Monsanto breaks ground for new Lubbock cotton seed processing facility

Monsanto’s new 500,000-square-foot, $140 million, state-of-the-art cotton seed processing facility in Lubbock is officially under construction.

The new project, announced in January, will be Monsanto’s primary U.S. hub for all commercial cotton seed processing operations.

The new facility that is planned to be completed in the summer of 2017, will have the capability to clean, treat and bag 80 percent of the country’s cotton seed.

“This will be the state-of-the-art seed facility in the world, not just for Monsanto, but I would argue for the entire industry. And it doesn’t matter what crop we’re taking about,” said Bob Reiter, Monsanto vice president of global supply chain. “We’ve had this vision around for many years, and now to be able to invest in that and see it happen here in Lubbock, that’s going to be a very cool thing.”