go to his family. |