This special section was designed to help APS members understand more about APS Sustaining Associate companies. Readers are encouraged to contact these companies for detailed information of their products and services. Address, telephone, and fax numbers are provided.  Information was supplied by Sustaining Associate companies..

Agdia, Incorporated

Contact: Baziel W. Vrient, 30380 County Road 6, Elkhart, IN 46514-9514; 574/264-2014, Fax: 574/264-2153, E-mail: bvrient@agdia.com, Website: www.agdia.com.

Agdia offers test kits, test reagents and testing services for plant pathogens (i.e. viruses, viroids, bacteria, fungi, and phytoplasmas). Tests are also available for plant growth hormones and gene products expressed in transgenic plants. Agdia's line of affordable and easy-to-use ImmunoStrip tests, which give results in minutes, has expanded to include tests for Xcp, CMV, TSWV, Bt toxins, and more. Testing Services has expanded it's services to include PCR tests for specific pathogens such as Xcp, as well as PCR tests for entire virus groups.

AgraQuest is an innovative manufacturer of biopesticides that strives to be unrivaled in the discovery and development of novel natural products from microorganisms. AgraQuest was established in 1995 and is backed by influential growers as well as internationally recognized venture capital organizations that recognize the future of crop protection management. The high potency of AgraQuest products is due to the selection of naturally active microorganisms and proprietary fermentation and formulation know-how. AgraQuest's success is demonstrated by Serenade® Biofungicide, discovered six months after the founding of the company and taken to regulatory submission in an unprecedented time of 18 months.

Alf Christianson Seed Co.

Contact: Philip R. Brown, P.O. Box 98, Mt. Vernon, WA 98273; 360/336-9727 Fax: 360/424-9520;
E-mail: philip_brown@alfseed.com.
Alf Christianson, founded in the late 1920s by the grandfather of the present principal, Ken Christianson, president, grows vegetable seeds for the wholesale seed trade worldwide. Production is largely divided between the maritime counties of Puget Sound and the Columbia River Basin of Washington State. The principal seed crops are beet, cabbage, carrot, collards, herbs, kale, mustard, radish, rutabaga, spinach, swiss chard, and turnip. Alf Christianson is a member of the American Seed Trade Association, the Federation of International Seedsmen, and a number of state and local seed trade organizations. It firmly supports state agricultural extension and research units, appropriate federal agricultural programs, and farmer causes of merit.

Arvesta Corp

Contact: Charles T. Schiller, Biological Development, 100 First Street, Suite 1700, San Francisco, CA 94105; 415/778-4824 Fax: 415/284-9883; E-mail: cschiller@arvesta.com;
Website: www.arvesta.com.

(Formerly Tomen-Agro) Headquartered in San Francisco, Arvesta Corporation is a growth-oriented developer and marketer of premium-branded crop protection products and services worldwide. As a basic manufacturer, the company is highly committed to product stewardship, environmental responsibility and human safety. By developing new crop protection technologies and services, the company increases the efficiency of agricultural production to help meet the growing demand for food and fiber
around the world. Arvesta produces insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and other chemical and biological defenses for global agricultural production. This includes the locally systemic fungicide Elevate® and the general purpose fungicide Captan. Today we have an ever-expanding portfolio of products, with more than 150 people dedicated to the company worldwide. Arvesta is a group member of Tokyo-based Arysta LifeScience Corporation. For further information about Arvesta Corporation, please visit the company's web site at www.arvesta.com. 

Ball Horticultural Company

Ball Horticultural Company is a privately held wholesale horticultural company that breeds, produces, and markets flower seeds, and vegetatively propagated floricultural crops and that brokers a full line of horticultural supplies. Operations and markets of the company, which is headquartered in West Chicago, Illinois, are international in scope. The company has a strong research and development effort in all its divisions and continually strives to breed and efficiently produce better varieties of seeds and plants. Plant pathology research and development in Ball FloraPlant, a division of Ball Horticultural Company include managing a "clean stock" program for vegetatively propagated crops, assisting in the breeding of disease-resistant varieties, and providing diagnostic support to production personnel and suppliers.

