United States

Securities and Exchange Commission

Washington, DC 20589

SCHEDULE 14A

PROXY STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 14(a)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

(Amendment No.     )

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☒ Definitive Proxy Statement

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☐ Soliciting Material Pursuant toUnder Section240.14a-12

Neogen Corporation

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

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August 27, 201931, 2021

To Our Shareholders:

You are cordially invited to attend the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Neogen Corporation on Thursday, October 3, 2019,7, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held ata completely virtual meeting conducted via webcast. You will be able to participate in the University Club of Michigan State University, located at 3435 Forest Road, Lansing, Michigan 48910.meeting online, vote your shares electronically and submit questions during the meeting by visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/NEOG2021.

The Annual Meeting will feature a report on Neogen’s business activities, voting on the election of directors and other important proposals. We also will have product displays and product demonstrations by Company personnel. On the following pages you will find the noticeNotice of the 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and the proxy statement.Proxy Statement.

It is important that your shares are represented at the Annual Meeting, regardless of how many shares you own. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting virtually, please sign, date and return the enclosed proxy cardvote your shares as soon as possible. using one of the methods listed in the Notice or Proxy Statement. Sending a proxy card will not affect your right to vote in person if you attend the meeting.meeting virtually.

Sincerely,

John E. Adent

President & Chief Executive Officer

620 Lesher Place

Lansing, MI 48912

NOTICE OF 20192021 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS OF NEOGEN CORPORATION

ItemsYou are cordially invited to attend the Annual Meeting of Business:Shareholders of Neogen Corporation on Thursday, October 7, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be a completely virtual meeting conducted via webcast. You will be able to participate in the meeting online, vote your shares electronically and submit questions during the meeting by visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/NEOG2021.

The foregoing items of business are more fully described in the Proxy Statement accompanying this notice.

All shareholders are cordially invited to attend During the meeting. At thevirtual meeting, youwe will hearpresent a report on the Company’s business and have a chanceprovide you an opportunity to virtually meet the directors and executive officers. A copy of the 2019our 2021 Annual Report is enclosed.

Only shareholders of record at the close of business on August 6, 2019 are entitledWe appreciate your continued confidence in Neogen, and look forward to notice of, and to vote at, the meeting.

Your vote is important. Please vote your shares promptly, even if you plan to attend theparticipation in our virtual Annual Meeting. Complete, sign, date and return your proxy card to vote your shares.Any shareholder attending the Annual Meeting may vote in person even if he or she previously returned a proxy.

Steven J. Quinlan

Amy Rocklin Corporate Secretary

August 27, 201931, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Neogen Corporation

620 Lesher Place

Lansing, MI 48912

PROXY STATEMENT

ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

October 3, 20197, 2021

GENERAL INFORMATION

TheseWe are providing this notice and proxy materials are providedstatement to the shareholders of Neogen Corporation (“Neogen”, the “Company”, “we”, “us”, “our”) in connection with the solicitation of proxies by the Board of Directors of Neogen (the “Board”) of proxies to be usedfor use at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “Annual Meeting”) of Neogen Corporation (the “Company”) to be held on Thursday, October 3, 20197, 2021 at 10:00 a.m., Eastern Time, at the University Club of Michigan State University, located at 3435 Forest Road, Lansing, Michigan 48910, and at any adjournment of the meeting. The Annual Meeting will be held virtually and can be accessed online at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/NEOG2021.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, for the safety of all our shareholders, employees and community, our 2021 Annual Meeting is being held on a virtual-only basis with no physical location. Our goal for the Annual Meeting is to enable the broadest number of shareholders to participate in the meeting, while providing substantially the same access and exchange with the Board and management as an in-person meeting. We believe that we are observing best practices for virtual shareholder meetings, including providing a support line for technical assistance and addressing as many shareholder questions as time allows.

Our principal executive offices are located at 620 Lesher Place, Lansing, Michigan 48912. Our telephone number is 517-372-9200.These proxy materials arewere first being sentfurnished to shareholders on or about August 30, 2019.31, 2021.

There are threefive proposals scheduled to be voted on at the Annual Meeting:

Revocation of Proxies

Any proxy given pursuant to this solicitation may be revoked by the person giving it at any time before its exercise by the filing of a written notice of revocation with the Companyour Corporate Secretary, by delivering to theour Corporate Secretary a duly executed proxy bearing a later date, or by attending the Annual Meeting and voting in person.virtually.

Voting and Solicitation

All shares represented by a properly executed proxy will be voted unless the proxy is revoked. If a choice is specified, it will be voted in accordance with that specification. If no choice is specified, the proxy holders will

vote the shares in accordance with the recommendations of the Board, which are set forth with the discussion of each matter later in this Proxy Statement. With respect to any matter not set forth on the proxy card that properly comes before the Annual Meeting, the proxy holders named in the proxy card will vote as the Board recommends or, if the Board makes no recommendation, at the Board’sproxy holders’ discretion.

In summary, the Board recommends that you vote:

In order to vote in personsubmit a question at the Annual Meeting, you will need your 16-digit control number that is printed on the proxy card that you received in the mail. Once you have logged into the webcast at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/NEOG2021, type your question in the “ask a question” box and click “submit”. You may log in 15 minutes before the start of the Annual Meeting and submit questions online. We encourage you to submit any question that is relevant to the business of the meeting. Questions will be read and addressed during the Annual Meeting, as time permits.

We have provided a toll-free technical support “help line” that can be accessed by any shareholder who is having challenges logging into or participating in the virtual Annual Meeting. If you encounter any difficulties accessing the virtual meeting you must obtain a proxy issued in your name fromduring the street name holder.check-in or meeting time, please call the technical support line number that will be posted on the virtual Annual Meeting login page.

The vote required, including the effect of broker non-votes and abstentions for each of the matters presented for shareholder vote, is set forth below.

If you are a beneficial owner of shares held in street name, you may submit new voting instructions by contacting your brokerage firm, bank or other holder of record.

A brokernon-vote occurs when a shareholder holds his or her stock through a broker and the broker does not vote those shares. This usually occurs because the broker has not received timely voting instructions from the shareholder and the broker does not have discretionary voting power for the particular item upon which the vote is taken. Under applicable law and the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) rules and regulations, brokers have the discretion to vote on routine matters, such as the ratification of the appointment of the Company’s independent auditors. TheWe believe the other proposals may not be considered routine matters under applicable NYSE rules.

It is important that you instruct your broker how to vote shares held by you in street name using the votevoting instruction form provided by your broker. Your broker should vote your shares as you direct if you provide timely instructions on how to vote by following the informationinstructions provided to you by your broker.

A majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote, present in personattendance virtually or by proxy, shall constitute a quorum at the Annual meeting.Meeting. A plurality of the votes cast is required to elect directors to the Board. This means that the nominees who receive the most votes will be elected to the open Board positions. In counting votes on the election of the Board, abstentions, brokernon-votes and other shares not voted will be counted as not cast.

The proposals to approve the amendment to the Company’s restated articles of incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares, the establishment of the Neogen Corporation 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, the compensation of the Company’sour named executive officers and to ratify the appointment of BDO USA, LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm for the 20202022 fiscal year will be approved if a majority of the votes cast at the meeting are voted in favor of such proposal. Abstentions, brokernon-votes and other shares not voted will be counted as not cast.

