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Sugarbeet made from Lego
Our marketing colleagues in the US had a special idea for the American Sugarbeet Growers Association’s big conference in February: Why not build a sugarbeet out of Lego? The Danish toy manufacturer’s US headquarters are in San Diego, so there was no shortage of materials. The showstopper sugarbeet was created with the help of a special artist, and over 400 visitors could participate in a building contest with Lego, building their own farms while enjoying the conference. The sugarbeet, which is over two meters tall, generated a lot of conversation and numerous photos – and after a tour of the US, it will find a permanent home on our premises in Bloomington.
New R&D portal
Almost 2,000 colleagues worldwide work in research and development at KWS. Their projects are as diverse as the teams themselves. The new R&D portal provides an overview of the structure and organization of our research and development and presents the teams and their tasks. An interactive world map allows users to explore the network of breeding stations. Information on training and further development, an overview of networks and memberships, as well as links to useful tools and apps round out the R&D portal. It can be accessed by all colleagues – even if you don’t work in research and development – and is continuously supplemented. To the R&D portal |
A visit to Chile
Luis Hernández Gonzaga Zaballos, BU Head Corn, and Fabian Böke, Head of Region, traveled together to our Chilean subsidiary in February to deepen the working relationship with it. The emphasis was on new activities and crops for Chile as well as personal communication, including as part of the “KWS in Dialogue” format.
You can read more about the visit to Chile on the intranet. |
The Multicrop Station Manager Meeting revolved around the Strategic Planning 2035.
What will our breeding stations look like in ten years’ time?
Our Multicrop Station Manager Meeting 2025 was dominated by the Strategic Planning 2035. Around 50 international experts gathered at the beginning of February to shape the future of the breeding stations. The focal question was: What might a breeding station look like in 2035? And we’ve already chalked up successes: The fine collaboration in recent years means we’ve transformed almost all breeding stations worldwide into multicrop stations, which consequently work in accordance with the Customer Centricity concept. The participants discussed subjects such as innovative ways to optimize processes. They also voiced ideas on how new technologies could be integrated at the stations. “For us, multicrop means always being open to new approaches and leveraging crop-specific capabilities to generate overarching synergies so that we can work efficiently,” says Heiko Kraus, Head of Global Breeding Stations.
Have we aroused your interest? You can find the intranet article here. |
KWS surfing tip
KWS on Bluesky!
Since January, we have been active on the new social media platform Bluesky and have closed our account on X (formerly Twitter). Like our other social media accounts, Bluesky is intended to be a trustworthy source of information, advice and inspiration. As with X, we pitch our communication toward decision-makers, especially at the EU level, as well as journalists, stakeholders and the general public. We share innovations in plant breeding, especially advances in genome editing, and work with partners such as Euroseeds and Plants for the Future (Plant ETP). N.B.: Please update existing e-mail signatures and PowerPoint slides from X to Bluesky: @kwsgroup.bsky.social – Bluesky. |
New episode of the “World of Farming” podcast
In the latest episode “#11 Plant Science taking center stage” of the “World of Farming” podcast, we discuss communication, namely: How can complex plant science topics be explained clearly? As part of that, we look at our Science Slam 2024 and talk to David Spencer. The molecular biologist, science slammer, author and influencer talks about subjects such as his fascination with science slams, the social significance of science communication, the “superpowers” of plants and the role of genetic engineering in delivering sustainable agriculture.
© KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA 2025
