Pennington Seed
Vice-President and General Manager: Keith Hankins
Location: Greenfield Mo., Facility
About Pennington Seed: “We are a manufacturer and packager of lawn grass seed, wild bird feed, and a manufacturer and packager of a seed-mulch product, which is a grass seed with mulch and fertilizer. Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue is our main product and what people will find in Walmarts, Lowes and Home Depots all over the country. It’s the largest single grass seed used for lawns in the United States. Pennington’s national headquarters is in Madison, Ga., where it began in 1945. Pennington is now owned by Central Garden and Pet; a publically traded company out of California. Central bought Pennington in 1999.”
What impact does Pennington have on this local community?
“We are the largest employer in Greenfield with more than 300 employees plus some seasonal workers. When we started in 1978, we had eight employees. Our annual payroll now runs about $6 million.
“We purchase about $10 million worth of seeds from local producers each year. That money goes back into the local economy.”
Seed Buying Stations: “We process about 60 million pounds of seed each year. Each harvest season we’ll set up about 30 buying stations to make it convenient for the farmers; each one with a scale, scale house, an acre of ground and a bobcat.”
What is your biggest challenge?
“The weather. A hail storm could wipe out half a year’s harvest overnight. Army worms are another hazard.”
What is something people might not know about Pennington or its products?
“We put a coating around each seed to help it grow, to help it survive. When a homeowner plants seeds, only about 20 out of 100 survive. We have no control over how they plant, so we coat the seeds and alleviate as many mistakes made in planting to give them (the seeds) a fighting chance.”