As to the election of directors to the Board, the three Class III nominees who receive the greatest number of votes will be elected to a three yearthree-year term. In accordance with the Company’s Governance guidelines, in an uncontested election (i.e., an election where the only nominees are those recommended by the Board), any nominee for the Board who receives a greater number of votes “withheld” from his or her election than votes “for” such election (a “Majority Withheld Vote”) shall promptly tender his or her resignation to the Board for consideration in accordance with the procedures described below, following certification of the shareholder vote.

determining not tore-nominate the director in the future, or any other action the Governance Committee deems to be appropriate and in the best interests of the Company.

In considering what action to recommend with respect to the tendered resignation, the Governance Committee will take into account all factors deemed relevant by members of the Governance Committee including, without limitation, any stated reasons why shareholders “withheld” votes for election from such director, the length of service and qualifications of the director whose resignation has been tendered, the overall composition of the Board, the director’s contributions to the Company, the mix of skills and backgrounds on the Board, whether accepting the tendered resignation would cause the Company to fail to meet any applicable requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) or NasdaqNASDAQ Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”NASDAQ”), and the Company’s Governance Guidelines. The Board will act on the Governance Committee’s recommendation no later than 90 days following certification of the shareholder vote. In considering the Governance Committee’s recommendation, the Board will consider the factors and possible actions considered by the Governance Committee and such additional information, factors and possible actions as the Board believes to be relevant or appropriate. To the extent that one or more directors’ resignations are accepted by the Board, the Governance Committee will recommend to the Board whether to fill such vacancy or vacancies or to reduce the size of the Board.

PROPOSALS FOR SHAREHOLDER ACTION

PROPOSAL 1—ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

The Company’s Bylaws provide that the Company shall have at least five and no more than nine directors, with the exact number to be determined by the Board. The Board is currently comprised of nineeight directors. The directors are classified into three classes to serve for the terms set forth next to their names or until their successors have been duly qualified and elected.

Unless otherwise instructed, proxy holders will vote the proxies received by them for the election of the nominees named below. TwoEach of the three nominees for director arethis year is currently directorsa director of the Company. Jack Parnell, a director since 1993, has elected to not stand for reelection at the expiration of his term this year. John Adent, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, has been nominated as a director. If any nominee becomes unavailable for any reason, it is intended that the proxies will be voted for a substitute nominee designated by the Board. The Board has no reason to believe that the nominees named will be unable to serve if elected. Any vacancy occurring on the Board for any reason may be filled by vote of a majority of the directors then in office for the full term of the class in which the vacancy occurs.

Nominees for the Board of Directors:

John E. Adentjoined the Company as Chief Executive Officer on July 17, 2017, and was also named President on September 22, 2017. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Adent served as the Chief Executive Officer of Animal Health International, Inc., formerly known as Lextron, Inc., from 2004 to 2015, also serving as its President during that time. Animal Health International was sold to Patterson Companies, Inc. in 2015, and Mr. Adent served as the Chief Executive Officer of the $3.3 billion Animal Health Division of Patterson Animal Health from that period until his resignation on July 1, 2017. Mr. Adent began his career with management responsibilities for Ralston Purina Company, developing animal feed manufacturing and sales operations in China and the Philippines. When Ralston Purina spun off that business to Agribrands, he continued his management role in the European division in Spain and Hungary, serving as managing director of the Hungarian operations. Mr. Adent left Ralston Purina in 2004. Mr. Adent’s industry experience and leadership skills make him well qualified to serve on the Board.

Dr. William T. Boehm, Ph.D. is a retired Senior Vice President of The Kroger Co. and former Senior Economist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisors under President Carter. Dr. Boehm joined The Kroger Co. in 1981 as Director of Economic Research and held positions of increasing responsibility with that company until his retirement in 2008. During the 1990’s, he held senior executive positions in both Procurement and Logistics and was made Senior Vice President and a Corporate Officer. In 2004, Dr. Boehm was promoted to President of the Kroger Manufacturing Division. He served on the board of Greatwide Logistics, a logistics services company, from 2009-2015 and currently serves on the boards of FLM/Harvest, a strategic planning, issues management and advertising firm working exclusively with farm and food clients, and GLK Foods, a producer, processor and marketer of specialty food products, including sauerkraut. He remains active in professional associations and academia. Dr. Boehm’s wealth of experience in agriculture and virtually all aspects of the food service industry make him well qualified to serve on the Board.

James P. Tobin spent more than 31 years with Monsanto, beginning his career there in 1983 and holding leadership roles across the company, including positions in sales management, marketing, new product development, seed integration and industry affairs. His last leadership role, prior to retirement in 2014, was Vice President, Industry Affairs. Mr. Tobin has worked to advance agriculture through leadership roles in key organizations, including serving as Chairman of the American Seed Trade Association from 2005 to 2006. He has also supported youth in agriculture, focusing on leadership development through his work with the Missouri and National4-H Foundations. Mr. Tobin is a Governor for the Iowa State University Foundation, a past board member of the U.S. Grain Council, a past board member and chairman of the FarmHouse Fraternity Foundation and a member of the Farm Foundation Roundtable. He currently serves as a managing director of The Yield Lab II, a St. Louis based fund investing in agricultural startups. His knowledge of the agricultural industry and his business acumen bring significant value to the Board.

The Board of Directors recommends a vote “FOR” the above nominees.

Other current members of the Board:

James C. (Jim) Borel retired in 2016 from DuPont, where he was Executive Vice President sincefrom 2009 and a member of DuPont’sthe company’s Office of the Chief Executive, with responsibility for the agriculture and food ingredients businesses of DuPont as well as the corporate functions of Sustainability and Government Affairs. Mr. Borel has over 40 years of experience in the agriculture and food industries,industry, with extensive international experience including three assignments abroad and responsibilities extending beyond the U.S.United States for over 25 years. Mr. Borel is a member of the board of directors of Farmers Edge, JUST, Inc. and the Renewable Energy Group. He is also ona member of the board of advisors for Sajjan India, Ltd. and the boards of trustees for University of the University of Delaware the Farm

Dr. William T. Boehm, Ph.D. is a retired Senior Vice President of The Kroger Co. and former Senior Economist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisors under Presidents Carter and Reagan. Dr. Boehm joined The Kroger Co. in 1981 as Director of Economic Research and held positions of increasing responsibility with that company until his retirement in 2008. During the 1990’s, he held senior executive positions in both Procurement and Logistics and was made Senior Vice President and a Corporate Officer. In 2004, Dr. Boehm was promoted to President of the Kroger Manufacturing Division where he had responsibility for 35 food manufacturing plants and approximately 6,000 associates. He served on the board of Greatwide Logistics from 2009-2015 and currently serves on the boards of FLM Harvest, a food industry leading strategic planning, issues management and advertising firm, and GLK Foods, a producer, processor and marketer of specialty food products including sauerkraut. He remains active in professional associations and academia. Dr. Boehm’s wealth of experience in agriculture and virtually all aspects of the food service industry make him well qualified to serve on the Board.

