ALGONA-For over 65 years, Pioneer Hi-Bred research center has been operating in the Algona area. On Wednesday, Sept. 2, Pioneer Hi-Bred's Algona research center held an open house for area citizens and customers to tour the facility.
"Back when I started, we were growing corn at 40 bushels an acre," explained Geoff Graham, one of Pioneer's researchers. "Now, we're growing corn yielding 160 bushels per acre. This research station is an incredible part of that success."
The facility, began in 1939 by Perry Collins in Ottosen and Rolfe, before moving to Algona in 1943, has been focused on producing the best corn and soybean hybrids for farmers to gain fantastic yields on.
In the past three years, the facility has made a $3 million expansion that has added over 40,000 square feet to the facility and increased the amount of work that can be accomplished in the research facility, as well as hired an additional 10 positions.
Besides just growing crops across the area, the facility can now harvest and repackage seeds from the test crops across Iowa and prepare them to be planted in other locales to test the hybrids yield rates in different climates and soils.
"When I was a kid, I pollinated in the fields and detasseled for Pioneer," said Joe Zwerna. "The company has had a long and proud history here in Algona."
With the expansion, Pioneer has added several new employees, ranging from those who work in planting and harvesting the test plots, to drying seeds and crops, to preparing test packets to be saved and sent off to other research facilities across the world.
Even with the increases in yield potential over the past 10 years, Pioneer isn't stopping their research into producing better hybrids in the corn and soybean fields, either.
"Our newest goal is to increase yields in corn and soybeans 40 percent in the next `10 years," said Joe Gogerty, senior research scientist at Pioneer. "That's twice as fast as we have moved in the past."
Creating any new hybrid crops that will increase yields, however, is not a short process. From the first generation of hybrid to the seeds made available on the market to farmers is an accumulation of over seven years of labor and research.
"Global demand will require 9.2 billion bushels of corn by the year 2050," said Gogerty. "Over the next 50 years, we'll probably be looking at an increase of population of 3.2 billion people. That's going to require more food and feed to provide for them."
Besides their work in producing better hybrids, the company also has been instrumental in working with renewable energy in fields like bio-diesel and ethanol production.