Post on 29-Sep-2020
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Monsanto takes the safety of its employees and visitors very seriously. This dedication is evident with the
2005 Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) award. After rigorous evaluations and interviews with the Occupa-
tional Safety & Health Association (OSHA), the Williamsburg site was presented this award in acknowledge-
ment of their safe practices on site, in the field, and ability to have minimal re-
cordable incidents.
All fulltime, parttime, seasonal, temporary, migrant, high school and college
employees participate in required training programs. Signs are written in both
English and Spanish. Contractors and visitors are provided an orientation and
must adhere to all safety rules and requirements.
The Williamsburg location also takes an active role in the Monsanto Manufac-
turing Safety & Health Exchange program by either hosting the annual confer-
ence or offering comprehensive site tours.
HFS employees take pride in providing a safe environment for themselves, their team members, and all who
come in contact with the Williamsburg site.
Customer Information & Commercial Site Lead Dave Harper (319) 668-3140 AA -Cindy Pfennig (319) 668-3103 Business Services Lead Bob Lillis (319) 668-3112 AA-Jan Finnegan (319) 668-3245
How to contact us
Safety First!
Commercial Products Lead David Stoltzfus (319) 668-3260 AA-Shannon Nowotny (319) 668-3152 Manufacturing Lead Dave Weydert (319) 668-3212 AA-Danielle Nowotny (319) 668-3162 PreFoundation Lead Jim Freed (319) 668-3259 AA-Amy Doehrmann Trait Integration Lead Rod Tietz (319) 668-3143 AA-Margaret Wardenburg (319) 668-3151
Technology—Commercial Breeding Christian Buffard (319) 668-3146 AA-Sherry Sellers (319) 668-3115 Technology—Line Development Breeding Joel Holthaus (319) 668-3139 Safety Coordinator Brandon Maas (319) 668-3266 Terry Hakeman (319) 668-1100 Human Resources Dawn Coffman (319) 668-3108
Holden’s Foundation Seeds L.L.C. 503 South Maplewood Avenue Williamsburg, IA 52361 Main: (319) 668-1100 Fax: (319) 668-2453
Holden’s Foundation Seeds L.L.C.
The Holden family had a tradition in the seed business, supplying seed of Reid Yellow Dent to farmers in the surrounding community. In 1937,
Roland Holden began Holden’s Foundation Seeds in partnership with his father, Carl. Roland was able to secure a loan of $400 from the local
bank to begin the seed business and that summer Holden’s produced 2 double cross hybrids. Half the crop was sold immediately after harvest to
neighboring farmers, who took the ears home in burlap bags to dry during the winter. The other half was piled on wooden racks in shallow lay-
ers and dried with a coal burning stove and electric fans. Total production was about 500 bushels.
In 1938, Holden’s built its first seed dryer, utilizing a railroad car that was purchased for $50, a church furnace and a fan. An F20 tractor was
used to power the fan. A new seed house was built for $3,500 in 1940. At this time the sales were comprised of about 80% hybrid seed and 20%
foundation seed.
In 1943, John Spence of Des Moines, Iowa formed Corn States Hybrid Service. That year John and Roland met and developed a relationship
that endured for many years. In that year Corn States agreed to handle the sales efforts for Holden’s on a handshake agreement.
Two other significant events occurred during the 1940’s. In 1945, Holden’s grew its first winter nursery in the Rio Grande Valley. This nursery
was used for making new hybrid seed and comprised about 1/10 acre. The next year, 1946, Roland and Carl decided to separate the hybrid and
foundation seed portions of the business, with Roland continuing in the foundation seed business.
In the 1930’s and 1940’s most corn hybrids were produced from lines developed by public universities, such as Iowa State, Illinois, Purdue,
Minnesota and Wisconsin. A significant factor in Holden’s early success was that Roland visited many of these universities and collected new
lines that were being released. He made new, unique hybrid crosses between these lines. These hybrids were tested for yield and agronomic
performance and Roland selected the best combinations to produce and market.
The Holden’s/Corn States business continued to grow in the 1950’s and 1960’s. A significant change in the hybrid seed corn business occurred
during this period. Hybrids grown by farmers were switching from double crosses to single crosses. This meant higher yields and better stand-
ability for farmers. By the mid 1960’s the company had grown to be the largest foundation seed supplier in the United States.
In the mid 1970’s Holden’s began marketing proprietary lines developed as a result of the increased breeding efforts in the 1960’s. Holden’s
received the first corn PVP (Plant Variety Protection) certificate issued in the U.S. for one of its inbreds. From 1977 to 1982, Holden’s sales
switched from 95% public lines to 95% proprietary lines. Due to the success of proprietary lines, Holden’s/Corn States market share grew dra-
matically in the 1980’s. During this period 3 research stations were added in addition to the home location at Williamsburg, Iowa.
With the advent of Biotechnology and Biotechnology traits in the 1990’s, it became apparent that in order to keep customers competitive in the
new era of improved genetics combined with industry revolutionizing traits it would be necessary for Holden’s and Corn States to partner with
a biotech company. Monsanto
provided the best combination
of industry leading research
and a pipeline of traits that
provided significant benefits to
farmers, leading to the pur-
chase of Holden’s and Corn
States by Monsanto in 1997.
