URBANDALE, Iowa - Over 30 producers from across the state attended tours at Kinze Manufacturing and Holden’s Seed/Monsanto in Williamsburg on March 13.

At Kinze Manufacturing, the tour started off in the showroom where the history of company and its owner, Jon Kinzenbaw, was told. Retired Kinze employees then took the group on tours of the facilities where they were saw current employees making 36 Row 3800 series planters and augers for grain wagons.

Kinze builds all of their products at the Williamsburg site, and nearly 100 percent of the products start as raw materials in Williamsburg. Only a couple things are purchased and/or brought in to the building site. Kinze builds planters for nine months and grains wagons for three months of the year, and as of right now, they are switching to grain wagons.

At Holden’s Foundation Seeds/Monsanto, the tour started with a brief overview of both Holden’s and Monsanto’s history. Monsanto bought Holden’s Foundation Seeds in 1997, after 60 years of independent corn hybrid research.

Monsanto employees then took the group on tours of the facilities where everyone was able to see the different stages of corn research performed in Williamsburg and around the world. This site invests over 500,000 man hours each year.

Tom Renner, a producer from Hancock County, felt the tours really spoke to the successes hard work and determination can bring.

“The tours of Kinze and Holden’s Foundation Seeds/Monsanto were impressive when you think of the American Dream,” says Renner. “These families (Kinzenbaw and Holden) worked hard and succeeded in two different areas of agriculture. It sounds like they have also given back to their communities and country, and are good employers [for the Williamsburg area].”

To learn more about ISA, visit its Web site at www.iasoybeans.com. Photos are available upon request.