Left to right: Terry Little, Chemistry account manager; Dion McBay, regional business director; Rod Hall, Plainview High School agriscience instructor; and Ronald Bell, Plainview High School principal.

Students in Alabama will soon be able to put their agriculture knowledge to work with new supplies, school buildings and greenhouses thanks in part to a $50,000 donation from Monsanto Company.

Last year Monsanto pledged to aid cleanup and rebuilding efforts in agricultural communities as part of the Alabama Forestry Foundation following the devastating tornadoes that swept through the state in April of 2011. The $50,000 grant will go to four schools that were victims of the tornadoes.

The Alabama schools provided with $12,500 grants each were: Bibb County Career Academy in West Blocton, Plainview High School in Rainsville, Hackleburg High School in Hackleburg, and Phil Campbell High School in Phil Campbell. Each of these schools experienced serious damage to their buildings and school supplies.

With the grant, the schools will rebuild school buildings and greenhouses they lost when tornadoes touched down. The donations will also help fund the purchase of new supplies and equipment to aid in the students’ agriculture studies.

“Agriculture is what we do in this community,” said Cindy Davis, Phil Campbell High School principal. “We are so pleased at this tremendous help.  This is a way to ensure that we can build back our greenhouse, which was completely destroyed in the tornadoes.  We are grateful and overwhelmed and so thankful to Monsanto.” 

Terry Little, Monsanto crop protection account manager for Alabama, was proud to be a part of the grants, along with Dion McBay, Monsanto regional business director for Alabama. Little and McBay presented the checks to the schools during a two-day check presentation ceremony tour and visits with students and teachers.

“I proudly call Alabama my home state, and I saw firsthand the devastation these tornadoes caused,” said McBay. “I am proud to play a role in getting these donations to area schools so students can lead the way as the next generation in American agriculture.”

“I’m so proud to be a part of these donations to local schools, and I take great joy in working for Monsanto, said Little. “The company is committed to supporting rural ag communities where our employees, farmers and their families live and work, and that’s important to me.”

Alabama’s agriculture communities were significantly impacted by the deadliest tornadoes to hit the United States since 1925. Farmers suffered loss of crops and livestock, schools lost the structures required to facilitate learning, and many citizens lost their homes. The contribution from Monsanto provides one step towards rebuilding and recovery.

An upclose look at corn earworm at work, harming a farmer's corn crop.

If you ask many corn farmers, aside from weather, pests are at the top of the list of factors that hurt their yields. Corn Earworm, Fall Armyworm, and Western Bean Cutworm can all impact yields due to destruction of corn kernels. Lucky for these corn farmers, scientists like the ones at Monsanto are working hard to develop traits and technology to combat these yield inhibitors.

This summer, Monsanto agronomists and farmers are taking a good look at our Genuity corn traits for corn and comparing how they stack up (pun intended) against insect pressure. A couple of weeks ago a Monsanto agronomist was comparing different corn varieties and technologies on one customer’s farm and discovered some great ear comparisons between Monsanto’s SmartStax and a competing corn technology. As you can see below, SmartStax had virtually no damage.

Did you know that three damaged kernels to one ear of corn means one bushel per acre of yield loss for a farmer? It is amazing how three little kernels can add up. According to the USDA, in 2009 86.5 million acres of corn were planted. If you do the math, that is the potential for a LOT of lost corn due to these pests. Take a close look at the photo in this post, there are a lot more than three damaged kernels on this ear. In fact, farmers are reporting high levels of corn earworm insect pressure this season.

Through new developments in biotechnology, Monsanto products like Genuity VT Triple Pro and Genuity SmartStax can lessen risk of pests and ear rot infections.

Farmers, what is your favorite technology benefit you get from seed?

A team of Monsanto employees traveled throughout South Africa’s corn planting areas to visit more than 400 farms, talk with farmers and determine the actual damage. Monsanto fully compensated farmers who experienced the reduction in pollination and did so before harvest. Monsanto determined that the variation in pollination resulted in an average yield reduction of around 25 percent in fields where the variable pollination occurred.

The average yield reduction was 25% in the fields affected by the pollination variation. It is not 25 % of the total corn planted of the three hybrids and certainly not 25 % of total corn plantings and most definitely not 80% as some blogs and sites are reporting.

Pollination variation is not uncommon. In this case, our seed was the primary influence, not – as has been reported – the presence of the biotech trait. In fact,our research teams confirmed that the biotechnology traits worked exactly as they should have.

In the end, all complaints were addressed and settled, and Monsanto received positive feedback on how this issue was handled (see below).

From the Digital Journal:

“And Grain-SA’s Nico Hawkins says they ‘are still support GM-technology; ‘We will support any technology which will improve production.’ He also they were ‘satisfied with Monsanto’s handling of the case,’ and said Grain-SA was ‘closely involved in the claims-adjustment methodology’ between the farmers and Monsanto.

