St. Louis, Missouri
November 7, 2008
Three million dollar expansion
includes a new office building and new seed processing facility
Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) today announced the completion
of a $3 million expansion project at its Jerseyville, Illinois
location, continuing Jerseyville’s long history at the forefront
of biotechnology. This historic site conducted the world’s very
first biotechnology field trial in 1987 – first with tomatoes
and later that year with Roundup Ready soybeans. The site was
also home to the first triple stacked corn trial in 1998, one of
Monsanto’s top-selling products that combines Roundup Ready
herbicide tolerance, YieldGard Corn Borer insect protection and
YieldGard Rootworm insect protection.
The Jerseyville facility manages biotechnology field trials for
projects in Monsanto’s research-and-development pipeline like
dicamba-tolerant soybeans, water use efficiency cotton, nitrogen
use efficiency corn, Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans and drought
tolerant corn. The site also processes seed for further field
trials in other Midwestern states. Today’s completion of the $3
million investment creates a new office building for the
location and a state-of-the-art seed processing facility.
“This expansion solidifies Jerseyville’s role as a center of
biotechnology for the globe,” said Steve Padgette, Monsanto's
vice president of biotechnology. “The work done at this historic
facility is a key part in our R&D process. As someone who was
involved in the beginning of biotechnology there, it’s
personally rewarding to continue our investment in the
Jerseyville facility and, subsequently, the Jerseyville
community.”
The expansion includes roughly 22,000 square feet of new
building or renovation, adding to the site’s existing 16
greenhouses, and nearly 300 acres of field trials. The site
intends to plant roughly 120,000 field plots next summer, with
about 90,000 of those to corn trials and the remainder to
soybean trials.
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains
focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to
produce more from their land while conserving more of our
world's natural resources such as water and energy.
Roundup Ready, YieldGard and
Roundup Ready 2 Yield are trademarks of Monsanto Technology,
LLC. |
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