As you’ve heard and read recently, Chile was hit with one of the hardest earthquakes ever recorded. The magnitude of the 8.8 quake and the following tsunami waves have been a huge blow to the people and infrastructure of this South American country.
Latham Hi-Tech Seeds does winter production and research in Chile for both corn and soybeans. We use several different companies there, and fortunately, the people whom we work with have been reported safe. There doesn’t appear to be any major structural damage to any of their facilities at this time, although travel is difficult and electricity has been cut throughout much of the region. The main national artery, the Pan-American Highway, also has substantial damage but appears to be operational.
The southern area of Conception, where many of our earlier varieties and hybrids are raised, was probably closest to the quake’s epicenter. The ports in Conception (south) and Santiago (further north) are both open and operating, but many of the customs facilities were damaged.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by this tragedy.
