Since 2001, peanut breeder Kim Moore has worked to produce high- yielding, disease-resistant varieties.
• By Amanda Huber •
For more than 35 years, Kim Moore has worked to make better yielding and more disease resistant peanut varieties. He worked with Ernest Harvey, a well-known peanut breeder and someone Moore considers an important mentor, at AgraTech Seeds.
“When AgraTech closed, I kept going with peanut breeding and licensed from Dow Agrosciences their Flavor Runner breeding program to start my company, AgResearch Consultants Inc. (ACI Seeds),” Moore says.
Since then, Moore and a small team at ACI Seeds have worked in their in-house laboratory and in field to produce peanut varieties adapted to all U.S. peanut regions and in global peanut production areas.
“We started in 2001 and have now been in business for 17 years, and we are finally getting some high yield, disease resistant peanut varieties that are competitive in the Southeast and other growing regions,” he says.
Moving Peanut Breeding Forward
Moore works alongside Linda Moore, Director of Laboratory services, who has a doctorate from the University of Florida in Food Science and Human Nutrition and has extensive experience in laboratory analysis of food and food nutrients. There is also Matt Moore, ACI Operations Manager.
“Matt has been involved with or directed all field projects and is skilled in field operations, seed processing, handling, and specialized field research equipment. He provides consulting services to our peanut production startup clients as well,” Kim Moore says.
ACI Agronomist and Sales and Marketing Manager, Mark Carden, manages commercial seed production, international sales, shipping and regulatory compliance for seed and commercial non-seed peanut products.
With its own extensive seed germplasm collection, the team at ACI currently has a variety that producers might find would fit their needs.
“Currently there are over 10 promising pre-commercial varieties in our pipeline with superior performance characteristics specific to the U.S. market. ACI Seeds expects commercial quantities of these next generation seeds to be in grower fields within two to three years,” Kim Moore says. Seed availability along with variety descriptions are shown above.
