November is National Adoption Month
By Connie Vivrett November is National Adoption Month, and as the mother of three adopted children (a seven-year old daughter from China and sons from Korea aged three and two), I tend to get a little emotional at times as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. I’m frequently reminded of how thankful my husband and I are [...]
Horn of Africa: Geldof, Bono and Seale
By Jeffrey Seale In the fall of 1984, while I was in college, BBC correspondent Michael Buerk did a television news report about the Ethiopian famine. A young Irish musician named Bob Geldof saw the report and decided to do something. He assembled popular British rock stars, under the name Band Aid, to record “Do [...]
VIDEO BLOG: Strategies to Insure Farmer Productivity with Corn Rootworm Control
We generally look at three components for farmers to succeed with Monsanto products – agronomics, breeding and biotechnology. We work closely with agronomists at the state level across the country and have focal regions for each crop. And we share this information in a variety of ways, including our Technology Use Guide as we provide [...]
The Buzz on Sweet Corn
By John Headrick Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about one of Monsanto’s latest technology innovations, biotech sweet corn, or what we call Seminis Performance Series™ Sweet Corn. It has the potential to create sustainable improvements in sweet corn farming through the better use of resources and less reliance on pesticides. Although this [...]
Beachell-Borlaug Scholar Applications Now Open
Since 2009, Monsanto has sponsored the Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program to develop highly educated rice and wheat plant breeders who can serve as agricultural leaders. The program is named in honor of Drs. Henry Beachell and Norman Borlaug, two of the world’s pre-eminent rice and wheat breeders. The program, administered by Texas AgriLife Research at [...]
Volunteers Are Recognized
Ten Monsanto employees and one former employee were recognized recently for caring enough about their community to spend precious time volunteering. And the recognition came from a fairly high level. The President’s Volunteer Service Award is issued by the Points of Light Institute and the Corporation for National and Community Service on behalf of the [...]
Video: Passionate About Cucumbers
Nischit Shetty is a breeder with Seminis, the Monsanto global vegetable seeds brand for open field crops. He breeds pickling and slicing cucumbers. Nischit provide insights into the various stakeholders for cucumbers – such as pickle manufacturers for whom he needs to develop vegetable products to precise specifications – as well as his commitment to continuing the important sustainable agriculture work of fighting disease in vegetables.
Video: Producing More Peppers Sustainably
Bill McCarthy, is a breeder with Seminis, the Monsanto global vegetable seeds brand for open field crops. He breeds a variety of peppers, including mini-peppers. Bill talks about the various benefits peppers offer to consumers and his commitment to helping make vegetable growers more productive by delivering sustainable products that are more robust and require fewer pesticides to thrive.
Video: Passion & Innovation Bring Benefits to Producers & Consumers
Ken Kmiecik breeds beans for Seminis, the Monsanto global vegetable seeds brand for open field crops. Ken discusses the implications of disease resistance on grower success – in providing higher agriculture yields and ensuring that vegetables look appealing to consumers – and talks about his own history of becoming involved in agriculture and how much he enjoys the constant challenges in his role with vegetables at Monsanto.
Friday Night Lights for Monsanto Sales Manager
The crowd roars for the football team running onto the field, the band gears up for the fight song as the ball soars through the end zone, and behind the scenes, coaches and volunteers such as Davy Mize, territory sales manager for Monsanto and volunteer high school football coach, have also been preparing all week [...]
Giving Back to the Troops
Recently, I received an invitation from a military-support organization to spend the day with the troops. As a member of the Navy League in the US, and the Royal British Legion Scotland and Royal British Legion in the United Kingdom, I never pass up those opportunities.
Helping Restore a Piece of St. Louis’ Past
Greenwood Cemetery was founded in 1874 by Herman Kreuger, a native German and member of St. Peter’s German Evangelical Church, to serve the African-American community of St. Louis. Situated on 31 acres, it is divided into 22 burial sections. Krueger’s descendants maintained the cemetery through the 1970s. It was sold in the 1980s, and gradually [...]
A Wee Bit of Culture in St. Louis
Close your eyes and picture Forest Park full of Scots and Americans, many wearing traditional highland attire, the sound of the bagpipes floating across the park, the clang of swords, the melody of folk music, the grunts of the athletes as they toss cabers and other heavy objects, the smell of food, the laughter of children, and the cheers of onlookers. This was the experience for the thousands of people who visited the 2011 Scottish Games.
Who are you most afraid of – Darth Vader, Ninjas or Monsanto employees?
It happens. You create images of people and places you’ve never seen or met. And with some of the things that get said about Monsanto, it wouldn’t surprise me if some people said they were more afraid of Monsanto employees than they are of Darth Vader or ninjas…
There and Back Again
Thoughts from Saltire Foundation intern Kitty, at the end of her 8-week internship at Monsanto’s global headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, on what she gained, and what she’s taking back to Scotland with her.
The Leaving of St Louis
After an eight-week internship at Monsanto’s global headquarters, Rory–an intern from Scotland’s Saltire Foundation–reflects on the life-changing experience.
Reaching Indian Farmers on Pink Bollworm Resistance
Resistance management is important in preserving the long-term value of insect-control traits in cotton. Read how a team in India engaged stakeholders and media through an open discussion about resistance data, and worked hard to ensure farmers knew the best way to manage insects on their farms.
Give a little bit…
What happens when a Scottish intern partners with Monsanto employees to volunteer with almost 1,000 kids in the St. Louis community?
Helping Grow Community
Reflections from one of Scotland’s Saltire Foundation interns at Monsanto on volunteerism by Monsanto employees and the new Grow St. Louis project.
Innovation Conserves Water in Hawaii
Water is a limited resource. According to FAO, agriculture is the world’s largest consumer of water. Between now and 2050 the world’s water supply will have to feed and create livelihoods for an additional 2.7 billion people. It is essential to identify ways to preserve this precious resource. The Monsanto team in Hawaii took this challenge to heart, and were able to conserve 11 million gallons of water annually.
We’re all in this together…
I’m the youngest of seven children. Before I was born in Ireland, my parents and six older siblings lived in Zambia for a number of years and three of them were even born there. They often talk about their time spent in Africa and my brother Ronan’s adamant claims of “Afro-Irishness” still amuse me to this day. This is perhaps one of the main reasons why I have always been intrigued by the African continent and its peoples – my family loved their time in Zambia and their stories and tales about the friends they met and the things they experienced do well to paint a pleasant picture of life there.
Producing More Vegetables in Peru
A huge challenge for today’s agriculture is producing more, using less resources. And at Monsanto, we are working hard to do our part. Our employees in Peru are an incredible example of this. The team at Monsanto’s Homefarm ICA vegetable seed production site looked at their entire site and through agronomic and production changes were able to increase vegetable yields almost 1,000 percent.
The Scottish Are Coming! The Scottish Are Coming!
One of Monsanto’s interns from Scotland’s Saltire Foundation blogs about her first eight days at Monsanto.
DEKALB’s “Big Reveal”
We usually talk about serious topics in this space. Today, we’re having a little fun. Every day for the last 5 days, DEKALB has been posting a puzzle piece on Facebook, and today it pulled all of the puzzle pieces together to reveal the secret. DEKALB has teamed up with Paul Jr. Designs of American [...]