Ralph A. Rodriguez is currently an executive-in-residence at Summit Partners, a global private equity firm based in Boston, Mass. Mr. Rodriguez works with Summit’s technology team to identify new investment opportunities within growth-stage technology companies. Prior to joining Summit in October 2019, he was a research scientist at Facebook, where he led Applied Identity and Intelligence. From 2015-2018 he was the co-founder and CTO of Confirm.io, an ID authentication company, which Facebook acquired in March 2018. Prior to Confirm.io, Mr. Rodriguez founded: Blue Hill Research, a global IT Market research firm; cybersecurity companies Delfigo Security and Invenio; and NTA, a patent, copyright and trademark licensing and research firm. He also served as a public company CTO/CIO at Brooks Automation, C-bridge Internet Solutions, and Excelon Corporation. As the longest-serving ASP Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he pioneered research on artificial intelligence, cloud, mobile, neural science and security technologies at the MIT Media Lab and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology departments. He currently serves on the Boards of Corvium and Strategic Cyber Ventures. Previously, he served as a director at the Academy of Applied Science, Veramark Technologies, and the Technology Expense Management Industry Association. Mr. Rodriguez is a U.S. Army intelligence veteran of the Persian Gulf War in 1990, a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, as well as a holder of 20 U.S. patents and international patent applications. His extensive technological knowledge and experience bring significant value to the Board.

James P. Tobin spent more than 31 years with Monsanto, beginning his career in 1983 and holding leadership roles across the company, including positions in sales management, marketing, new product development, seed integration and industry affairs. His last leadership role, prior to retirement in 2014, was Vice President, Industry Affairs. Mr. Tobin has worked to advance agriculture through leadership roles in key organizations, including serving as Chairman of the American Seed Trade Association from 2005 to 2006. He has also supported youth in agriculture, focusing on leadership development through his work with the Missouri and National 4-H Foundations. Mr. Tobin is a Governor for the Iowa State University Foundation, a past board member of the U.S. Grain Council, a past board member and chairman of the FarmHouse Fraternity Foundation and a member of the Farm Foundation Roundtable. He currently serves as a managing director of The Yield Lab II, a St Louis based fund investing in agricultural startups. His knowledge of the agricultural industry and his business acumen bring significant value to the Board.

Dr. Catherine Woteki, Ph.D. holds positions as Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University since July 2017 and Visiting Distinguished Institute Professor in the Biocomplexity Institute of the University of Virginia since April 2019. She served as Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area from 2010 to 2016. Prior to joining USDA, Dr. Woteki served as Global Director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for Mars, Incorporated, where she managed the company’s regulatory policy on matters of health, nutrition, and food safety. From 2002 to 2005, she was Dean of Agriculture and also head of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Iowa State University. Dr. Woteki served as the first Under Secretary for Food Safety at the USDA from 1997 to 2001, where she oversaw the safety of meat, poultry and egg products. Dr. Woteki is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society for Nutrition. Dr. Woteki brings experience in regulatory science and science policy to the Board.

PROPOSAL 2: 2—TO APPROVE BYNON-BINDING VOTE,AN AMENDMENT TO THE COMPENSATIONCOMPANY’s RESTATED ARTICLES OF EXECUTIVESINCORPORATION, AS AMENDED, TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF AUTHORIZED SHARES OF COMMON STOCK

The “Compensation DiscussionBoard has unanimously approved, and Analysis” section of this Proxy Statement describes, among other things,recommended that our shareholders approve, an amendment to the Company’s executive compensation policies and practices. Securities laws require that shareholders be givenRestated Articles of Incorporation, as amended (the “Articles of Incorporation”), to increase the opportunity to express their approvalnumber of the compensation of Company executives, as disclosed in this Proxy Statement. Under the legislation that requires this vote, the shareholder vote is neither binding on the Board nor the Company and may not be construed as overruling any decision made by the Board or the Company or as creating or implying any change in the fiduciary duties owed by the Board. However, the Board values the views of shareholders and intends to take the outcome of this annual shareholder advisory vote into consideration when making future executive compensation decisions.

Therefore, at the Annual Meeting, shareholders will be given the opportunity to vote, on an advisory(non-binding) basis, to approve the compensation of the named executive officers as disclosed in this Proxy Statement under “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” and the “Summary Compensation Table.” This vote proposal is commonly known as a“say-on-pay” proposal and gives shareholders the opportunity to endorse or not endorse the executive pay program. This vote is not intended to address any specific item of executive compensation, but rather the overall compensation of the named executive officers and the policies and practices described in this Proxy Statement. Shareholders are encouraged to read the full detailsauthorized shares of the Company’s executive compensation program, including the primary objectives in setting executive pay, under “Compensation Objectives,” as described in this Proxy Statement.Common Stock, $0.16 par value per share (the “Common Stock”), from 120,000,000 to 240,000,000.

In anon-binding advisory vote on the frequencyArticle III of thesay-on-pay proposal held at the Company’s 2017 Annual MeetingArticles of Shareholders, shareholders voted in favorIncorporation presently provides for an authorized capitalization of holdingthe Company of 120,000,000 shares of Common Stock with $0.16 par value per share and a series of preferred stock consisting of 100,000 shares with a $1.00 par value per share. Following the Company’s say-on-pay2-for-1 votes annually. In lightstock split, effected as a 100% stock dividend on June 4, 2021, as of the record date of August 10, 2021 there were 107,481,509 shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding, with 3,075,000 additional shares of Common Stock reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding stock options and vesting of restricted stock units, as well as additional shares available for award under the Company’s employee benefit plans; no shares of preferred stock were outstanding at that date. The Board of Directors of the Company has proposed an amendment to Article III of the Company’s Articles of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of Common Stock from 120,000,000 to 240,000,000. The approval of this result and other factors considered byproposal to amend the Board,Company’s Articles of Incorporation to increase the Board determined thatnumber of authorized shares of Common Stock requires the Company would hold advisorysay-on-pay votes on an annual basis untilaffirmative vote of the next required advisory vote on such frequency, to be held no later than 2023.holders of the majority of the outstanding shares of Common Stock as of the Record Date.

The Company evaluates the compensationBoard of its executives at least once each year to assess whether compensation policies and programs are achieving their primary objectives. Based on its most recent evaluation, the BoardDirectors believes the Company’s executive compensation programs achieve these objectives, including aligningauthorized share increase is necessary and advisable in order to maintain our financing and capital raising ability and to generally maintain our flexibility in today’s competitive and rapidly changing environment. If the interests of management with those of shareholders, and are therefore worthy of shareholder support. In determining how to vote on this proposal shareholders should consider the following:

For these reasons, the Board recommends that you vote “FOR” the adoption of the following resolution:

“RESOLVED, thatis approved by the shareholders of the Company, approve,the additional 120,000,000 shares of Common Stock so authorized will be available for issuance by the Board for stock splits (such as the most recently issued stock splits in December 2017 (4-for-3) and in June 2021 (2-for-1)) or stock dividends, potential strategic transactions, including, among other things, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, restructurings, business combinations and investments, raising additional capital, or other corporate purposes. Assurances cannot be provided that any such transactions will be consummated on an advisory basis,favorable terms or at all, that they will enhance shareholder value or that they will not adversely affect the compensationCompany’s business or the trading price of the Company’s named executive officers, as disclosedCommon Stock. Other than issuances pursuant to Item 402employee benefit plans and currently outstanding stock options and restricted stock units, the Board has no current plans to issue any of RegulationS-K, including the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, compensation tables and narrative discussion set forthshares that would be authorized by this proposal. The Company does not anticipate that it would seek authorization from the shareholders for issuance of such additional shares unless required by applicable law or regulation.

