Mycogen Seeds, the leading sunflower seed producer in the United States, will further its commitment to global sunflower seed production with the completion of upgrades and expansions to its Olivia, Minn., production plant this summer.

According to Mycogen Seeds’ Olivia Plant Manger Matt Foley, upgrades to the conditioning tower will make it the industry’s premier sunflower production facility. Warehouse expansions and equipment improvements also are part of the plan to help the company produce and supply sunflower seed for feed, confections and oilseeds, both nationally and globally.

The facility will continue to grow, condition and bag corn and soybeans. However, upgrades and improvements to the facility will increase the volume of soybeans moving through the plant by 35 percent.

Foley says oilseed production will include regular-oil sunflower seed hybrids, as well as the new mid-oleic NuSun™ hybrids. Oil produced from NuSun hybrids is low in saturated fats and doesn’t require hydrogenation, a food-processing step that has been linked to heart-related diseases.

"Upgrading and adding to the Olivia plant gives us an opportunity to enhance our line of products to include top quality corn, soybean and sunflower seed," explains Foley.

Mycogen is investing more than three quarters of a million dollars to make the improvements to the Olivia plant, which began in March.

And, Foley explains, it’s likely that additional employees will be hired to effectively operate the newly upgraded facility.

"Additional labor will be required locally to meet the demands of our customers," he says. "Our goal is to consistently exceed a million bags of top quality seed production annually for sunflower, corn and soybeans."

A local business unit of Dow AgroSciences, Mycogen Seeds markets grain corn, silage corn and nutritionally enhanced corn seed, as well as sunflower, canola, soybean, alfalfa and sorghum seed through a distribution system of sales representatives, distributors and retail outlets in the Cornbelt, the eastern United States and in major dairy areas throughout the country. Mycogen is an acknowledged leader in developing technology-based products to control agricultural pests and improve food and fiber production.

Company news release
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