Sakata Seed America Inc. has completed its $18.5 million development of a seed innovation center near Woodland.

The center is on 219 acres and includes four buildings and neighboring greenhouses. Its grand opening is today, according to the company.

The site will produce seeds for commercial and hobby producers of hot peppers, sweet peppers, watermelon, melon and tomato.

The Sakata lab adds to a seed production and development industrial hub in the Sacramento region, which includes international seed research and development by companies such as Bayer AG, Syngenta AG, BASF, HM Clause/Limagrain and others, along with the agricultural research around the University of California Davis. More than 100 seed companies have offices within 100 miles of Sacramento.

The campus has room for future expansion, the company said.

The campus includes a shop for research and development, a farm equipment and maintenance shop, a 25,000-square-foot warehouse and an office building. The buildings were designed by Matthew Shigihara, local principal with Stantec Architecture, Sakata said.

Sakata Seed America produces and sells vegetable and flower seeds for North America. It is a subsidiary of the Yokohama, Japan company Sakata Seed Corp., founded in 1913.

Sakata Seed America also has research stations in Mount Vernon, Washington; Salinas; Fort Myers, Florida; and Sinaloa, Mexico.

Link to article: Seed company opens $18.5 million research lab near Woodland
Mark Anderson | Staff Writer | Sacramento Business Journal
September 13, 2018