The increase in the Company’s Proxy Statement for its 2019 Annual Meetingauthorized number of Shareholders.”shares of Common Stock and the subsequent issuance of such shares could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company without further action by the shareholders. Shares of authorized and unissued Common Stock could (within the limits imposed by applicable law and stock exchange regulations) be issued in one or more transactions which would make a change in control of the Company more difficult, and therefore less likely. Any such issuance of additional stock could have the effect of diluting the earnings per share and book value per share of outstanding shares of Common Stock, and such additional shares could be used to dilute the stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of the Company. The Board is not aware of any attempt to take control of the Company and has not presented this proposal with the intention that the increase in the authorized shares of Common stock be used as a type of anti-takeover device. Any additional Common Shares, when issued, would have the same rights and preferences as the shares of Common Stock presently outstanding. There are no preemptive rights available to shareholders in connection with the issuance of any such shares.

Vote Required

The approval of this proposal to amend the Company’s Articles of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of Common Stock to 240,000,000 requires the affirmative vote of the holders, as of the Record Date, of the majority of the outstanding shares of Common Stock. Abstentions and broker non-votes, if applicable, will have the same effect as votes against this proposal.

The Board recommends that shareholders vote “FOR” the approval of the proposed amendment to our Articles of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of Common Stock to 240,000,000.

PROPOSAL 3—TO APPROVE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEOGEN CORPORATION 2021 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN

Management is seeking shareholder approval of the Neogen Corporation 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Under the plan, the Company will grant eligible employees the right to purchase Neogen Corporation common shares through payroll deductions at a price equal to 95 percent of the lesser of the fair market value of Neogen Corporation common shares on the first or last day of the offering period. If the plan is approved by shareholders, the first offering period will begin on December 1, 2021. After that, there will be consecutive six-month offering periods until July 13, 2031 or until the plan is terminated by the Board, if earlier. Rights to buy common shares will not be granted or exercised under the plan if shareholder approval of the plan is not obtained by December 1, 2021.

The purpose of the plan is to encourage employee stock ownership by offering employees rights to purchase Neogen Corporation common shares at discounted prices and without payment of brokerage costs. Management believes that the plan offers a convenient means for Neogen Corporation employees who might not otherwise own Neogen Corporation common shares to purchase and hold such an investment. Management also believes that the discounted sale feature of the plan offers a meaningful incentive to participate, and that employees’ continuing economic interests as shareholders in Company performance and success should further enhance entrepreneurial spirit and contribute to the Company’s potential for growth and profitability. The Board of Directors adopted the plan on July 13, 2021 subject to shareholder approval. A copy of the plan is attached as Appendix A to this Proxy Statement. The Description of the Plan below is qualified in its entirely by reference to such plan.

As of the Record Date, the closing sale price of Neogen Corporation common shares was $42.55. As of the Record Date approximately 608 domestic and foreign employees participate in the current plan; a total of approximately 1,300 employees are eligible to participate. The plan has two components: (i) a component that is intended to be an “employee stock purchase plan” as defined in Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to domestic employees of the Company or of entities which are or are treated for tax purposes as corporate subsidiaries of the Company; and (ii) a component that need not qualify under Section 423 with respect to foreign employees (and/or domestic employees of entities which are or are treated for tax purposes as non-corporate subsidiaries of the Company). In foreign jurisdictions, local laws may mandate that the Board authorize features of the Plan that preclude qualification of the Plan under Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code. The description below applies to the Section 423 component of the Plan for qualifying domestic employees; the non-Section 423 component of the Plan for foreign employees may include provisions that differ from the description below to the extent required, in the judgment of the Company, by local law.

Vote Required

Management is seeking shareholder approval to qualify the domestic component of the plan for qualifying employees as an “employee stock purchase plan” under Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code and the related regulations. To be considered approved under Section 423, the plan must be approved by a majority of the votes cast by the holders of common shares entitled to vote on the proposal. Abstentions, withheld votes and broker non-votes will not be deemed votes cast in determining approval of this proposal and will not have the effect of a vote for or against the proposal. They will be counted in determining the number of common shares present or represented by proxy in determining whether a quorum is present at the Annual Meeting.

Description of the Plan

Shares Subject to the Plan

The plan covers 1,000,000 common shares. If any purchase right under the plan expires or terminates without having been exercised in full, the underlying common shares that were not purchased are again available under the plan unless the plan has been terminated. To prevent dilution or enlargement of the rights of participants under the plan, appropriate adjustments will be made if any change is made to outstanding common

shares by reason of any stock dividend, stock split, combination of shares, exchange of shares, change in corporate structure, merger, reorganization, recapitalization, dividend in property other than cash, large non-recurring cash dividend, liquidating dividend or other change in common shares where no consideration is received. Shares are automatically acquired by participants as of the last day of the applicable purchase period, unless the participant’s employment has terminated or there are insufficient shares available under the plan.

Plan Participants

All full-time employees of Neogen Corporation and its designated subsidiaries, are eligible to participate in the plan unless after the grant of purchase rights under the plan, the employee would own, directly or by attribution, stock, purchase rights or options to purchase stock representing three percent or more of the total combined voting power or value of all outstanding classes of stock.

Participation in the plan is voluntary and is dependent upon each eligible employee’s election to participate and his or her determination as to the desired level of participation, subject to the plan’s limits. Eligible employees become participants in the plan by authorizing payroll deductions for that purpose no later than ten calendar days after the beginning of an offering period. Participation is effective for payrolls after the beginning of the applicable offering period. Newly-hired or re-hired employees may become participants in the plan by authorizing payroll deductions within 180 days after their date of hire. Participants cannot be granted purchase rights which exceed $25,000, based on the fair market value of the stock (at the time of grant), for each calendar year in which such purchase rights are outstanding. All employees who participate in the plan shall have the same rights and privileges under the plan except for differences mandated by local law.

Payroll Deductions

Participants may purchase shares generally only by means of payroll deduction ranging from 1 to 10 percent of the participant’s total compensation during the offering period. Total compensation means, in general, wages, salaries, variable compensation and other amounts received from Neogen Corporation or its subsidiaries for personal services rendered to the Company or its subsidiaries as an employee, including commissions, bonuses and salary or bonus reduction contributions to plans under Section 401(k) or Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code. After initial enrollment in the plan, payroll deductions will continue from offering period to offering period and cannot be changed or withdrawn unless the participant elects a different contribution percentage, elects to terminate his or her payroll deductions or becomes ineligible to participate in the plan, or the Company determines it is necessary to change or terminate such participation in order to comply with the requirements of the plan or Code Section 423. The amounts deducted will be credited to the participant’s account under the plan, but no separate account to hold such amounts will be established and no interest on the deducted amounts will be paid. Deducted amounts may be commingled with the Company’s general assets and may be used for general corporate purposes. The amounts will, therefore, be subject to the claims of creditors and any applicable liens on assets.

Purchase Rights and Purchases

On the first day of each offering period, the Company is deemed to grant each participant a non-transferable option to purchase, on the last day of the offering period, as many common shares as the participant can purchase with the payroll deductions credited to his or her account during that period. The option to purchase will be exercised automatically on the last day of the offering period.

