Wahpeton, North Dakota
September 3, 2003

Today, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., unveiled a $9.5 million upgrade to its soybean production and conditioning facility in Wahpeton, N.D. during an open house at the facility. This upgrade now allows the plant to produce 24,000 units of seed per day, helping ensure an even more reliable supply of the latest Pioneer® brand soybean genetics to growers in the upper Great Plains.

The open house was held from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. to showcase the plant for Pioneer customers. It included a tour of the facility and featured updates on Pioneer soybean research, regional agronomic information, risk management and crop insurance as well as information on Pioneer® brand hybrids most suited for dry-grind ethanol production. The plant is located three miles west of Wahpeton on U.S. Highway 13.

The goal of the upgrade is to expand conditioning facilities to include more soybeans from across the upper Great Plains. To meet this goal, the plant will increase productivity from 1.4 million units per year to more than 2.4 million units. This year alone, the facility will process seed from more than 70,000 acres of soybeans produced in Richland, Wilkin and surrounding counties. Wahpeton is one of 18 Pioneer soybean-conditioning facilities across the United States.

"The new technology we've incorporated into the plant upgrade allows us to provide even better soybean seed quality to our customers," said Brent Aarestad, plant manager. "We are conditioning additional units per year to more efficiently serve our growing number of customers."

As part of the upgrade, a programmable logistics computer was installed to control the facility's automated operations. To assure product quality, the plant uses specialized equipment such as elevators that gently handle seed and stoners to sort out dirt particles and other foreign objects. Other equipment includes a semi-automatic palletizer and wrapper and an automatic bulk-package fill station.

The Wahpeton facility opened as a wheat production plant in 1982. It was converted to exclusively soybeans in 1990. The capacity and production renovation started in May 2001 and was completed in October 2002. Currently, the plant has 23 full-time employees as well as seasonal staff.

With more than 50 new soybean varieties introduced since 2000, Pioneer Hi-Bred's worldwide research focuses on creating varieties that have outstanding yields, strong emergence, solid standability, smooth harvesting and disease, pest and herbicide resistance to meet the field-by-field needs of growers.

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., a subsidiary of DuPont, is the world's leading source of customized solutions for farmers, livestock producers and grain and oilseed processors. With headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, Pioneer provides access to advanced plant genetics, crop protection solutions and quality crop systems to customers in nearly 70 countries. DuPont is a science company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by solving problems and creating solutions that make people's lives better, safer and easier. Operating in more than 70 countries, the company offers a wide range of products and services to markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel.