NK has had a rich history of innovation and getting advanced technology in the hands of farmers as fast as possible. For an even deeper look into NK’s history, keep reading below.
1884 Company is established as a mail order seed business in Minneapolis
1886 Northrup, King & Co. begins selling “seed corn,” the first of any existing competitors
1919 Northrup, King & Co. becomes the largest seed house in the U.S.
1922 Northrup, King & Co. becomes the first private seed company to inaugurate a formal commercial farm seeds research program
1928 C.A. Bush, Northrup, King & Co.’s first corn breeder, produces a crop showing unprecedented size, uniformity and yield
1933 Northrup, King & Co. offers Kingscrost Brand corn hybrids to American farmers
1968 Northrup, King & Co. establishes its first soybean research site
1969 The hiring of Dr. John Thorne kicks soybean research into gear and the company begins selling soybean blends
1973 Northrup, King & Co. marks 50 years of producing and marketing hybrid seed corn with more than 50 different hybrids available
1976 Swiss-based pharmaceutical company, Sandoz, purchases Northrup, King & Co. and shortens the name to Northrup King
1977 Northrup King becomes the first private company to sell a propreitary soybean variety, S1474 Brand
1987 The company begins focusing on agricultural seed with the title of “Second Largest Seed Company in the World” and the theme “Seeds and Service Second to None”
1989 Northrup King releases the S31-33 variety, the first Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) resistant variety in the Midwest
1992 Northrup King grows its first genetically engineered soybeans
1993 Northrup King pilots the Q-Bit® container
1996 Northrup King becomes the first company to market Bt seed corn
1996 Sandoz and Ciba merge, resulting in a merger between Northrup King and Ciba Seeds to become Novartis Seeds with the now NK brand representing hybrid corn and oilseeds worldwide
1997 NK sells its first Roundup Ready® soybeans
1998 NK Bt corn hybrids are named AgriMarketing’s Product of the Year
1999 NK introduces TruBulk® so growers can pick up bulk soybeans directly from local outlets
2004 Agrisure® traits name is announced
2007 Enogen® technology is announced
2009 The NK 1 Class Soybeans become the new standard in soybean performance
2010 Agrisure Artesian® water-optimized technology and Agrisure Viptera® trait stacks are launched
2011 Agrisure Duracade® corn rootworm trait is announced
2013 NK grows the first Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybean lines in multi-location trials across the Midwest
2013 Syngenta launches the Yield Engineering System (Y.E.S.)
2014 Enogen is honored as Product of the Year by AgriMarketing
2016 Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans are offered for planting
2017 Syngenta promises to strengthen NK
2019 NK becomes the Fastest Growing Seed Brand1
2020 NK announces The Field Forged SeriesTM that combines top-of-the-line seeds hand-selected for peak performance
While putting farmers’ success first is nothing new at NK, we will continue to push limits and success every step of the way for years to come.
1 Fastest growing brand statement based on the percentage increase in combined corn and soy acres for the top 12 seed companies in the U.S. (by acres planted) from 2019–2021 (2021 corn acres are projected), according to third-party proprietary data.
© 2022 Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label and bag tag instructions; only those labeled as tolerant to glufosinate may be sprayed with glufosinate ammonium-based herbicides.
LibertyLink®, Liberty® and the Water Droplet logo are registered trademarks of BASF. GT27® is a trademark of M.S. Technologies and BASF. HERCULEX® and the HERCULEX Shield are trademarks of Dow AgroSciences, LLC. HERCULEX Insect Protection technology by Dow AgroSciences. ENLIST E3® soybean technology is jointly developed with Dow AgroSciences LLC and MS Technologies LLC. The ENLIST trait and ENLIST Weed Control System are technologies owned and developed by Dow AgroSciences LLC. ENLIST® and ENLIST E3® are trademarks of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Roundup Ready 2 Yield®, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend®, XtendFlex® and YieldGard VT Pro® are registered trademarks used under license from the Bayer Group.
Under federal and local laws, only dicamba-containing herbicides registered for use on dicamba-tolerant varieties may be applied. See product labels for details and tank mix partners. NK® soybean varieties are protected under granted or pending U.S. variety patents and other intellectual property rights, regardless of the trait(s) within the seed. The ENLIST E3® traits, LibertyLink®, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend®, Roundup Ready 2 Yield® and XtendFlex® traits may be protected under numerous United States patents. It is unlawful to save soybeans containing these traits for planting or transfer to others for use as a planting seed. Only dicamba formulations that employ VaporGrip® Technology are approved for use with Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® and XtendFlex® soybeans. Only 2,4-D choline formulations with Colex-D® Technology are approved for use with ENLIST E3® soybeans. The trademarks or service marks displayed or otherwise used herein are the property of a Syngenta Group Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. More information about Agrisure Duracade® is available at http://www.biotradestatus.com/.