Why AgBioScience Companies are Making Indiana Home

We’ve given you some of the stats surrounding Indiana agriculture in recent weeks from the most recent USDA Census of Agriculture. Those stats include:

• The number one producer in the country of popcorn, gourds, and duck
• Number four in soybeans
• Number five in corn & hog production
• Total ag production valued at over $18 billion

Here are some other stats for the state according to AgriNovus Indiana:

• Second in the nation for cost of doing business
• The best state regulatory environment
• Third in best state infrastructure

All this is why agbioscience companies are making Indiana home. AgriNovus Indiana held the first of four events they’ll have this year called QUADRANT to highlight the Indiana agbiosciences industry.

Dr. Reza Rasoulpour, VP, Global Regulatory and Stewardship Leader at Corteva Agriscience, says when they were deciding about five years ago where to put their headquarters, Indiana was the logical choice.

“We’re here in the Heartland, we’re close to customers, really able to understand how we can provide tools in those farmers toolboxes, and of key importance is we have plant health, animal health, human health, right here in the Indiana Biosciences community.”

Rasoulpour continued, saying, “At Corteva, we spend over $4 million a day, each and every day in R&D (research and development). As an R&D scientist myself, it’s great that we’re able to attract lots of talent into Indiana from the coasts, from all around the world to invest within that community.”

AgriNovus, Indiana government officials, and existing agbioscience companies like Corteva are working together to attract more companies and more talent here to do more with the products that you, the Indiana farmer, produce.

“When I go and I recruit people or talk to students, I think a lot of it is demystifying agriculture,” says Rasoulpour. “So, have you hugged a farmer today? Do you understand how hard it is to be a farmer? The challenges that farmers will have over the next 20 years are so much greater than the challenges that they had 20 years ago as we think about climate change, as you think about regulations, as we think about complexity. So, the thing that I want you to know is, if you want to have a really significant impact on the world, please come and join us at Corteva and come and join us in Indiana.”

Hear more from the QUADRANT event with Governor Eric Holcomb, CEO Kevin Still from the new Keystone Cooperative, and others by clicking the play button below.