If insufficient shares remain available in any offering period under the plan, the shares available will be allocated pro rata among the participants in that offering period in proportion to the relative amounts in their accounts, subject to rounding to allocate only whole common shares. Any amounts not applied to the purchase of common shares will be refunded to the participants after the end of the offering period without interest.

Withdrawal

A participant may withdraw from the plan (i.e., terminate his or her payroll deductions) by providing notice to the Plan Administrator at any time prior to 10 business days before the end of the current offering period. The participant may elect to stop his or her future payroll deductions under the plan and use the amounts already credited to the participant’s account under the plan to purchase whole common shares at the end of the offering period or may elect to continue his or her participation in the plan through the end of the current offering period but terminate his or her participation for subsequent offering periods. A participant who withdraws from the plan will not be eligible to rejoin the plan for the offering period underway at the time of withdrawal, and will have to re-enroll in the plan should such individual wish to resume participation in a subsequent offering period. Withdrawal does not entitle a participant to a refund of sums previously collected from the participant during the offering period (except in connection with the termination of employment).

Termination of Employment

If a participant ceases to be an employee for any reason during an offering period, his or her outstanding option to purchase common shares under the plan will immediately terminate, his or her payroll deductions will immediately cease, and all amounts previously collected from the participant during the offering period will be refunded.

Administration

The plan is administered by the Board of Directors of Neogen Corporation and/or any committee (such as the Compensation Committee) of at least two directors to which our Board of Directors has delegated any of its duties under the plan. The Board determines the commencement and termination date of the offering of common shares under the plan and is authorized, among other things, to interpret the terms of the plan, establish rules for the administration of the plan and correct or reconcile any defect or inconsistency in the plan.

The Board or the committee may delegate all or part of its authority to administer the plan to the Plan Administrator, who may further delegate the routine operations of the plan. Except for fees to withdraw shares in the form of certificates and to sell shares through a broker, the costs and expenses incurred in the administration of the plan and the maintenance of accounts with the custodian of the plan will be paid by the Company.

Sale or Distribution of Common Shares Acquired Under the Plan

Participants may elect to have the plan custodian or a broker-dealer selected by the Company hold the common shares they acquire under the plan and may sell those shares as of the first business day of any fiscal quarter. Brokerage commissions in connection with such a sale will be borne by the participant. Alternatively, participants and former participants may, at their expense, withdraw the shares held for them and have certificates issued in their name as of the first business day of any fiscal quarter.

Non-Assignability

Neither payroll deductions credited to a participant’s account nor any rights to acquire common shares under the plan may be assigned, transferred, pledged or otherwise disposed of by participants other than by will or the laws of descent and distribution and rights to acquire common shares may be exercised only by a participant during the lifetime of a participant. The plan custodian will maintain accounts only in the names of the participants.

Amendment

The Board may terminate or amend the plan and any rights to acquire common shares under the plan at any time; provided, however:

Change in Control of the Company

If the Company is acquired or are otherwise involved in a change in control transaction of the kind described in the plan, the Board may without the consent of any participant:

cause the acquiring or surviving entity (or its parent company) to assume or continue participants’ purchase rights or to provide similar substitute rights.

If the Company merges with another entity and survives the merger, each participant is entitled to receive, for each share purchased upon exercise of rights to acquire common shares under the plan, the securities or property that a holder of common shares was entitled to receive upon the merger.

United States Federal Income Tax Consequences

The following is a general summary of the material United States federal income tax consequences to the Company and to participants in respect of the Internal Revenue Code Section 423 component of the plan, based on the Internal Revenue Code as currently in effect. This summary is necessarily general in nature and does not purport to be complete.

The plan is intended to be an “employee stock purchase plan” as defined in Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code. That section provides that a participant in the plan will generally realize no taxable income as a result of the grant or exercise of rights to acquire common shares under the plan. Amounts deducted from a participant’s compensation to purchase shares under the plan are taxable income to participants in the year in which the amounts would otherwise have been received.

If the shares acquired under the plan are sold by the participant more than two years after the grant of the applicable right (i.e., the beginning of the applicable offering period), the participant will recognize in the year of the sale ordinary compensation income in an amount equal to the lesser of (1) the amount by which the fair market value of the shares at the time the purchase right was granted exceeds the purchase price (i.e., the discount below fair market value as of the beginning of the applicable offering period), or (2) the amount, if any, by which the fair market value of the shares at the time of the sale exceeds the purchase price. The participant’s tax basis in the shares purchased will increase by the amount recognized as ordinary compensation income and any further gain recognized on the sale will be treated as capital gain. In general, the Company will not be entitled to a deduction for federal income tax purposes with respect to such sale.

However, if the shares acquired under the plan are sold by the participant within two years after the grant of the applicable right, the participant will recognize ordinary compensation income in the year of such sale, the amount of which will equal the lesser of (i) the excess of the fair market value of the shares on the date the shares were purchased (i.e., the end of the applicable offering period) over the purchase price for those shares, or (ii) the amount, if any, by which the fair market value of the shares at the time of sale exceeds the purchase price. The participant’s tax basis will increase by the amount recognized as compensation and any further gain realized upon the sale will be capital gain. In general, the Company will be entitled to a deduction for federal income tax purposes at the time of such a sale in an amount equal to the ordinary compensation income recognized by the participant. However, if the participant is the principal executive officer of the Company, the principal financial officer of the Company or one of the Company’s three most highly compensated employees (other than the principal executive officer or the principal financial officer) in the year of sale or in any prior year beginning after December 31, 2016, no deduction will be available to the extent the participant’s total ordinary compensation income during that year exceeds $1 million.

Existing Plan

Upon the expiration of any existing six-month offering period following approval of the 2021 Plan by shareholders, additional grants under the existing 2011 plan will be terminated and grants under the new Plan will begin. The financial provisions of the 2021 plan are the same as the 2011 Plan.

The Board of Directors recommends that shareholders vote FOR the approval of the Plan.

PROPOSAL 4: TO APPROVE, BY NON-BINDING VOTE, THE COMPENSATION OF EXECUTIVES

The “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” section of this Proxy Statement describes, among other things, the Company’s executive compensation policies and practices. Securities laws require that shareholders be given the opportunity to express their approval of the compensation of Company executives, as disclosed in this Proxy Statement, and therefore, we are providing this advisory Proposal as required by Section 14A of the Exchange Act. Under the legislation that requires this vote, the shareholder vote is neither binding on the Board nor the Company and may not be construed as overruling any decision made by the Board or the Company or as creating or implying any change in the fiduciary duties owed by the Board. However, the Board values the views of shareholders and intends to take the outcome of this annual shareholder advisory vote into consideration when making future executive compensation decisions.

Therefore, at the Annual Meeting, shareholders will be given the opportunity to vote, on an advisory (non-binding) basis, to approve the compensation of the named executive officers as disclosed in this Proxy Statement under “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” and the “Summary Compensation Table.” This vote proposal is commonly known as a “say-on-pay” proposal and gives shareholders the opportunity to endorse or not endorse the executive pay program. This vote is not intended to address any specific item of executive compensation, but rather the overall compensation of the named executive officers and the policies and practices described in this Proxy Statement. Shareholders are encouraged to read the full details of the Company’s executive compensation program, including the primary objectives in setting executive pay, under “Compensation Objectives,” as described in this Proxy Statement.