Farmers told Rapport that Monsanto was ‘bending over backwards to try and accommodate them in solving the problem.

“It’s a very good gesture to immediately offer to compensate the farmers for losses they suffered,’ said Kobus van Coller, one of the Free State farmers who discovered that his maize cobs were practically seedless this week. “

As someone that didn’t grow up in agriculture (the closest I got was the 5 cow dairy farm up the street from my subdivision) I seldom thought about the importance of farming in my everyday life before I graduated college. Now that I work for Monsanto, I have had the opportunity to meet with farmers and I understand more about the challenging yet rewarding occupation these men and women have chosen.

National Agriculture Week (March 14-20) is an opportunity to connect to the people that are supplying the world with their food, fuel and fiber. Anyone who has ever met a farmer can tell you that they are more than willing to open up their home and their farm to anyone who is interested in learning more about agriculture. I know personally, they have talked my eager-to-learn ear off about it!

While I recommend visiting a farm soon, it is as easy as going online to learn more about ag. You can find a list of sites below that feature farming and focus on National Agriculture Week. From blogs to Facebook, Twitter to YouTube, and even a photo contest, folks in the ag industry are happy and excited to share their day to day lives with anyone. While you are visiting these sites leave a comment and thank a farmer for all that they provide for this country.

Farmers! In honor of National Agriculture Week, tell me, why are you a farmer?

National Ag Week – Farm Bureau Blog

Happy Ag Week! – AgWired

Share Your Ag Advocacy Ideas – Cause Matters Facebook Page

Online Ag Photo Contest – Westfield Insurance

Celebrating an Ag Week Anniversary – Capital Press Blog

NE Governor National Ag Week Flyaround – Nebraska Farm Bureau Facebook Page

Syngenta to Mark Ag Week – Triad Business Journal

Ways to Say Thanks: National Ag Week – Nutridense A BASF Blog

Amazing American Agriculture – Corn Commentary

It’s National Ag Week – North Carolina Dept. of Ag Blog

Time for a Party – Gate to Plate Blog by Michele Payn-Knoper

Kansas Grains

National Ag Day – South Carolina Agricultural Council

Agriculture Celebrates – Ad Mavericks

Celebrate Ag Week – Fastline Blog

Thank a Farmer – South Dakota Corn

American Agriculture: Abundant. Affordable. Amazing – Indiana Dairy

Celebrating Agriculture – Advocates for Ag

Today’s Farmer – HyMark High Spots

During the holiday season, Beyond the Rows will be taking a break from blogging to spend time with family and friends. We encourage you to do the same and come back after the first of the year.

Thank you for your readership. We all wish you a Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year!

Sincerely,

Mica, Glynn, Nick, Janice, and Kathleen

CEO Hugh Grant was chosen by Harvard Business Review as the 10th best performing CEO in the world.

The Harvard Business Review (HBR) has selected Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant as one of the world’s 50 best-performing CEOs. The list is included in the January/February 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review. Grant comes in at number 10.

From HBR:

“Today boards of directors, senior managers, and investors intensely want to know how CEOs handle the ups and downs of running businesses over an extended period. Many executive compensation plans define the ‘long term’ as a three-year horizon, but the real test of a CEO’s leadership has to be how the company does over his or her full tenure.”

Data was collected from nearly 2,000 CEOs worldwide.

Hugh was named Monsanto chairman, president and chief executive officer in 2003. Under his leadership, Monsanto has become a leading seed-and-trait provider in large-acre crops, including corn, cotton and oilseeds. We also have a thriving business in small-acre crops through our Seminis and De Ruiter vegetable seed brands. Monsanto’s biotechnology products, which include Roundup Ready soybeans, corn and cotton, Bollgard insect-protected cotton and the YieldGard family of insect-protected corn products, are widely used and favored by farmers all over the world.

Perhaps more importantly, Hugh articulated a new direction driving to the heart of our operating philosophy. Recognizing the increased demands a growing population and changing climate are placing on global agriculture, in 2008 Monsanto launched an initiative to help farmers double the amount of corn, soybean and cotton crops they produce by 2030, while using fewer precious resources including land, water and energy.

See Hugh Grant talking about Monsanto’s effort to help farmers grow yield sustainably here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWI2i-nXcME]

Under Hugh’s leadership, Monsanto has also increasingly relied on building partnerships to achieve commercial, environmental and social humanitarian goals.

By providing tools that help farmers to produce more, conserve more and improve lives, Monsanto has doubled in size during Grant’s tenure and is also on track to double gross profit between 2007 and 2012.Monsanto’s Hugh Grant Named one of the World’s Best-Performing CEOs

*To see recent speeches and presentations from Grant, please visit Monsanto’ s Executive Forum.

Back in August I wrote about more changes coming down the line.

Starting this week you will be introduced to our four full-time bloggers, Nick, Janice, Glynn and Mica. Each has a different voice and a different perspective to bring to agriculture and this blog. I am excited that they will start sharing stories from farmers, scientists, seed dealers, and so many more people.

