Seed Today - Q4 2008 - (Page 6)

Syngenta - Tuscola, IL Syngenta - Tuscola, IL soybean seed facility Soybean facility models Syngenta’s commitment for up-to-date facilities Syngenta Seed Tuscola, IL • 217-253-5646 www.syngenta.com Key Personnel • Kevin Kaiser, Plant Manager • Matt Meyer, Plant Operations Manager • Dustin Sullivan, Plant Agronomist • Bobbi Pierce, Health, Safety, Environmental Manager Facility Features • Soybean production for NK, Golden Harvest, and Garst brands. • 64,000 bu. bulk storage. • 2.5 million units annual production capacity. • 165,000 sq.ft. warehouse space. • General contractor: O’Mara Ag Services Urbandale, IA (515-223-5391/www.omara-ag.com) • PLC automation: Britton Electronics and Automation, Inc., Pekin, IL (309-353-5376/www.go-bea.com) Within six months of its summer 2004 acquisition of Garst Seed and Golden Harvest, Syngenta announced ambitious plans to integrate, streamline and expand capacity of its corn and soybean seed supply facilities. The initial streamlining efforts resulted in the closure or capacity reduction at 12 corn and soybean seed production locations and two field offices. Syngenta stated its objective is to integrate the production facilities of its three brands—NK®, Garst and Golden Harvest—in order for them to operate closer to full capacity while aligning seed production with demand. One of the facilities targeted for expansion is the former NK production operation in Tuscola, IL, that was originally built for Northrup-King in 1990. In 2005, Syngenta invested $300,000 at Tuscola, located in east Central Illinois, to expand office space and install a new seed treater. In 2006, a $1.1 million 60,000 sq. ft. warehouse was added. In February 2007, Syngenta announced a $25 million capital improvement program to significantly expand capacity at six of its Midwest corn and soybean seed supply centers: • Tuscola, IL—$6.5 million. • Jefferson, IA. • Lone Tree, IA. • Pekin, IL. • Phillips, NE. • Waterloo, NE. All Syngenta soybean conditioning facilities process seed for the NK, Garst and Golden Harvest brands. Capacity Expansion When the Tuscola expansion project was completed in time for the 2008 harvest, production capacity had been expanded to 2.5 million units annually. The expansion includes a second tower line and bulk bagging line, 32,000 bushels bulk storage and additional discard storage and loadout. In 1998, the plant’s annual capacity was 1.6 million units. At that time, about 40 percent of the soybean seed was shipped in 2,000 lb. bags or boxes. The balance was packaged in traditional 50 lb. bags. There were no TruBulk® shipments. Introduced by NK to its dealers in 6 Fourth Quarter 2008 http://www.syngenta.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Seed Today - Q4 2008

Seed Today - Q4 2008 Contents Editor’s Notes Syngenta Cornelius Seed Moews Seed Co. Gustafson Equipment DuPont Pioneer Hi-Bred AOSCA Richard Payne, Ph.D. Lou Buice According to ASTA AOSA/SCST New Products Seed Shorts Corporate Notes ANEX Mfg Berg Equipment Popp Engineering New PVP Certificates Ad Index

Seed Today - Q4 2008

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