Two years and 50 million dollars later, Monsanto will celebrate the completion of a major expansion at its plant in Muscatine. A ribbon cutting will be held Friday morning.
Plant manager Shawn Schrader says Monsanto will use the expansion to produce a new line of herbicides called "Xtendimax" - he calls it a "new tool" for farmers to control weeds. So far it's been approved for soybeans and cotton.
"We'll be the only location formulating and packaging for the entire US market. We also have approval to sell the product in Canada and hopefully, one day, in the rest of the world as well."
Thirty new full-time workers have been hired to produce Xtendimax.
Schrader wants to thank the city, county, and state governments for their assistance, saying tax incentives helped convince Monsanto to choose the Muscatine plant for this project. With the new workers, the 56 year old plant (1961) now has 400 employees.
Helping the company celebrate will be Iowa Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds and the state's Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey.
The ceremony begins at 11 am.
