Photo: Jacobsen Seed President, Dave Nelson (left) visits construction site of new addition to their Lake View facility
A fourth-generation family business in Lake View has begun construction on a roughly $4 million expansion. President of Jacobsen Seed, Dave Nelson, says they have seen phenomenal growth that started with supplying seed corn to local producers. They now service corn and soybean farmers in five states…and are growing.
The seed corn process was pretty simple when that great uncle started.
The development of hybrids was a boon to Jacobsen Seed.
The company nearly doubled in size after Nelson’s father, Larry, took over. Then six years ago, Nelson brought that industry experience and his education in ag business and agronomy from Iowa State University home. Today, the father and son are looking to a future of innovation and expansion. The technology has exploded, leading to enhanced seed traits allowing for weed control as well as genetic platforms that optimize the most important thing to producers—yield. The technological changes and growth of the company are the reasons Jacobsen Seed is constructing a new conditioning/packaging plant, their second, to the west of their location on Highway 175 in Lake View.
The new plant incorporates the most up-to-date equipment for quality, high volume and high efficiency, and is also designed for employee comfort. Nelson says everything is ground level with the machinery inset several feet into the foundation and there will be minimal dust and noise. He adds though the building itself is only about 6,000 square feet, the majority of the expense comes from what goes inside. The pandemic has not really impacted the construction of the building and it is slated to be ready to bring the addition online in December of this year. However, the machinery deliveries from Denmark and Argentina are a concern.
Nelson says they have a narrow amount of leeway in the scheduled installation, until March or April. However, he adds, they do have the original conditioning plant and are more than capable of meeting their needs, it is just that the new plant will not immediately begin generating revenue if that deadline is not met. The Nelson family is grateful for the partnership they have and the ease in working with the City of Lake View and say they will be looking at more expansions in the near future, potentially adding warehouse space to accommodate the output of this plant. Jacobsen Seed currently has 11 employees and they believe this will bring about a need for another four or five to help ensure quality of output and the market demand for conditioning and packaging.
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