An Update on Roundup Ready Patent Expiration
Recent articles (see here, here and here) have discussed patent expiration for Roundup Ready® soybeans. In light of these articles and ongoing interest in the subject, the timing seems right to remind readers of our post-patent plans. The last Monsanto-owned patent for Roundup Ready soybeans will expire in 2014, and the last applicable third-party patent [...]
Monsanto Agronomist Helps Farmers 140 Characters at a Time
As an agronomist, Monsanto’s Michael Marlow has to be on top of the field conditions in his territory, which includes most of Oklahoma and northern and eastern Texas. It’s in his best interest—and his customers’ best interests—to know when plant diseases are popping up, when bugs are starting to move into fields and when weather [...]
Research Is More Than Spending Time in a Lab
From the road, the Jerseyville research farm looks like any other Southwest Illinois farm: corn and soybeans dominate the landscape and a couple sheds rise above the green. Once I entered the center of the 240-acre site, I discovered how special the farm is—where nearly every row of plants receives special care. Jerseyville is one [...]
A Quick Lesson in Detasseling
If you’re a farmer or farm kid, you know what detasseling is. If you’re not, this video courtesy of reporter Mike Brooks at WICS in Springfield, Ill., gives you a good background on detasseling and why seed companies like Monsanto do it. Detasseling Corn Alive and Well – Fox 55/27 Springfield, ILL This Twitter search [...]
When It Comes to Planting, Mother Nature Holds the Cards
Monday began with a rain shower in the St. Louis area. No planting at the Jerseyville farm for the next two days, I thought. After getting settled in at work, I sent an email to the crew at the farm, asking, “Do you think you’ll get in the fields later this week?” To my surprise, [...]
Video: Excitement for Planting Spans Across Farmers and Researchers
For the 2010 crop season, Monsanto is trying something a little different with its planting and harvest reports. We thought it’d be fun, insightful and worthwhile to follow a few people through the entire year, instead of hopping around the country only at planting and harvest. We hope this approach will allow our online audiences [...]
Farmers Manage Risks during Flooding
Every nine out of 10 years, Iowa farmer Dave Sieck expects the Missouri River to stay in its banks near his farmland in Glenwood, Iowa, about 15 miles south of Council Bluffs. But lately, it’s been a rough run. This is the third year in a run some Sieck and Midwest farmers are facing the [...]
Many factors lead to better weed control for farmers
If there’s one thing I’ve learned by talking with farmers, it’s that they have a great sense and appreciation of their farm’s history. And as a result, they have an even greater sense of how the present state of farming is better than it used to be. Marvin Borg and Jeffrey Larson are two examples [...]
How the FFA has Impacted Monsanto Employees
National FFA Week is upon us, and it’s a great time to celebrate the contributions that past members have made and current students are making. At Monsanto, we have hundreds of employees who are FFA alumni. This week, I spoke with four Monsanto employees about their FFA experiences and how the organization has had a [...]
There Isn’t an Off-season in Farming
During the cold days of February, Nebraska farmer Leland Uden sometimes recalls a joke he’s heard from his non-farming friends: “I wish I could be a school teacher in the summer and a farmer in the winter.” Uden’s winter to-do list proves at least the farmer part of that joke isn’t true. A farmer’s job [...]
Understanding the Challenges Farmers Face
For a site that was constructed to study water utilization in crops in a semi-arid environment, Monsanto’s Gothenburg Water Utilization Learning Center had a bit of a small problem during its inaugural year: too much rain. In an area that typically receives 23 inches of rain per year, the site received approximately 30 inches between [...]
Farmers Produce Record Corn, Soybean Crops
Big notes of “Thanks” and “Congrats” are in order for U.S. farmers. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released its “Crop Production 2009 Summary.” This report highlights the USDA’s best estimates of what farmers produced during the 2009 crop year across several crops, including Monsanto’s core crops of corn, soybeans [...]
My Ag Education Continues – A Visit to the Grain Elevator
I’ve visited a handful of row-crop farms, talked with dozens of farmers, stood on top of a lock and dam and been to a few farm shows during my short career in agriculture. There’s a lot I still need to do, but I was able to check “visit a grain elevator” off my list. After [...]
One Farmer’s Simple Wish for Thanksgiving
Nebraska farmer Brandon Hunnicutt has a simple wish as the rest of America prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving: “Hopefully, we get to take the day off.” It’s a mid-November morning in Giltner, Neb., and Hunnicutt was harvesting corn. Typically, his father, brother, a relative and he finish harvest a couple days to a couple weeks before [...]
Meet the Bloggers: Helping Farmers Connect with Others
My goal for blogging is pretty easy: to highlight farmers’ stories and stories about agriculture. I think I bring a different perspective to this, as I didn’t grow up on a farm. As I mentioned in a previous post, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been on a farm. I [...]
Monsanto Highlights Technology at "Yields of Tomorrow" Tour
Farmers saw a series of “firsts” at the Monsanto “Yields of Tomorrow” tour at the 2009 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill., today. I had the pleasure of viewing some of the new technology first hand. Along with the rest of my tour group, I got a behind-the-scenes look at how Monsanto uses molecular information [...]
