Pioneer is a huge international corporation that started as a family business in 1926. The founder of Pioneer, Henry A. Wallace, later served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture and was elected vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Over time, Pioneer has become one of the largest seed companies in the world with a large focus on the research and development of more productive crops.
Despite turning into a large corporation, there is not a huge hierarchy within Pioneer. They employ a large number of scientists and other specialists who help with doing research and interpreting all of the data, as well as a huge amount of manual laborers. Most employees will work outside in teams during the research process, checking all the fields and conducting sampling during various stages of growth. Outside of the growing season, September to May, a majority of the workload is interpreting data and planning the next trials.
The plant I am interested in is located in Hermiston, Oregon and is completely centered around Hybrid Corn research. The structure at the Hermiston plant is fairly loose, and the mood is somewhat laid back. Employees don’t have a strict dress code, but are expected to wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt and hat when working outside in the summer for their own health. I have been to Pioneer’s plant on several occasions and worked with them on some of their projects and found them easy to work with and both professional and efficient. They also support the local 4-H and FFA groups at Fairs and offer educational grants to schools for agricultural education.
The town of Hermiston is also close to my friends and family and has a low cost of living. Hermiston is surrounded by farmland but has shown continual growth and is one of the largest cities in the area. It would be easy for me to find a place to live in the area and have a short commute to the plant. All of the above reasons make working for Pioneer a great career opportunity for me.
Learn more about Pioneer at:
http://www.pioneer.com/home/site/about