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

Page 2

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.