BASF Corp

BASF Agricultural Products is a unit of BASF Corporation that develops a range of innovative crop protection products that enable growers to be more cost-efficient, increase crop yield potential and enhance quality of turf and ornamentals.  BASF has a broad range of products for use on a wide variety of crops.  These include Ronilan®, a fungicide for control of diseases in canola, lettuce and snap beans; Sovran® a strobilurin fungicide for control of diseases in pome fruits, grapes, and pecans; Acrobat® MZ and Acrobat® 50 WP for control of Phytophthora and downy mildew diseases on several vegetable crops; and Apogee®, a unique management tool that reduces vegetative growth in apples and suppresses fire blight infection on shoots.  BASF manufactures several products for disease control on ornamentals and turfgrass, such as Cygnus, Curalan, and Stature fungicides.  Pyraclostrobin (a.k.a. BAS 500 F and F 500) is BASF's new broad-spectrum strobilurin fungicide currently under Canadian (PMRA) and US EPA review for use on citrus, small fruits, peanuts, potatoes, sugarbeets, vegetables, stonefruits, treenuts, turfgrass, and certain cereal crops.  Tradenames for pyraclostrobin will be Cabrio™ EG, Headline ™, and Isignia™ fungicide.

Bayer CropScience

BIOREBA AG.

Contact: Dr. Walter Bitterlin, Christoph Merian-Ring 7, Reinach, BL 1 4153 Switzerland; 41 61 712 1125,
Fax: 41 61 712 1117, E-mail: admin@bioreba.ch,
Web Site: www.bioreba.ch.  
Since 1980, BIOREBA AG has been a leading company in plant disease diagnostics. As an independent company, maintaining a close
collaboration with many research institutes, we have a long tradition in
developing and producing polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies for ELISA application, as well as specially designed equipment and disposables. In addition, our R & D laboratory offers the development of customer-specific products, such as ready-to-use kits, on a contract base. Products are manufactured in our laboratory by well-trained staff using state-of-the-art technology. Strict quality control ensures highest quality standards. The research community and laboratories around the world rely on our products. Our sales and marketing department and a world-wide distributor-network guarantee a high level of sevice.

Busch Agricultural Resources, Inc.

Busch Agricultural Resources is the agricultural subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Companies, and the supplier of the malted barley, hops and rice used in the brewing of Anheuser-Busch beers. Its efforts are concentrated into six major areas of operation: malting barley; hops contracting and production; rice contracting, milling, and marketing; land application and turf marketing; agricultural research in barley, rice, and hops; and a grain/seed operation network for the production, purchasing, processing, and storage of malting barley and seed. The company supports research in an effort to control disease of barley, rice, and hops.

Cereal Research Non-Profit Company

The Non-Profit Company belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture was founded in 1924 as a regional institute. In 1968, it was reorganized for cereals, primarily for wheat and corn, and later oil crops like sunflower and linseed were important. The wheat and oil crop varieties and hybrids are also abroad in commercial production. Besides breeding, the company has a strong background in wheat Fusarium head blight and stem rust, in corn Fusarium diseases, Fusarium toxicology, and other analytical works such as amino acids, gliadin analysis, plant hormone research based on high-tech analytical background (HPLC-GC-MS), as well as biotechnology in wheat and corn. The Fusarium research lasts from identification of Fusarium through the breeding of resistant cultivars, and this activity is internationally well known.

CerexAgri Inc

Contact: Beth Sears, Suite 402, 630 Freedom Business Center
King of Prussia, PA 19406; 610/491-2800, Fax: 610/491-2850
E-mail: beth.sears@cerexagri.com
Website: www.cerexagri.com

Cerexagri, Inc. , a wholly owned subsidiary of ATOFINA Chemicals, Inc., manufactures fungicides (contact and systemic), insecticides, and herbicides. These chemicals are used in a wide variety of fruit, vegetable, agronomic, and noncrop situations. Its fungicides range from sulfur (Microthiol Special) to contact dithio-carbamates (Maneb, Mancozeb, Ziram) to systemics (Topsin-M).

Dow AgroSciences LLC

Contact: Brian D. Olson, 9330 Zionsville Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46268-1053; (315) 781-0140, Fax: (315) 781-0387
E-mail: bdolson@dow.com
Website: www.dowagro.com
Dow AgroSciences is a global agrochemical/biotechnology company with headquarters located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dow AgroSciences discovers, develops and markets crop protection and biotechnology based products that meet our customer’s needs globally in both the agriculture and specialty markets. Our products and technology are directed to the effective control of plant diseases, weeds and insects world-wide as well as to improve the quality of food and fibre through genetically modified seed. Our product mix includes insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil fumigants, plant growth regulators, and nitrogen stabilizers as well as seed through our Mycogen affiliate. Dow AgroSciences employs 3,100 people globally, with annual sales over two billion dollars. The global headquarters employs a total of 1,100 employees, with approximately 400 scientists conducting research at the Research and Development Center.

