Introduction of Pioneer® brand products 

Genetic Technologies Ltd (GTL) are the producers and distributers of Pioneer® brand products in New Zealand. The Pioneer product range includes including maize and forage sorghum seed, silage inoculants and seed treatment. The Company is owned by the Yates family, who hold all the traditional values developed and preserved during the family’s 230-year involvement in the seed industry.

Maize was a relatively minor crop in New Zealand 37 years ago. Today, it has assumed new importance as a key complementary grain and forage feed for the country’s livestock industries, as well as an important food ingredient. New crop opportunities continue to be created for the country’s arable farmers, dairy farmers, other livestock producers and the wider maize and rural service industries to this day. Today, Genetic Technologies Ltd remains a Yates family business, with Philip’s son and Managing Director William Yates leading a dedicated team. While trading under Genetic Technologies Ltd, the company is better known in the marketplace as Pioneer® brand products. The Yates family also own a sister company – GenTech Seeds Pty Ltd (GTS), which operates in Australia.

96 years of hybrid seed innovation

Pioneer has one of the best germplasm libraries in agriculture & that means top-performing seed choices to fit the way you farm. Pioneer brought you the first commercial hybrid seed corn in 1926 and globally we continually innovate to push the limits of what’s possible and give New Zealand farmers the hybrids they need to succeed.

Global resources, local team

When you work with your local Pioneer team, you gain a hardworking partner that knows your region. Count on our team to be there throughout the season, every season, working directly with you and for you. The ‘Long Look’ promise remains at the heart of the Pioneer brand and makes honesty and fairness the bedrock of our relationships.

Pioneering science