Monsanto expanding its seed research facilities

Monsanto says it will spend about $31 million in expanding its current vegetable seed research headquarters in Woodland in the Central Valley.

At the heart of the expansion is a state of the art 90,000 square foot laboratory building.

With the expansion, the Woodland site will become a primary site for molecular breeding for vegetable and row crops “by leveraging high throughput genotyping and seed chipping,” two advanced breeding tools that enable researchers to bring new seeds to market faster, the company says.

The expansion will also expand its existing quality assurance and seed health work by adding “a world-class” seed quality testing lab, the company says. The new facility will be equipped with viewing windows into labs and video displays for tour groups.

The estimated completion of the project is August 2013.

Monsanto’s Woodland site is the backbone of its vegetable research, the company says. At Woodland, breeders and researchers utilize technologies to discover vegetable traits and develop new varieties, “which improve grower productivity and provide consumers with improved benefits,” it says.

The Monsanto Woodland research site opened in 1972. It covers 144 acres of owned land and about 110 acres of leased land. The operation has 291,000 square feet of greenhouses and screenhouses. It employs about 250 full-time employees with 185 in research and development positions.