The fifth expansion project in the last seven years is on tap this spring and summer at the Syngenta Seeds plant near Phillips.
Plant general manager Bill Hunter III said the latest expansion plans came about after Syngenta applied for two new traits through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide refuge in the bag for its customers.
“The expansion project will allow us to package those two new traits when the EPA approves them and we’re hoping that approval comes before the 2012 spring planting season,” Hunter said. “In order to be ready for that approval, we need to start the expansion project now.”

The construction company already is starting to mobilize at the Phillips site. They will be testing the concrete and then starting the demolition part of the project which involves demolishing the concrete underneath the structures and adding support for the new annexes in preparation for moving equipment to its new location.
Plans call for adding two annexes to the existing tower to allow for conditioning, treating and packaging of the new products, along with what the Syngenta plant currently provides.
Before beginning construction, a variance was requested of the Hamilton County Board of Adjustment as the proposed construction does not meet the setback distance from Highway 34.
Hunter said the existing warehouse, built in the early 1970s, already was closer to the highway than the required setback distance, plus the highway has been widened since that time. “We’re not getting any closer to the highway than we are now, we’re just extending the wall further to the east,” he explained.

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