While this blog may be coming out of Monsanto, it is focused on all of agriculture. Are you a farmer? We want to know your story. Don’t know a lot about farming? Ask us questions and we will get you the right answers. Have ideas for making the blog even better? Email us at mailto:monsanto.blog@monsanto.com

Starting next week each blogger will be writing on their specific topics and we will have a new name! Until then, meet the new bloggers and stay tuned.

The leaves are changing, it’s getting colder and the kids seem to be getting more hyper. Yes, the second best holiday (next to Christmas) for kids young and old is right around the corner. Halloween! Have you gone to the patch to pick out that perfect, round, orange jack-o-lantern yet? Did you know that breeding is the reason we have those perfect pumpkins?

A few years ago we produced a video about breeding the perfect pumpkin that I wanted to share. It is pretty interesting to hear about the different types of pumpkins and the different reasons they are bred. Did you know that a different kind of pumpkin is bred for yummy pumpkin seeds vs. the kind you carve into a scary creation? There are all kinds of characteristics that make the perfect pumpkin, and we can explain it all for you.

Last week a misleading article about Monsanto appeared in The Guardian, a UK-based newspaper. The article made many inaccurate claims about Monsanto’s water use and our presence on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. The story gained a lot of attention and sparked a heated debate in the comments section, with participants from Molokai refuting Mr. Pearce’s claims. The buzz around the article spread when The Huffington Post featured Fred Pearce’s story. Due to the inaccuracies, my colleagues in the UK office responded to the story. Below you can find the letter we sent to The Guardian and posted to our UK site.

On September 3, 2009, an article was published on the Guardian online website titled “Fred Pearce’s Greenwash: Monsanto? Sustainable? Water bully, I’d say …”

In his article Mr. Pearce made seriously inaccurate and misleading allegations about Monsanto’s crop research and production activity on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, including selectively quoting from a local news article from the island.

Although Mr. Pearce rightly pointed out that Monsanto is the largest private employer on the island, where our crop research and seed production work requires irrigation as does most of the agriculture of the island, he failed to give an accurate impression of the actual situation there.

The Molokai Irrigation System serves Hawaiian Homesteaders as well as non-Homesteaders, including Monsanto. In contrast to the impression given by Mr. Pearce, Monsanto uses approximately 25% of the total water available for irrigation, even though the company occupies some 50% of the agricultural land surface for our research and development and seed production activities there. The remaining 75% of available water is available for others who may need it.

Furthermore, due to recent dry conditions, non-Homestead users (including Monsanto) were required by the State of Hawaii to conserve water by 20%, whereas homestead users were not required to conserve. Monsanto curtailed its operations in order to meet these requirements, including discontinuance of overhead irrigation and reduction of planting. The Hawaii Department of Agriculture subsequently reported that, during fiscal year 2008-2009, non-Homesteader use of the Molokai irrigation water decreased by 32%.

To make his allegation, Mr. Pearce quoted selectively from an article in the island’s newspaper, the Molokai Dispatch, including the statement that “Non-homestead ag-users like Monsanto currently account for 84% of MIS (the island’s irrigation system) water consumption” However he omitted to mention other key facts including the fact that Monsanto reduced it’s water consumption in line with requirements, at a time when, according to the Molokai Dispatch “homestead water use increased 35% in 2007”.

Again in contrast to Mr. Pearce’s allegation, Monsanto has never “lobbied for a new aquifer to be tapped.” In fact, no “new aquifer” exists on the island of Molokai. Monsanto has, however, offered funding assistance to develop operational efficiencies and system improvements in the island’s irrigation system.

In another article, the Molokai Dispatch provides detail of some of the work Monsanto does on the island and on the Monsanto Corporate website we give further details of some of the financial support the company has provided to the community and education programs of Hawaii, including Molokai.

What is especially disappointing about Mr. Pearce’s article is that he made no attempt to contact Monsanto to validate his allegations or allow us to provide balancing facts before publishing his allegations.

He appears to have chosen to misrepresent this case study in order to cast doubt upon Monsanto’s public commitment to work, with others, to help reduce our global demand on fresh water for the production of several major world crops. As the United Nations has stated, agriculture currently uses some 70% of available fresh water.

Through the application of advanced crop breeding science, Monsanto has worked with others to develop crops, such as maize, which use significantly less water per unit of grain production. We believe that such crops will help to meet our publicly stated goals of producing more food whilst reducing demands on resources, including water, by a third by the year 2030.

After four years of successful field trials, our first drought tolerant maize crop has already been submitted for regulatory approval in the USA, and Monsanto is also working with a range of public and private sector bodies to develop water-efficient maize to help small-scale farmers in Africa.

We welcome an informed debate about improving agricultural sustainability and aim to engage in it with as much fact and as little preconception and prejudice as we can.