In a non-binding advisory vote on the frequency of the say-on-pay proposal held at our 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, shareholders voted in favor of holding say-on-pay votes annually. In light of this result and other factors considered by the Board, the Board determined that the Company would hold advisory say-on-pay votes on an annual basis until the next required advisory vote on such frequency, to be held no later than 2023.

The Company evaluates the compensation of its executives at least once each year to assess whether compensation policies and programs are achieving their primary objectives. Based on its most recent evaluation, the Board believes the Company’s executive compensation programs achieve these objectives, including aligning the interests of management with those of shareholders, and are therefore worthy of shareholder support. In determining how to vote on this proposal, shareholders should consider the following:

For these reasons, the Board recommends that you vote “FOR” the adoption of the following resolution:

“RESOLVED, that the shareholders of the Company approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers, as disclosed pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K, including the

Compensation Discussion and Analysis, compensation tables and narrative discussion set forth in the Company’s Proxy Statement for its 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.”

Vote Required

The proposal to approve the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast on the proposal.

PROPOSAL 3—5—RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF THE COMPANY’S INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

The Company’s Audit Committee (“Audit Committee”) has appointed BDO USA, LLP (“BDO”) to serve as the independent registered public accounting firm for the Company for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2020.2022. While not required, the Company is submitting the appointment to the shareholders for their ratification as a matter of good corporate practice. The affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast at the Annual Meeting on the proposal is required for ratification.The Board recommends that shareholders vote “FOR” ratification of the appointment of BDO as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2020.2022. If the appointment is not ratified, it will be considered as a recommendation that the Audit Committee consider the appointment of a different firm to serve as independent registered public accounting firm for the 2022 fiscal year 2020.year. Even if the appointment is ratified, the Audit Committee may select a different independent registered public accounting firm at any time if it determines that such a change would be in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.

Relationship with BDO

BDO has acted as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for sixeight years. BDO has advised that neither the firm nor any of its members or associates has any direct financial interest or any material indirect financial interest in the Company or any of its affiliates other than as auditors. Representatives of BDO are expected to be present atavailable during the Annual Meeting, with the opportunity to make a statement, if they desire to do so and are expected towill also be available to respond to appropriate questions.

The fees billed by BDO with respect to the fiscal years ended May 31, 20192021 and 20182020 are as follows:

Audit Fees include amounts billed for the annual audit of the Company’s fiscal year Consolidated Financial Statements, the audit of internal controls over financial reporting, the review of the Consolidated Financial Statements included in the FormsForm 10-Q, and consultations concerning accounting matters associated with the annual audit.audit and related expenses. Audit-Related Fees include amounts billed for general accounting consultations and services that are reasonably related to the annual audit. In connection with its review and evaluation ofnon-audit services, the Audit Committee is required to and does consider and conclude that the provision ofnon-audit services is compatible with maintaining the independence of BDO.

Under its charter, the Audit Committee mustpre-approve all audit andnon-audit services to be performed by BDO. In the event management wishes to engage BDO to performnon-audit services, a summary of the proposed engagement is prepared detailing the nature of the engagement, the reasons why BDO is the preferred provider of the services and the estimated duration and cost of the engagement. The Audit Committee reviews and evaluates recurringnon-audit services and proposed fees as the need arises at their regularly scheduled committee meetings. At subsequent meetings, the Audit Committee receives updates regarding the services actually provided and management may present additional services for approval. The Audit Committee has delegated to the Chairman or, in his absence, any other member of the Audit Committee, the authority to evaluate and approve projects and related fees of up to $10,000, if circumstances require approval between meetings of the Audit Committee. Any such approval is reported to the full Audit Committee at its next meeting.

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS, DIRECTORS AND MANAGEMENT

Principal Shareholders

The following table sets forth certain information, as of August 6, 2019,10, 2021, with respect to beneficial ownership of common stock by the only persons known by the Company to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of the Company’s common stock. On August 6, 2019,10, 2021, there were 52,378,783107,481,509 shares of the company’s stock outstanding.

Security Ownership of Directors and Executive Officers

The following table sets forth certain information about the ownership of the Company’s common stock as of August 6, 201910, 2021 held by the current directors, each nominee for director, the executive officers named in the Summary Compensation Table under “Executive Compensation” and all executive officers and directors as a group. Unless otherwise indicated and subject to applicable community property laws, each owner has sole voting and investment powers with respect to the securities listed below.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOARD AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE MATTERS

The Company is managed under the direction of its Board. The Board conducts its business through meetings of the Board and its committees. The Board held fiveseven meetings, and there were a total of 1319 committee meetings during fiscal 2019.2021. Each director attended more than 75% of the total meetings of the Board and the committees on which he or she served in fiscal 2019.2021. Directors of the Board are expected to attend the Annual Meeting of shareholders unless they have a schedule conflict or other valid reason. All of the current Board members attended the 2018virtual 2020 Annual Meeting.

Independent Directors

A director is not considered independent unless the Board determines that he or she meets the NasdaqNASDAQ independence rules and has no material relationship with the Company, either directly or indirectly, through any organization with which he or she is affiliated that has a relationship with the Company. Based on a review of the responses of the directors and nominees to questions about employment history, affiliations, family and other relationships, and on discussions with the directors and nominees, the Board has determined that each of the following currently serving directors and nominees areis independent as defined in the NasdaqNASDAQ independence rules: Dr. Boehm, Mr. Borel, Dr. Green, Mr. Papesh, Mr. Parnell, Mr. Reed,Rodriguez, Mr. Tobin, Ms. Vetter and Ms. Vetter.Dr. Woteki. Mr. Papesh, who resigned from the Board on February 28, 2021 was also independent.

Board Committees

The Board has four committees. The current membership, number of meetings held during fiscal 20192021 and the function performed by each of these committees are described below. None of the members of any of the committees is or ever has been an employee of the Company. The Board has determined that each committee member meets the independence standards for that committee within the meaning of applicable NasdaqNASDAQ and SEC regulations.

Compensation Committee—Dr. GreenMs. Vetter (Chair), Dr. Boehm, Mr. Parnell, Mr. TobinRodriguez, and Ms. VetterWoteki are currentlycurrent members of the Compensation Committee, which met one timethree times during fiscal 2019.2021. In October 2020, the responsibilities of the Stock Option Committee were absorbed by the Compensation Committee and the Stock Option Committee was eliminated. The purpose of the Compensation Committee is to assist the Board in discharging its overall responsibilities relating to executive compensation.compensation and the Company’s stock-based compensation plans. The Committee engages an independent advisor to assist it in performing this role. The Compensation Committee reviews and approves corporate goals and objectives relevant to the compensation of the Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and other executive officers prior toat the beginning of each year, evaluates current year performance in light of those goals and establishes compensation levels for the upcoming year, including salary and bonus targets. The Committee also evaluates option grants and any other equity-based awards under the terms of the 2018 Plan. Company management provides recommendations to the Compensation Committee concerning compensation, including stock options or any other equity awards, of officers.officers and also recommends equity-based awards for other employees, subject to the approval of the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee has a charter, which is available in the “Investor Relations” section ofon the Company’s website atwww.neogen.com.

