St. Louis, Missouri
April 2, 2008
Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) announced today that a location
in Buchanan County, Iowa has been identified as the preferred
location for a new corn seed production facility. The company is
currently working through the final site inspections for the
contracted property located near Independence, where the new
facility will require approximately 150 acres of land.
“We’ve identified a primary site out of a handful of options in
Buchanan County that we believe will meet our business needs of
easy access to roads, power and close proximity to our growers,”
said Kent Martin, Director of Corn Seed Production, Monsanto
Company. “Buchanan County has a rich tradition of growth and
success and we’d welcome the opportunity to add to that
tradition by locating this new facility in the Independence
area. This facility will create good jobs for the local
community from a company that is 100 percent focused on the
success of agriculture.”
As part of the site location activities, Monsanto Company
representatives invite community members to attend an
interactive listening session to learn more about the plans to
locate near Independence, review the site details and to ask
questions about the project from Monsanto executives. The
community event will be held from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. on
Wednesday, April 16 at Heartland Acres Agribition Center located
at 2600 Swan Lake Boulevard in Independence. The session is open
to the public and reservations are not required to attend.
Once complete, the plant is expected to employ approximately 40
full time employees and more than 800 seasonal workers. In
“phase one” of the build out of the facility, the new corn seed
production plant will have two high capacity dryers and green
corn receiving lines, bulk storage, 175,000 square feet of
warehouse space, and a conditioning tower capable of packaging
1,200 bags of corn seed per hour.
The new facility is a significant part of a more than $230
million investment by Monsanto in Iowa. Monsanto presently
operates two other corn seed production facilities in Iowa in
the townships of Boone and Grinnell. In addition to building the
new corn seed site, the company is expanding these existing seed
corn production facilities. Monsanto also expanded its facility
in Ankeny, the company’s global hub for breeding research.
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality.
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