The Seed Company will offer rapid analytical service in conjunction with commercial soybean cleaning facility

Cognis Corporation and The Seed Company of Lynnville, Iowa have signed an agreement to provide the Quality Trait Analysis^TM (QTA) service to The Seed Company’s soybean cleaning facility.  Using QTA, The Seed Company will offer rapid analysis to identify value-added traits, such as protein, oil, starch, moisture, sugar and fiber, in both soybeans and corn.  Additionally, The Seed Company will be the first client to use Cognis’ Nitrogen Solubility Index (NSI) calibration. This deal marks the first commercial use of QTA in the Iowa Soybean industry.

“We are extremely happy to welcome The Seed Company to the growing list of QTA customers.  They have extensive experience and know-how in commodity, food-grade and certified organic soybeans,” comments Barbara Stefl, Director of AgroSolutions at Cognis.  The QTA business has experienced tremendous growth since inception in 2001 and is now able to serve clients in all segments of the food and agriculture industry.  Harrison Copper, President of The Seed Company states “QTA is the cutting edge of analytical technology and will greatly enhance the services we offer to our customers.” 

QTA is a unique and powerful service featuring Fourier Transform Near Infrared (FT-NIR) analysis, combined with a patented data treatment technique, that provides data and information to better control processes and improve profitability.  This rapid analysis for a variety of material traits allows QTA to deliver results when and where customers need them.

Cognis is a worldwide supplier of innovative specialty chemicals and nutritional ingredients with almost 9,000 employees in close to 50 countries. The company has dedicated its activities to a high level of sustainability and delivers natural source raw materials and ingredients for food, nutrition and healthcare markets, and the cosmetics, detergents and cleaners industries. Additionally, Cognis provides solutions for a number of other industries, such as coatings and inks, lubricants, textiles and plastics, as well as agrosolutions and mining chemicals.

Cognis is owned by private equity funds advised by Permira, GS Capital Partners, and Schroder Ventures Life Sciences. In 2002, Cognis recorded sales of 3.1 billion euros and an operating profit before depreciation, amortization and exceptional items (EBITDA recurring) of 393 million euros.

The Seed Company, Inc. is a food grade grain conditioning facility located in central Iowa specializing in the cleaning of non-GMO and certified organic soybeans.