DuPont Ag & Nutrition

The DuPont Company was founded in 1802, and is one of America's oldest and premier companies. Interest in agricultural chemicals began in the 1920s. Today, DuPont Crop Protection Products is a major manufacturer and marketer of fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, miticides, and nematicides. We are a leader in discovering and developing fungicides, and have been a leader in developing strategies for avoiding/managing resistance in plant pathogens to fungicides. Benomyl, cymoxanil, flusilazole, and mancozeb are key fungicides used for food production throughout the world. DuPont, a long-time leader in research and development, supports plant pathologists throughout the U.S.

Griffin LLC

Griffin L.L.C. manufactures and markets a full line of crop protection and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Valdosta, GA, Griffin has research, manufacturing, sales and marketing facilities in the Americas, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim. Griffin L.L.C. is a joint venture company representative of an equal partnership between Griffin Corporation, Valdosta, GA and DuPont Agricultural Products Company, Wilmington, DE.

Gustafson LLC

Gustafson LLC is North America's leading researcher, marketer and manufacturer of seed-applied crop protectants and application equipment. Gustafson, which operates as a joint venture owned by Bayer Corporation and Crompton & Knowles, devotes extensive resources to research and development and works closely with plant pathologists across the NAFTA region. The company focuses on fungicides and insecticides, including bio-control products, that are applied to the seed. These products are environmentally and user friendly and used at low rates per acre. Gustafson offers the industry's largest product line in the NAFTA region, all seed-applied technologies designed for integration into a complete plant protection package for growers.

Gylling Data Management Inc

Contact: Steven R. Gylling, 405 Martin Blvd Brookings, SD 57006-4605; (605) 693-4150; (605) 693-4180, 
E-mail: steve.gylling@gdmdata.com; Website: www.gdmdata.com

Gylling Data Management was founded in 1982, and sells computer software and equipment for managing research trials. Products include: 
* ARM (formerly called Agriculture Research Manager) is Windows software for establishing, managing, analyzing and reporting of crop research trials. 
* ARM Summary Across Trials (ARM ST) multi-trial summarization software.
* ARM Genome Manager for managing plant pedigree information.
* Data collection software running on small hand-held computers.

ISK Biosciences Corporation

Contact: Gary L. Eilrich, 7470 Auburn Road, Suite A, Concord, OH 44077; 440/357-4640, Fax: 440/357-4661, E-mail: eilrichg@iskbc.com.

ISK Biosciences Corporation, with headquarters in Mentor, OH has primary responsibility for development, registration and logistics for ISK's products in the Americas. ISK Biosciences brings to the world of agricultural chemicals several new products to serve a growing global market. ISK Biosciences is uniquely positioned to respond to promising new opportunities and is developing a new contact nematicide (fosthiazate) and a new broad spectrum contact fungicide (fluazinam) both products discovered by the parent company Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha. Fluazinam is currently available in Latin American countries and Mexico under various trade names (Shogun, Legacy, Altima and Frowncide). Fosthiazate is available in several Latin American countries under the trade names of Cierto and Sinnema.

Janssen Pharmaceutica

With headquarters in Beerse, Belgium, Janssen Pharmaceutica has developed antifungal compounds for human and veterinary pharmaceutical use and for agricultural and industrial applications. Imazalil has been developed for application to wheat and barley as a seed treatment, and for postharvest treatment of citrus fruit. Specific formulations are available through licensed distributors. New uses of Imazalil, which are under development, focus on seed treatment of field and vegetable crops. Postharvest uses are being expanded to include vegetables and other fruits. Janssen supports cooperative phytopathological research projects of mutual interest.

Landis International, Inc.

Contact: Wm. Ronald Landis, Ph.D., P. O. Box 5126, Valdosta, GA 31603-5126; 912/247-6472, Fax. 912/242-1562,
E-mail: landis@landisintl.com, Website: www.landisintl.com.

Landis International, Inc., is a project management company specializing in agricultural products. It operates in a classical project management role, assuring that all details required to bring a project to successful fruition are completed in a quality manner, on time, and on budget. We have the demonstrated capability of guiding products through their entire research and development (R&D) process in the most expedient and cost-effective manner. Dr. Ron Landis and his staff have extensive experience in the industry and have been managing products through the regulatory process for registration with the U.S. EPA and the various State Agencies since 1975. In addition to regulatory-mandated programs, the LANDIS staff has management experience in the areas of formulation development and evaluation, product chemistry, toxicology, residue chemistry, radiolabeled studies, environmental safety, nontarget organism studies, and worker and homeowner exposure studies. We are equally experienced with biorationals and formulation inerts, as well as the classical pesticide areas. Our personnel have successfully brought all of these types of products through to successful registration with the EPA.

