|
|
|
About NK®
NK® Seeds is a trusted supplier of hybrid corn, soybean, sunflower, sorghum and alfalfa seed with more than 100 years of service in the marketplace.
No two fields are alike. No two solutions are the same.
Every field is unique, with its own needs, requiring different hybrids and varieties, seed care and crop protection products. No one understands the importance of customized, tailored solutions better than your NK Seeds retailer. Together, Syngenta and your NK Seeds retailer are committed to providing the best products for your acres.
Our team is flexible, responsive and can access a broad portfolio of products to meet your fields’ needs using integrated Syngenta solutions. We know that with the right seeds, seed care and crop protection choices, you’ll get results that exceed your expectations. And we’ve got a track record of delivering on promises, plus the research and resources of Syngenta to continually refine and improve productivity solutions for your operation.
So let this year be the year to prove Syngenta products work on your acres. Your local NK Seeds retailer will work with you to build a customized plan to fit your fields.
History
Northrup King Co. The Early Days
 Fall 1884, Jesse E. Northrup and Charles P. Braslan came to Minneapolis, Minn. from the eastern United States with the plan to start their own seed business. They set their sights on Minneapolis because they were interested in the potential of the hardiness, earliness, and productiveness of northern grown seed. They also saw Minneapolis as a natural distributing point for an undeveloped agricultural region. The young men's new retail and mail order seed business opened under the name of Northrup, Braslan and Co. In 1887, A.H. Goodwin was admitted to the firm, and the company named changed to Northrup, Braslan & Goodwin Co.
 Business volume increased rapidly. However, spending increased nearly as quickly. Financial relief came in 1894 when Colonel W.S. King and his son, Preston King, became involved in the company. Despite their efforts, a fire that destroyed the company's market building and pressure from farmers for contracted acres forced the company to declare bankruptcy. The structure still stands on the corner of First Street and Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis.
In the spring of 1894, the market building on the corner of First and Hennepin burned down. In its place, this building was erected. The structure still stands on the corner of First Street and Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis.
One More Attempt
The men decided to give the company one more try. On November 4, 1896, a new company, Northrup, King & Co., was incorporated with Jesse Northrup as President, Preston King as Treasurer, and Charles C. Massie as Secretary. Sales volume grew quickly; this time the company succeeded.
|
|
|
A reproduction of a large lithographed poster produced in 1916.
|
In the beginning, the company relied heavily on catalog seed sales. Later, packet seed displays in retail stores made Northrup King a well-known name everywhere. Seeds were marketed under different brand names, including Sterling, Northland and Viking Brands.
In 1917, Northrup, King & Co. built a new main plant in northeast Minneapolis. The facility could handle 53 rail cars (the primary means of shipping seed at the time) with a strategic and advantageous location at the intersection of the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway.
1930 marked the beginning of a long stretch of acquisitions by Northrup, King & Co. Following is an outline of acquisitions from 1930 until the company became Novartis Seeds, Inc. in 1997.
|
Northrup King Co. acquisitions from 1930 - 1997
|
|
DATE
|
LOCATION
|
NAME OF COMPANY
|
|
1930
|
Bomburger Seed Co.
|
Los Angeles, Calif.
|
|
early 1940's
|
G. A. Klein Seed Co.
|
Los Angeles, Calif.
|
|
1958
|
Central States Seed Company
|
Lima, Ohio
|
|
1959
|
Andrews Seed Co.
|
Harrah, Wash.
|
|
1962
|
Whitman Seed Company
|
Yuma, Ariz.
|
|
1964
|
Nevada Alfalfa Seed Co.
|
Orovada, Nev.
|
|
1965
|
Pride Seed Company
|
Madison, Wis.
|
|
1967
|
R. S. Rice Seed Company, Inc.
|
Roseau, Minn.
|
|
1969
|
Woodside Seed Growers Company
|
Rocky Ford, Colo.
|
|
1970
|
Ed. J. Lyng Co. (resold in 1985)
|
Modesto, Calif.
|
|
1972
|
Sawan Division (name sold in 1986)
|
Columbus, Miss.
|
|
1972
|
Rudy Patrick Co. Plants
|
Sunnyside and Touchet, Wash.
|
|
1974
|
Missouri Hybrid Corn Company
|
Fulton, Mo.
|
|
1974
|
Kentucky Seed Co.
|
Louisville, Ky.
|
|
1979
|
Pieters Wheeler Plant
|
Gilroy, Calif.
|
|
1979
|
McNair Seed Co.
|
Laurinburg, N.C.
|
|
1985
|
Vegetable business of Goldsmith Seeds, Inc.
|
Gilroy, Calif.
|
|
1986
|
Sluis & Groot of California, Inc.
|
Salinas, Calif.
|
|
1987
|
Stauffer Seeds
|
Westport, Conn.
|
|
1988
|
Fredonia
|
Fredonia, N.Y.
|
|
1988
|
Coker's Pedigreed Seed Company
|
Hartsville, S.C.
|
With the purchase of new companies, Northrup, King & Co.'s territory spread throughout the United States. Meanwhile, research had come of age by the 1940's. Breeding programs were developed in the company, as it was clear that plant breeding would become the basis for continued growth in the industry.
Along the way, some milestones for the company include offering "Kingscrost" hybrid seed corn (1933) and production of the first yellow endosperm and early varieties of hybrid sorghum (1957). The company went from being a privately-held to a publicly-owned company in 1968.
|
|
|
One of Northup, King & Co.'s early advertisements
|
In 1976, a Swiss company, Sandoz, Ltd., purchased Northrup, King & Co., and the company name was soon changed to Northrup King Co. In 1986 (while purchasing more companies along the way) Northrup King Co. moved its headquarters to Golden Valley, Minn.
The lawn and garden business was spun off, and eventually sold in 1993. The company began to focus particularly on field crops with an emphasis on corn, under the NK® Brand. The company worked closely with its sister companies Hilleshög Mono-Hy (sugarbeets) and Rogers (vegetables), which were also subsidiaries of Sandoz.
One of the company's major milestones is the development of Bt corn, which was introduced to the market in 1996. (See below to read about Northrup King Bt corn milestones).
In 1997, Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy merged to form Novartis, with the seed divisions of each company merging to form Novartis Seeds. Northrup King became the NK Brand.
Selected Milestones in
Northrup King's Bt Corn
Development Efforts
|
|
|
This photograph (1918) shows the Model Ts in front of the Jackson Street plant that were used by the sales force.
|
|