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Friday, July 25, 2008
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News Detail
Monsanto learning center will bring jobs to Gothenburg
5/4/2008 3:20:00 PM
GOTHENBURG, Neb. -- "The earth moved,'' Mike Bacon, president of Gothenburg Improvement Co. said last week when it was learned that Gothenburg would be the home of a new Monsanto learning center that will bring 20 to 30 new jobs.
After 2 1/2 years of discussions, Monsanto announced that it was official: The company will invest $6 million to construct a research center focusing on technologies in water use and crop production.
The new 25,000-square-foot facility is to be located south of Gothenburg on Highway 47.
The center will expand the size and focus of the company's existing facility in Gothenburg. The center, which will be known as the Monsanto Water Utilization Learning Center, will contain classrooms large enough for 75 individuals and promote partnerships with elementary schools, high schools and universities.
The site will offer farmers and other stakeholders a firsthand opportunity to tour test plots of drought-tolerant crops and other seed and agronomic practices.
Phil Miller, head of U.S. technology development for Monsanto, said several factors went into choosing Gothenburg. He said its location in the western Corn Belt gives Monsanto ideal growing conditions to test drought-tolerant crops.
He commended the community's schools, support system and volunteerism. Miller added that a partnership with FritoLay and its facility manager, Scott Bartels, only added to the community's appeal.
"It's a great statement on Gothenburg,'' Miller said.
The target completion date for Gothenburg's center is April 2009, said Dennis Edwards, Monsanto's agriculture center manager at Monmouth, Ill. He said the set-up would be patterned after Monmouth's facility offering 125 demonstrations to show growers how new hybrid grains can produce higher yields using less water and fertilizer.
Miller said Monsanto's goal is to do more with less. By the year 2030, he said, Monsanto hopes to have a grain hybrid that will produce 300 bushels per acre, doubling current average yields. Miller said it will help feed the world's growing population and benefit the environment by using less water to grow crops.
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