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Beyond the Rows is a Monsanto Company blog focused on one of the world’s most important industries, agriculture. Monsanto employees write about Monsanto’s business, the agriculture industry, and the farmer.avatar Monsantoco Posts

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About Glynn Young

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Glynn Young leads Monsanto’s Online Strategy & Communications team, which includes www.monsanto.com, online video production and content development. He joined Monsanto in 2004 and has a passion for online communications and telling stories about Monsanto’s people. He’s a cyclist and an ardent reader, and he edits an online poetry journal (he claims to have written a poem about corn and one about tomatoes). A native of New Orleans, he received a B.A. in journalism from LSU in Baton Rouge and a Master of Liberal Arts from Washington University in St. Louis. He and his wife have two grown sons, one daughter-in-law, a great if elderly dog and a brand new grandson.
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Big Sand Mound

Big Sand Mound Will Open for Tours Featured Article

The Quad City Times has a story about Big Sand Mound, one of Iowa’s significant nature areas, opening for tours on June 16. The 510-acre preserve is owned by Mid-American Energy Company (420 acres) and Monsanto (90 acres). The two companies undertake research and restoration activities at the site.

The preserve was created in the late 1970s, and is part of a larger area called Muscatine Island. The preserve includes a sand prairie, sand dunes, wetlands and woodlands. The areas is a habitat for a number of rare and threatened species of animals and plants.

The preserve is also enrolled … Full Article »

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Originally published
May 21, 2012 by Glynn Young

tanzania agriculture

A Commitment to Help Africa Grow Featured Article

In per capita income, Tanzania is one of the world’s poorest countries. Per capita income averages $1,500 annually. Average life expectancy is 53 years.

Tanzania is also a country where agriculture is critically important to the economy, employing some 80 percent of the work force. And it may be the key to the future success of the country and its people.

Today, Monsanto’s president, chairman and CEO Hugh Grant is announcing a ten-year, $50 million commitment to in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and will seek broad partnerships with governments, other private sector companies and civil society to grow the agricultural … Full Article »

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Originally published
May 18, 2012 by Glynn Young

Chicago Council Report on Global Agricultural Development Featured Article

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, one of the oldest and most prominent international affairs organizations in the United States, publishes an annual assessment of progress by the United States in global agricultural development. The 2012 progress report cites major strides the U.S. government has made “toward putting agricultural development back at the top of its foreign assistance agenda, reversing a three-decade long downward trend in U.S. global food security activities.”

Among its key findings are:

• The U.S. government has begun to develop and implement a focused strategy for global agricultural development, “with well-defined goals and benchmarks.”
• … Full Article »

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Originally published
May 16, 2012 by Glynn Young

Grand Center map_3D

A Boost for Education and the Arts Featured Article

Today, the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) and Monsanto announced that Monsanto is giving $1 million for a community education center in Grand Center in mid-town St. Louis. According to UMSL, “Scheduled to open in late spring, the building will offer classes and programming in the city’s newest arts center and provide a new home for the studios and offices of St. Louis Public Radio|90.7 KWMU.”

My wife and I spend a lot of time in Grand Center. Decades ago, it was the place to see the latest movies, in large, rather opulent movie theaters that were so common in American … Full Article »

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Originally published
May 4, 2012 by Glynn Young

3 farmers

Earth Day 2012 Featured Article

I was there at the first Earth Day – April 22, 1970. I was a freshman at LSU in Baton Rouge, and the Student Government Association, the Student Union and other organizations planned – and pulled off – a rather surprising number of events, speakers, entertainment, workshops and how-to demonstrations. 

What I remember the most was getting sunburned. I spent the entire day on LSU’s parade ground, a large grassy area in the very center of the university. At one time, it was where the ROTC cadets marched in formation. It had become the place for large student gatherings, like … Full Article »

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Originally published
April 23, 2012 by Glynn Young

corn-banner

The Safety of Biotech Sweet Corn Featured Article

Last week, Huffington Post published an opinion piece that raised concerns about the safety of biotech sweet corn. The author was the executive director of Food & Water Watch, which has been maintaining a public relations campaign against GM food in general and biotech sweet corn in particular.

Best Food Facts, a web site sponsored by the Center for Food Integrity, has an interview with three food experts about the safety of biotech sweet corn, other issues raised in the article, and what – if any – effect GM food has on human health. The three are professors at … Full Article »

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Originally published
April 17, 2012 by Glynn Young

We Said What in Vermont? Featured Article

A number of online reports – AlterNet and Organic Consumers Association, among others – have posted articles claiming that Monsanto “has threatened to sue” the state of Vermont if a GM labeling bill is approved. Wrong.

A few facts:

We have not testified on the bill in question, nor have we made any public statements.

A legislative committee held hearings about the labeling effort and invited a number of groups to provide their input. A representative from BIO, the industry trade group, did testify before the committee, and did say that the bill raised constitutional questions that would need legal … Full Article »

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Originally published
April 6, 2012 by Glynn Young

Dr. Bryan Young of Southern Illinois University

VIDEO: Hearing from Expert in Weed Resistance Management – Dr. Bryan Young

The winter meeting season has given farmers a lot to think about and Dr. Bryan Young of Southern Illinois University is one of the people prompting thought. Recently Young and a couple of other academics helped plan a series of seminars sponsored by the Illinois Soybean Association to get farmers the latest information available. I attended the nearby seminar one of the events, the one where Young presented. This blog pulls together tweeting from the event and a video we shot with Young after the seminar was over.

Quite a bit of the day’s conversation was shared on Twitter, here … Full Article »

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Originally published
April 4, 2012 by Glynn Young

Center for Food Integrity

Center for Food Integrity Makes a Visit

On Friday, a group of us met with Charlie Arnot of the Center for Food Integrity. The center, of which Monsanto is one of numerous contributors, focuses on building trust between agriculture and consumers. And to that end, it does extensive consumer research, to learn what people expect of agriculture, what’s important to them, and what agriculture needs to do to build trust.

Charlie is the center’s CEO, and today he reviewed the consumer research completed in 2011, underscoring how shared values are more important than what the science might say (or might not say). Afterward, we asked him … Full Article »

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Originally published
April 3, 2012 by Glynn Young

commodityclassic

It’s a Classic!

Some 5,000 farmers representing corn, soybeans, wheat and sorghum are meeting in Nashville for Commodity Classic, the annual convention and trade show that provides a forum for the major commodity associations to meet and discuss policy and showcases new products and what’s coming in the agricultural pipeline.

The convention started yesterday with board meetings and open forum discussions, and gets fully underway today with seminars, speeches, forums and the trade show. The Classic’s web site provides a “schedule at a glance” that outlines the major activities planned. Headline events include a panel of the four commodity association presidents … Full Article »

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Originally published
March 1, 2012 by Glynn Young