Company Founded in 1937
503 South Maplewood Avenue
Williamsburg, IA 52361
(319) 668-1100
Holden’s Foundation Seeds L.L.C.
a Monsanto company
The Business Services group
was developed in 2005 and
serves as the overall hub of Hol-
den’s Foundation Seeds. This
group is responsible for field
operations up to the pollination
period as well as facilities main-
tenance of the overall site. Busi-
ness Services has primary re-
sponsibility for negotiating con-
tract terms and pricing to obtain
the highest value proposition to
the company with regard to land
and assets. This can encompass
land owners, migrant agricultural
labor, on site contractors, capital
projects and assets, and vendors.
The group assists engineering in
design of projects that support
seed supply and seed breeding
operations including environ-
mental permits and all other
permit submissions. Business
Services also manages service
functions offering land, labor,
planning and pricing services to
Hawaiian Research and licensing
business customers to ensure that
Monsanto, US & Hawaiian gov-
ernmental regulations regarding
trait events are followed and
consistent with Monsanto strate-
gies. Business Services also
plans and contracts migrant labor
inclusive of providing free hous-
ing, educational opportunities,
medical attention and safety
training. Migrant labor is used
throughout the season and a
fulltime migrant liaison is lo-
cated at Williamsburg to assist
with the onboarding of these
legal migrants. The number of
migrant workers at Holden’s
Foundation Seeds can reach 300
during a typical season housed at
three migrant camps on Holden’s
properties and transported to
work each day.
these, many previously
handed off lines are re-grown
to meet reoccurring demand.
Quality control is also an-
other large responsibility of
this group. They perform
extensive genetic tests to
ensure the quality of their
product. A substantial grow-
The PreFoundation group is
responsible for the increase
of inbred lines that will be
handed off to the Foundation
group. They receive conven-
tional and trait lines from
breeders and Trait Integra-
tion, respectively, to increase
in their nursery. Along with
out program is also con-
ducted to test the purity of
lines that were produced.
Business Services
PreFoundation
Breeding
at Williamsburg and shipped to
retail hybrid seed company cus-
tomers who produce hybrid seed
corn to sell to farmers. Commer-
cial Breeders (CBs) advance
products through the licensing
commercial testing channel and
select products to commercialize.
Commercial Breeders provide
technical support for Holden’s
products and tailor products to
customers’ needs. The CBs also
provide information for hybrid
data and recommendations,
seed production, and engage
customer feedback on hybrid
performance, product needs,
along with industry and farmer
climate.
Several aspects of Monsanto
corn breeding reside at Wil-
liamsburg. Line Development
Breeders (LDBs) develop new
corn inbred parents and test
these inbreds in hybrid yield
trials. Trait Integration Breeders
backcross biotechnology devel-
oped traits such as insect resis-
tance and herbicide tolerance
into the new elite inbreds. Seed
of the inbred parents is produced
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Holden’s Foundation Seeds L.L.C.
Manufacturing and Founda-
tion at Williamsburg is re-
sponsible for the assets, strat-
egy, plants and equipment,
and processing of parent seed
associated with the plant por-
tion of the business. This
group manages one or more
of the seed processing proce-
dures including the drying,
sizing, bagging, warehousing,
shipping and handling of
returned seed at a given plant.
They also manage and coor-
dinate foundation seed opera-
tions in producing, process-
ing and shipping pure, high
quality foundation seed as
well as assist in managing,
planning and scheduling the
planting, growing and har-
vesting of seed. Foundation
receives the nursery increases
from PreFoundation and also
handles the field production
of inbred seed and seed proc-
essing. Seed processing, bag-
ging and seedstock inventory
are managed by Manufactur-
ing. This group also loads the
trucks and transports seed to
customers.
culture, and business and hail
from all over the world such as
Mexico, Argentina, France,
Ethiopia, and Jamaica. Holden’s
has been recognized in the state
of Iowa for their focus on mi-
grant workers and their families
as well as a business model for
employer’s hiring migrant labor.
Holden’s migrant labor force are
The Williamsburg location em-
ploys approximately 114 full-
time employees in addition to
temporary and seasonal workers.
With the high school and mi-
grant population in the summer-
time, employee numbers can
reach 700 or more. Employees
have diverse backgrounds such
as PhDs, MBAs, scientific, agri-
Monsanto employees and 85%
of these employees return each
season. Seasonal employees
complete site specific and job
specific training each season
giving Holden’s the business
advantage of having trained
individuals with specific skill
sets necessary to maintain a high
level of quality control.
Manufacturing / Foundation
Our Employees
Commercial
velopment evaluates trait lines
and hybrids for agronomic per-
formance and provides recom-
mendations on these products.
Product portfolio packages are
developed for customers. The
Cooperative Testing program
works with Seed Partners to test
programs that include hybrid and
inbred evaluations, make test
cross seed, organize trials, and
distribute seed to and collect
data from cooperators. Commer-
cial Shipping plans, acquires,
and distributes hybrid seed to
Seed Partners. They plan and
request pilot hybrid production,
track and monitor seed produc-
tion of hybrids for commercial
shipping, allocate hybrid seed to
customers, and allocate hybrid
seed to customers.
The Commercial group consists
of Product Management, Product
Development, Cooperative Test-
ing and Commercial Shipping.
Product Management directs
Holden’s commercial activities
that interface with Seed Partners.
They ensure that Product Devel-
opment, Commercial Shipping,
and Cooperative testing interact
with Technology. Product De-
Page 3
Holden’s Foundation Seeds L.L.C.