Facility

Pioneer Hi-Bred / Corteva Johnston Iowa R&D Campus

Corteva Agriscience / Pioneer Hi-Bred primary R&D campus in Johnston, Iowa (northwest of Des Moines). Founded by Henry A. Wallace in 1926 as the original Pioneer Hi-Bred Corn Company headquarters. The Johnston campus houses Pioneer's proprietary corn germplasm library — one of the most valuable private collections of plant genetics in the world. The Johnston germplasm bank contains hundreds of thousands of proprietary inbred lines developed over nearly a century of breeding. This facility was the target of the 2011-2013 industrial espionage case (US v. Ye Jian) in which a Chinese national was arrested in Iowa fields stealing Pioneer inbred corn plants by their roots. The Johnston campus is under physical security with cameras, guards, and perimeter fencing due to the germplasm library's value as trade secret IP. Source: Corteva Agriscience 2024 Annual Report; https://www.corteva.com/our-impact/innovation/research.html