Power Connect Newsletter

Beck’s Hybrids is the largest family-owned, retail seed company in the United States, serving farmers in a dozen states. Beck’s understands what farmers need, because they are farmers too.They have access to the best genetics and trait technologies from suppliers worldwide and they strive to provide all of their customers with the tools they need to succeed on their farm. Beck’s Hybrids was founded in 1937 and continues to operate on the original homestead. The Atlanta, Indiana facility is used for research, production, shipping and seed treatment facilities. With a continued demand for new and innovative products, Beck’s continues to invest in expansion and growth opportunities.

To keep operations running smoothly, Beck’s relies on computers, manufacturing equipment, lights and more. If the facility were to experience a power outage, it could be detrimental. “Product in process would be lost,” said Bob Stuart, automation engineer, Beck’s Superior Hybrids. “While discarding the damaged product, future product would be stalled and would be lost as well.” Lost product and time could cost the company money and customers. Stuart said in order to ensure reliability that their operations would not be stalled, the facility would need to upgrade the existing generator onsite. He said a new generator was necessary to be able to provide enough power to back up the entire facility during their most demanding times, which would not have been feasible with the former generator.

Over the past seven years, EVAPAR, a Generac Industrial Power dealer, has built a trusting relationship with Beck’s Hybrids. So when it came time to design a new system, EVAPAR jumped right in to help. “They needed a system that would fit the allotted footprint and that was reliable,” said Brandon Lucas, territory manager, EVAPAR. “We worked with Beck’s facility engineers and they understood quickly the advantages to Generac’s Modular Power System (MPS).” Generac’s MPS offers many benefits as opposed to the traditional single genset configuration. It offers increased redundancy by offering up to 99.999% reliability. With multiple generators on call, redundancy is built-in and reliability is increased because one generator backs up the other.

Other than reliability, the size of the system was also important. “The footprint for the system was very limited,” said Stuart. “With Generac’s onboard paralleling, we could have the total kW required for the facility while satisfying the available footprint requirements.” Lucas said many of the applications he sees, space is at a premium. To help meet these needs, Generac introduced the first and only compact paralleled total power generator solution that houses two 500 kW generators within a single enclosure. The Gemini MPS Twin Pack provides 1000 kW of power in a footprint that is 20% smaller compared to a single large genset.

“The Gemini package was the perfect fit based on space saving and the increased level of reliability,” said Lucas. “In the end, we specified four Gemini diesel generators.” Lucas said the units are well designed and are easy to install. He said it made the most sense economically as well to use the Gemini units instead of a single genset solution for this application.

The units have already come into use as the facility had lost utility power. “The units performed just as they are supposed to,” said Lucas. “The reliability of these units provides the facility the highest level of uptime possible.”

Stuart and Beck’s Hybrids have been pleased with the work EVAPAR has done for them. “EVAPAR has excellent customer service,” Stuart said. “They are responsive and have the latest technology.” Stuart said he wouldn’t hesitate to recommend EVAPAR and a Generac generator.

 

ABOUT BECK’S HYBRIDS

Beck’s is the third-largest seed brand in the United States, providing high-yielding corn, soybeans, wheat, and elite alfalfa to farmers across Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Beck’s corn, soybeans, wheat, and elite alfalfa are backed by our 100% Replant Policy, and protected by Beck’s Escalate®, yield enhancement system, a proprietary seed treatment. Our philosophy is to provide farmers with the most choices in traits and technologies that will perform best on their farm. We’re dedicated to using what we know to always do what’s right for farmers, which is why we continue to back a quality line of products with a quality way of treating customers, all to ensure they receive the best in seed quality, field performance, and service.