BASF Halting Hybrid Wheat Seed Development in North America; Refocusing on EU

After seed trials did not produce the hoped-for results, BASF announced it is halting development of hybrid wheat in North America, and will instead turn its attention to developing a new type of wheat in the EU market.

Developing new cross-bred wheat varieties with increased resilience to drought and disease with higher yields has been a key aim for crop breeders for years. However, tighter global grain supplies and the war in Ukraine have raised the urgency for success. Despite the urgency, the path to commercialization of new wheat strains is a slow and expensive undertaking.

BASF stated that the results of its North American trials did not achieve the goals needed to meet the needs of growers in Canada and the U.S., adding that the EU market holds “the greatest opportunity to successfully bring this innovation to farmers.”

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