LemnaTec

Contact: Dr. Joerg Vandenhirtz, Schumanstrasse 18, Wuerselen, GERMANY, 52416; 49 2405 412 612, Fax: 49 2405 412 626.  E-mail: joerg@lemnatec.de, 
Website: www.lemnatec.com.

Founded in 1998 LemnaTec is the world leading company in image processing for biology. With the LemnaTec Scanalyzer system LemnaTec introduces an integrated system that performs biotests for ecotoxicology and HTS. Biotests, such as the duckweed test, the daphnia test, colembola, funghi, the assessment of plant damage or colony counting, are supported using digital image processing. Highly differential shape and color classification and tracking of moving organisms, such as insects or fish embrios offer a large potential to quantify further test systems. The main goal of the Scanalyzer is the complete and reproducible analysis of all parameters of observation. The Scanalyzer supports every step of the testing routine, from preparation to statistics (EC values). Fluorescence analysis with original image and fluorescent image is possible in one view.

Through innovative technology, Monsanto is dedicated to developing products that will help address crop agriculture's long-term needs: producing abundant food and fiber economically, while enhancing environmental quality and sustainability. With agricultural products like Roundup Ready® soybeans, canola, corn and cotton and insect-protected NewLeaf® potatoes, Bollgard® cotton and YieldGard® corn, we're significantly improving food and fiber crops.

Website: www.nufarm.com

Nufarm Limited is one of the world's leading crop protection companies. Based in Australia, Nufarm manufactures and supplies a large range of products which assist farmers in the protection of crops against damage caused by weeds, pests and diseases. With manufacturing operations in thirteen countries, Nufarm has sales and marketing operations throughout the world and sells products in more than one hundred countries. Products sold under the Nufarm brand are recognized for high levels of quality and innovation, including a variety of fungicides and plant growth regulators such as GibGro® PGR and Phostrol® and Champ® fungicides. Technological leadership in copper fungicides has led to the introduction of Champ DP, a unique, dust-free formulation that incorporates proprietary, low-dose technology and provides exceptional handling and efficacy characteristics. ® Registered trademark of Nufarm Limited.

Orsetti Seed Company Inc.

Contact: Paul T. Orsetti, President, PO Box 2350, Hollister, CA 95024-2350; 831/636-4822, Fax: 831/636-4814,
Website: www.orsettiseeds.com.

Percival Scientific continues to set the standard of excellence for the environmental control industry, producing several lines of plant growth chambers, biological incubators, environmental control rooms, dew formation chambers, and various special application chambers including plant tissue culture, Arabidopsis, Seed Germination and Emergence Cases.  To ensure each chamber is of the highest quality and dependability, all Percival units are handcrafted and performance tested. Our product line has features not offered by other companies and are the preferred choice of universities, colleges, government institutions and businesses both domestically and internationally. Our facility encompasses all engineering, design, fabrication, and construction of the product line, allowing Percival Scientific to maintain complete control of the manufacturing process. This dedication ensures customers the highest quality product they have grown to depend upon. Percival Scientific has grown to represent a rich tradition of product ingenuity and reliability throughout the world. We provide our clients with reliable custom solutions designed to meet their specific research requirements. Customers rely upon Percival to meet their unique needs by providing chambers that are engineered and manufactured by their specifications. The ability to meet individual requirements to control extensive critical testing variables has allowed our company to become an industry leader.

Pest Pros is an independent crop consulting and contract research firm, specializing in integrated crop management of vegetables. It offers consulting and contract research services in the areas of pest management, fertility, and cultural practices with particular expertise on potatoes, carrots, onions, cole crops and mint. Pest Pros operates its own plant disease diagnostics laboratory with an emphasis on assays for plant parasitic nematodes and soil borne pathogens. Contract research sites may be selected from a variety of commercial fields or on the Pest Pros 25 acre irrigated loamy sand facility.

Since its founding in 1913, Sakata Seed Corporation, headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, has evolved into one of the world's largest breeders, producers and marketers of quality seed of a diverse number of vegetable and flower crops. Sakata is especially well known for its Brassica vegetables, and pansy and lisianthus flowers. Sakata Seed America, a subsidiary of Sakata Seed Corporation, was established in 1977, and is responsible for breeding, producing and marketing seed products in North and Central America. Sakata has a strong commitment to the breeding and development of superior genetics and the production of high quality seed. Plant pathology is an integral part of that commitment, helping Sakata to develop and produce seed that meets the highest standards of the seed industry.