Stock Option Committee—Mr. Parnell (Chair), Mr. Borel and Mr. Reed are currently members of the Stock Option Committee, which met once during fiscal 2019. The purpose of the Stock Option Committee is to assist the Board in discharging its overall responsibilities relating to the Company’s stock option plans, including the Neogen Corporation 2007 Stock Option Plan (the “2007 Plan”), which was amended in 2011, the 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”), and the 2018 Omnibus Incentive Plan, approved by shareholders in 2018. In connection with the approval of the 2018 Plan, the Stock Option Committee evaluates option grants and any other equity awards under that plan; no further awards can be made from either the 2007 Plan or the 2015 Plan. The Stock Option Committee determines the amount of grants, if any, to be made to the Chief Executive Officer. Management provides recommendations to the Stock Option Committee concerning stock option awards for other officers and employees. The Stock Option Committee has a charter, which is available in the “Investor Relations” section of the Company’s website atwww.neogen.com.

Governance Committee—Mr. PapeshTobin (Chair), Mr. Borel, Dr. Green, Mr. Parnell, Mr. Tobin and Ms. Vetter serve on the Governance Committee, which met fivesix times during fiscal 2019.2021. The Governance Committee provides a

The Governance Committee recommends to the Board criteria for selecting new directors; the enumeration of skills that would be advantageous to add to the Board; the appropriate mix of inside and outside directors; ethnicity and gender of directors; and size of the Board. The Board considers factors such as whether or not a potential candidate: (1) possesses relevant expertise; (2) brings skills and experience complementary to those of the other members of the Board; (3) has sufficient time to devote to the affairs of the Company; (4) has demonstrated excellence in his or her field; (5) has the ability to exercise sound business judgment; (6) has the commitment to rigorously represent the long-term interests of the Company’s shareholders; (7) possesses a diverse background and experience, including with respect to race, age and gender; (8) possesses high ethical standards and integrity; and (9) such other factors as the Governance Committee may consider from time to time.

The Governance Committee identifies persons qualified to become directors and, as appropriate, recommends candidates to the Board for its approval. Board composition is reviewed periodically to ensure that the Board reflects the knowledge, experience and skills required for the Board to fulfill its duties. The Governance Committee’s charter requires that the Governance Committee take diversity (including specifically both ethnicity and gender) of directors into account in performing its functions. It identifies persons qualified to become directors and, as appropriate, recommends candidates to the Board for its approval. In assembling a pool of potential candidates from which to make recommendations to the Board, the Committee endeavors to include women and minority candidates. As required by Nasdaq,NASDAQ, the SEC or such other applicable regulatory requirements, a majority of the Board is comprised of independent directors. At the direction of the Board of Directors, the Governance Committee manages the CEO selection process, and ultimately recommends one or more candidates for consideration by the Board. For further information, see the charter of the Governance Committee which is available in the “Investor Relations” section of the Company’s website atwww.neogen.com.

The Governance Committee generally relies on multiple sources for identifying and evaluating Board nominees, including referrals from the Company’s current directors and management. The Governance Committee does not solicit director nominations, but will consider recommendations by shareholders with respect to elections to be held at an Annual Meeting, so long as such recommendations are sent on a timely basis to the Corporate Secretary of the Company and are in accordance with the Company’s bylaws.by-laws. The Committee will evaluate nominees recommended by shareholders against the same criteria.

In searching for candidates to fill Board vacancies, the Governance Committee is committed to identifying the most capable candidates who have experience in the areas of expertise needed at that time and meet the criteria for nomination. The Governance Committee has in the past entertained and encouraged the candidacy of qualified women and minorities and will continue to do so.

Audit Committee—Dr. Boehm (Chair), Mr. Borel and Mr. ReedTobin are currently members of the Audit Committee, which oversees the Company’s financial reporting process on behalf of the Board. The Audit Committee meets with management and the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm throughout the year and reports the results of its activities to the Board of Directors. The Audit Committee met sixnine times during fiscal 2019.2021. Further information regarding the role of the Audit Committee is contained in its charter which is available in the “Investor Relations” section of the Company’s website atwww.neogen.comwww.neogen.com; and also see “Audit Committee Report” in this Proxy Statement. The Board has determined that all current members of the Audit Committee are “audit committee financial experts” for purposes of applicable SEC rules.

Science, Technology and Innovation Committee— Dr. Green (Chair), Mr. Rodriguez, and Ms. Woteki serve on the Science, Technology and Innovation Committee, which was formed as a new committee in fiscal 2021 to help guide the Board in overseeing the development of new products, services and business models. In discharging these responsibilities, the committee reviews and evaluates the strategic goals and objectives of the Company’s research and development programs, including the monitoring and evaluation of emerging technologies, and assists the Board with its oversight responsibility for enterprise risk management in areas affecting the Company’s research and development, including scientific ethics and conduct. Company

management met with Committee members during fiscal 2021 to collaborate on the Committee’s charter, which is available in the “Investor Relations” section on the Company’s website at www.neogen.com.

Lead Director/Chairman/Executive Sessions ofNon-Management Directors

Mr. Parnell has been designatedBorel, as Chairman of the Lead Independent Director, with responsibility for coordinatingBoard, coordinates the activities of the other independent directors. Mr. Parnelldirectors; in that role, he chairs all executive sessions of the Board.

in the performance of their duties and responsibilities. The Code of Conduct is posted on the Company’s website at www.neogen.comin the “Investor Relations” section of the Company’s website atwww.neogen.comand will be mailed or emailed to any shareholder upon request to the Corporate Secretary at 620 Lesher Place, Lansing, Michigan 48912.

Jerome L. Hagedorn, age 55, joined Neogen in April 2018 as Vice President, Food Safety Operations, and was named Vice President, North American Operations, in June 2020. In this role, Mr. Hagedorn is responsible for the manufacturing, supply chain, shipping and warehousing, facilities, production engineering and quality systems for Neogen’s Food and Animal Safety operations in North America. Prior to joining Neogen, Mr. Hagedorn spent the past eight years as Vice President of Operations at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. At Siemens, he was responsible for multiple plant operations, including diagnostic instrument manufacturing and new product introduction. Prior to joining Siemens, Mr. Hagedorn held a variety of senior level positions over a 20 year career, including Director of Manufacturing at Bayer Healthcare in Indiana, Director of Lean Manufacturing at Invensys in Ohio, and Manager of Automated Manufacturing at Siemens Electronic Components in Mexico.

Compensation Objectives

The Company’s executive compensation programs are designed to be aligned with shareholder value creation and are structured to reward individual and organizational performance and to be simple, concise and understandable. A significant percentage of each NEO’s compensation consists of variable pay.

The primary objectives of the compensation programs covering NEOs are to:

Compensation Elements

The primary compensation elements provided to NEOs are:

Other compensation elements include health and welfare benefits plans, under whichwith the NEOs receivereceiving similar benefits to those provided to all other eligible U.S.-based employees, such as medical, insurance, life insurance and disability coverage.

The Compensation Committee is provided materials by management regarding the various compensation elements of each NEO’s compensation package. The Compensation Committee makesutilizes this information, as well as inputs provided by its independent advisor, to make decisions about each compensation element in the context of each NEO’s total compensation package. The compensation of senior level employees generally incorporates variable pay elements such as bonus and stock options, although no specific formula, schedule or tier is applied in establishing compensation “mix.” Each of the compensation elements and its purpose is further described below.

