Whether it’s political requirements or climate-related adjustments to crop rotation, the challenges that farmers around the world face every year are manifold. To ensure the supply of the best seeds, companies such as Strube D&S GmbH from Söllingen and the French-based RAGT Group are working determinedly to continuously improve genetics and quality controls during seed production.
As a medium-sized multi-crop breeder, RAGT has now expanded its extensive portfolio and expertise through the integration of Strube. The RAGT Group aims to offer farmers an even broader and more sustainable portfolio this way. Outstanding feature of this joint venture is the strong research network: a total of around 500 employees are now involved in breeding a wide variety of crops. In addition, around 18 per cent of sales are reinvested directly in research and development in order to find regionally adapted cultivation solutions.
How AI and drones are revolutionising work
Strube fully utilises the possibilities of drone application for breeding (Source: Strube D&S GmbH)Digitalisation has long since found its way into many areas of our lives, and now it is being closely followed by automation and, in many cases, artificial intelligence (AI). At Strube and RAGT, these state-of-the-art tools are also being used in both breeding and agricultural practice to support the farmer in their daily decision making.
In breeding, for example, drones are used to provide valuable data as part of high-throughput evaluation, thereby accelerating breeding progress. For RAGT and Strube, one thing is certain: human labour remains indispensable in the development of new products, while digital tools and AI provide valuable support.
These innovations enable farmers to respond more quickly and effectively to current challenges and benefit from continuous improvements in advice and diagnostics.
SBR and Stolbur – danger from the cicada
SBR tolerance is one of the priorities of Strubes' sugar beet breeding program (Source: Strube D&S GmbH)In recent years, the diseases Syndrome Basses Richesses (SBR) and Stolbur have appeared mainly in southern Germany, where they pose major challenges for sugar beet cultivation, among other things. However, it is expected that the area affected will expand rapidly. To ensure successful cultivation in affected regions, Strube has been working intensively on SBR tolerant varieties, because combating the transmitting Cixiid planthopper is hard to accomplish, if possible at all.
Pooling breeding know-how for faster solutions
The company has already achieved initial success with regard to SBR and Stolbur tolerance: due to the approval of Chevrolet and Michelangelo, two varieties are available to support sugar beet cultivation in afffected regions. Strubes’ variety Michelangelo is one of the top varieties when it comes to SBR infestation. ST Rotterdam is particularly outstanding, not only under normal conditions with a relative adjusted sugar yield (BZE) of 104.9, but also in terms of nematode and SBR infestation.
Dr. Michael Stange, Head of Sugar Beet Breeding, initiated the change towards data driven breeding at Strube D&S GmbH (Source: Strube D&S GmbH) Rotterdam also shows good tolerance against cercospora and achieves a yield that is more than 2% higher under severe infestation than under weak or no infestation.
Now, intensive work is underway to achieve further breeding successes in order to further increase the tolerance level of the portfolio. The transformation of the breeding scheme with latest breeding tools is under development to accelerate breeding successes in order to further increase the yield and tolerance level of the latest multitolerant varieties. Precise high-throughput phenotyping is successfully implemented to accelerate breeding and is now to be extended to other challenges in arable farming. Together, Strube and RAGT can offer versatile crop rotation solutions. As an example: companion crops, soil health plants and cover crops are an important part in RAGTs sustainability concept.
One partner, one brand
In order to master future challenges together in a targeted and effective manner, Strube will be phased out as a brand and fully integrated into the RAGT Group, with all important areas and competencies being retained. To kick off this integration, Andreas Albersmeier was appointed Managing Director of Germany-based Strube D&S GmbH on 1 July 2025, while also serving as Managing Director of RAGT Saaten Deutschland GmbH. The Söllingen and Schlanstedt locations are and will remain of central importance. Jobs in the region will be retained, as Söllingen is responsible for coordinating the global breeding and production of sugar beet, among other things.
Advantages for sugar industry and farmers
The target is to support sugar industry and secure sugar beet acreage for the future in a sustainable way. The RAGT Group attaches great importance to its roots in local agricultures. Close cooperation with farmers, industry, institutes and regional expertise will therefore remain a central component. The merger will primarily result in advantages for RAGTs partners: with a larger sales team and additional expertise in cereals, maize and rapeseed in addition to sugar beet, they will benefit from future challenges in arable farming. Even after the integration, the proven varieties and trusted advisors will still be there for farmers – only under the umbrella of RAGT.
For further information please visit Strube’s and RAGT’s websites.