The Scotts Company was founded 130 years by O.M. Scott in Marysville, Ohio. Today the company has 3,500 associates and is the world's leading supplier of consumer products for lawn and garden care, with a full range of products for professional horticulture and professional turf seed as well. In the U.S., The Scotts Company owns the brands Scotts®, TurfBuilder®, Miracle-Gro®, Hyponex®, Osmocote® and Ortho®, and is the exclusive marketing agent for consumer Roundup® worldwide. In the U.K., Scotts' brands include Weedol® and Pathclear®, the top-selling consumer herbicides; Evergreen®, the leading lawn fertilizer line, the Levington® line of lawn and garden products; and Miracle-Gro®, the leading plant fertilizer. The Company's leading brands in continental Europe include KB® and Fertiligène® in France and NexaLotte® and Celaflor® in Germany and Austria, and ASEF® and KB® in the Benelux countries.  The Scotts Company is also the leader in non-agricultural biotechnology. Through alliances with Sanford Scientific Inc., Rutgers University and Monsanto, Scotts has exclusive rights to commercialize biolistically-transformed turfgrasses.  Scotts is also improving flowers and other ornamentals through transformation.

Servicio Nacional De Sanidad

Contact: Jose R. Perez Zubiri, ICA - Guillermo Perez Valenzuela #127, Col. Del Carmen Coyoacan, Mexico City, DF 04100, MEXICO; 52 55 5658 8531. Fax: 52 55 5554 6567,  
E-mail: penr@senasica.sagarpa.gob.mx

Contribute to enhancing productivity and trade of vegetables or animal products in Mexico by means of prevention and control of pests and diseases that could affect livestock and crops. Regulate and promote application and certification of systems of ensuring foods harmlessness. 

Founded in 1987. Manufacturer of watchdog data loggers and weather stations, insect and plant disease warning software, soil compaction probes; soil moisture sensors and portable probes; nutrient management tools; chlorophyll content meters. 

STA Laboratories is an independent company that provides seed health testing for both the domestic and international seed industry and its related entities. In addition to plant pathology services, STA provides hybrid purity, molecular and electrophoretic fingerprinting, seed quality, and seedling vigor analyses. State-of-the-art technologies integrated with traditional testing methods, are employed for the accurate detection of seedborne diseases, virus indexing of propagative plant material, plant disease diagnosis, host-pathogen resistance screening, and contract research projects. The professional staff of STA includes plant pathologists, molecular biologists, microbiologists and registered seed technologists. STA facilities include fully equipped bacteriology, virology, mycology and molecular laboratories, as well as controlled-environment growth chambers and greenhouses. In operation at its Longmont, Colorado location since 1987, a second STA branch opened in Gilroy, California in May 1998.

Syngenta is a young company, formed in the year 2000. But it has inherited years of experience from Novartis Agribusiness and Zeneca Agrochemicals. Syngenta ranks first in crop protection worldwide, and third in the seeds market. Pro forma sales in 2000 were approximately US $6.9 billion. 

Syngenta has more than 20,000 colleagues in over 50 countries. They're all committed to helping growers produce their crops sustainably. To do that, Syngenta develops products to maximize farming potential, and minimize its environmental impact. This means producing more and healthier food on existing farmland. 

The Seeds division is a leading developer of quality seed products, using modern breeding methods and other seed technologies. Syngenta Seeds products are marketed under four key brands: NK® brand for corn, oilseeds and other field crops worldwide, Hilleshög® brand for sugar beets worldwide, S&G® brand for vegetables in Europe, Africa and Asia, and for flowers and young plants worldwide, and Rogers® brand for vegetables in the Americas. 

 Valent BioSciences Corporation markets low risk biological insecticides (e.g. Foray, DiPel, XenTari, VectoBac, VectoLex for the forestry, agriculture and public health industries), plant growth regulators (e.g. ProGibb for fruits and vegetables, ReTain, Accel and Promalin for apples, EcoLyst for citrus)and a bionematicide (e.g. DiTera for grapes, bananas, cole crops and turf).

Valent is a U.S. agricultural chemical development and sales company owned by Sumitomo Chemical Company. The national office is in Walnut Creek, CA. Research farms are in Illinois and Mississippi. Valent develops compounds synthesized by Sumitomo or acquired from other sources.

Updated October 2003