Consideration of Last Year’sSay-on-Pay Vote

At the 2018 annual meeting2020 Annual Meeting of shareholders, shareholders were provided with an opportunity to cast an advisory vote on the compensation of the Company’s executive officers. Thesay-on-pay vote yielded approximately 99%98% approval of those votes cast. Notwithstanding this favorable vote, the Company continueswe continue to seek input from our shareholders to understand their views with respect to itsour approach to executive compensation, and in particular in connection with the Compensation Committee’s efforts to tie compensation to performance.

Base Salary

Base salary is intended to compensate the executive for the basic market value of the position, time in the position and the relation of that position to other positions in the Company. Each NEO’s salary and performance is reviewed annually. Factors considered in determining the level of executive base pay include the role and responsibilities of the position, performance against expectations and an individual’s job experience or unique role responsibilities.

TheBased upon the above listed fiscal 2019 resultsfactors, most of which were below internal targets and were measured against goals contained in Mr. Adent’s previously established annual objectives.objectives, the Compensation Committee determined that the Company’s fiscal 2021 performance had been strong. In arriving at the determination of Mr. Adent’s fiscal 2019annual bonus, the Committee took into further consideration that hethe year was particularly challenging, that Mr. Adent had provided strong, effective and proactive leadership during the year, particularly as it related to the Company’s performance and that heresponse to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which began in the second half of fiscal 2020 and continued throughout all of fiscal 2021. Mr. HerbertAdent also had continuedobjectives to effectively work togetherreduce the Company’s employee turnover rate, and to ensuredevelop a smooth transition in executive leadership, a process which concluded in fiscal 2019,comprehensive environmental, social, and thusgovernance (ESG) program for the Company, and had made good progress on both objectives. The Committee, after taking into account all the above, awarded Mr. Adent 35%80% of his targeted bonus opportunity.

Long-Term Incentive Compensation

The objectives of the long-term incentive portion of the compensation package are to:

The primary long-term incentive mechanism at the Company has historically been and continues to be, stock option awards, the ultimate value of which is dependent on increases in the Company’s stock price. During fiscal 2021, the Company began to award restricted stock units (“RSUs”) as an additional vehicle for long term incentive compensation for Company employees. Stock options and RSUs are granted to provide employees with a personal financial interest in the Company’s long-term success, promote retention of employees and enable the Company to compete for the services of new employees in a competitive market. The Company continues to believebelieves that stock options and RSUs are an appropriate means to accomplish long-term incentive objectives.

The stock option program isand RSU programs are designed to deliver competitive long-term awards while incurring reasonable levels of expense and shareholder dilution relative to other long-term incentive programs. It is the Company’s view that stock options and RSUs represent an appropriate use of corporate resources and are an effective method for the Company to achieve its long-term compensation element objectives.

The Company maintains threetwo equity-based long-term incentive plans that have been previously approved by shareholders—the Neogen Corporation 2007 Stock Option Plan (the “2007 Plan”), which was amended in

overall Company expense and shareholder dilution from awards. Management provides the Stock OptionCompensation Committee information on grants made in the past three years and the accumulated value of all stock option and RSU awards outstanding to each NEO.executive officer.

The table below shows the amounts of the fiscal 20192021 stock option grants to each of the NEOs.

Health and Welfare Benefits Plans: Benefits such as medical, dental, vision, life insurance and disability coverage are provided to each NEO under benefits plans that are provided to all eligible U.S.-based employees. The benefits plans are part of the overall total compensation offering and are intended to be competitive and provide health care coverage for employees and their families. The NEOs have no additional Company-paid health benefits. Similar to all other employees, NEOs have the ability to purchase supplemental life, dependent life, long-term care insurance, and accidental death and dismemberment coverage through the Company. The value of these benefits is not included in the Summary Compensation Table since they are purchased by each NEO and are made available to all U.S. employees. No form of post-retirement health care benefits is provided to any employee.

Perquisites: The values of perquisites and other personal benefits are included in the “All Other Compensation” column of the Summary Compensation Table, and consist primarily of Company matching contributions to the 401(k) planPlan and the value of Company-paidCompany paid group term life insurance.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan: Employees in the U.S. are permitted to voluntarily purchase Company stock at a 5% discount throughafter-tax payroll deductions under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) as a way to facilitate employees becoming shareholders of the Company. The ESPP purchases stockbi-annually for participants through a third-partythird party plan administrator. Mr. Adent, Mr. Herbert and Mr. Quinlan are notEach of the NEOs is currently eligible to purchase shares through the plan.

Executive andNon-Employee Director Stock Ownership Policy

The Company has a stock ownership policy in place for all corporate officers, including the NEOs, and Directors. This reflects the Company’s convictionbelief that all senior executives and Directors should have meaningful actual share ownership positions in the Company in order to reinforce the alignment of management and shareholder interests. The ownership policy was adopted by the Board in July 2007. The Compensation Committee periodically reviews the policy requirements to ensure they continue to be reasonable and competitive.

The ownership requirements are:

Stock owned includes shares owned outright, including 401(k) Plan shares, but does not include unexercised stock options.options or RSUs. As of May 31, 2019, the Chairman, the Chief Executive Officer and2021, all corporate officers,

growth for the year, operating income which was 5% less10% higher than fiscal 2018, which were each less2020, lower than targeted amounts for the year,target, and the Board’s assessment of the level of attainment of hisMr. Adent’s other fiscal 20192021 strategic goals.goals, which included Company turnover targets and progress milestones on the Company’s newly launched Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiative. The Committee also determinedacknowledged that Mr. Adent had provided strong leadership during the year and that he and Mr. HerbertCOVID-19 pandemic had continued to effectively work together to ensure a smooth transition in executive leadership, a process which concludedpresent the Company with tremendous challenges in fiscal 2019,2021, and believed that Mr. Adent’s strong and continuing proactive leadership had been effective during the year; thus awarded Mr. Adent 35%80% of his targeted bonus opportunity.opportunity for the year.

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE REPORT

The Compensation Committee of the Board has reviewed and discussed with management the Compensation Discussion and Analysis and, on the basis of such review and discussions, has recommended to the Board that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this Proxy Statement.

Submitted by:

Ronald D. Green, Ph.D. (Chairman)

Jack C. Parnell

James P. Tobin

Darci L. Vetter (Chair)

William T. Boehm

Ralph A Rodriguez

Catherine E. Woteki

Members of the Compensation Committee

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

The table sets forth information regarding all elements of the compensation paid to the Company’s NEOsnamed executive officers (principal executive officer, principal financial officer and the three other most highly compensated executive officers) (the “NEOs”) for fiscal years 2019, 20182021, 2020 and 2017.2019.

Summary Compensation Table

The following table indicates the “mix” of total direct compensation for the NEOs in fiscal 20192021 based on salary, total bonus payment and the Codification Topic 718 compensation expense of fiscal 2019 option2021 equity-based awards:

Grants of Plan-Based Awards in the 20192021 Fiscal Year

The following table sets forth additional information regarding the range of option and RSU awards granted to the NEOs in the year ended May 31, 20192021 that are disclosed in the Summary Compensation Table.

Outstanding Equity Awards at May 31, 20192021

ThisThe following table sets forth information regarding unexercised options that were held by the NEOs at May 31, 2019.2021.