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COVID-19 having minimal impact on Upper Midwest seed business

The president of an independent seed company in the Upper Midwest says so far, the impact of COVID-19 has been minimal.

Carl Peterson with North Dakota-based Peterson Farms Seed tells Brownfield the designation that agriculture is an essential industry allows for business continuity.

“We have a responsibility first to the health and wellness of our team. So we’ve asked our folks who can work from home, which is maybe half our team, to do that.”

He says on-site staff working on conditioning, packaging, and transportation are washing hands and trying to stay at least six feet from each other.

Ahead of spring planting, Peterson Farms Seed has most of its corn shipped out.

“As for soybeans, we do all our local production here. The seed we sell to farmers is produced in this region (and) the vast majority of that has already been through our plant, conditioned, packaged. And a good portion of that is already also in dealers’ hands.”

Peterson says there is some concern about securing seed from South America that will be used for next year’s production depending on the length and economic toll of the outbreak.

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