About “Beyond the Rows”

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.

Monsantoco Posts

Authors:

[x] close

Tag Archives: Agriculture

From Gothenburg to St. Louis: The Work of Monsanto Featured Article

The following post is by Brennan Costello currently serves as the Central Region Vice President at the National FFA Organization. He attends the University of Nebraska-Lincoln majoring in agribusiness. Costello recently visited Monsanto and is providing his perspective on that visit.

‘Man, they are sure doing a lot of work over there.’ I had this thought as I traveled down Highway 47 past construction crews working on a new Monsanto facility being built just south of my hometown of Gothenburg, Nebraska.

They were doing a lot of ‘work’ constructing the facility, but the real work that would happen at the … Full Article »

Tags: Ag education, Ag Youth, Agriculture, Brennan Costello, farm youth, FFA, Gothenburg, Monsanto, National FFA, water utilization

Originally published
June 10, 2013 by Monsantoco

What Monsanto People Do Featured Article

Develop high-yielding conventional and biotech seeds.

Develop traits and technologies to benefit agriculture, working alone and with partners.

Develop safe and effective crop protection products and systems.

Create and nurture new products and systems to help farmers grow food.

Maintain and enhance an extensive product stewardship program to ensure that the products we sell are safe and effective.

Develop innovative programs to help farmers control weeds and increase crop yields.

Provide extensive safety and technical information on Monsanto’s products.

Partner with other agricultural developers and maintain an extensive trait licensing system to assure that traits and products … Full Article »

Tags: Agriculture, Employees, Farmers, farming, Monsanto, Work

Originally published
May 26, 2013 by Monsantoco

New Report Urges US Global Food Security Focus on Science, Trade, and Business Featured Article

Today, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs is hosting the Global Food Security Symposium in Washington, D.C., “to urge US leadership in mobilizing science, increasing trade, and capitalizing on the power of business to meet future food demand.”

At the meeting, the Council has released a report, Advancing Global Food Security: The Power of Science, Trade, and Business (PDF). The report includes four broad policy recommendations and some 21 specific action steps, including:

Appoint the Vice President to lead the whole-of-government approach for food security, and, in this role, to chair a National Science Commission on Global Food Security.

… Full Article »

Tags: agricultural developmen, Agriculture, Chicago Council, food security, Global Affairs, global food, symposium

Originally published
May 21, 2013 by Monsantoco

Living Well Within the Boundaries of the Planet Featured Article

By Michael Doane
VP, Sustainable Ag Policy

Can nine billion people live well and do so within the boundaries of the planet? Those of us fortunate enough to be around in 2050 are going to find out.

I spent this past week in Montreux, Switzerland with 300 other business leaders representing 200 leading companies from nearly every continent and economic sector working on the solutions that can get us there. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) published this vision back in 2010: a future where 9 billion people are living well, within the planetary boundaries.

This is … Full Article »

Tags: Agriculture, development, Global, Sustainability, WBCSD

Originally published
April 25, 2013 by Monsantoco

The Right Policies to Feed the World while Preserving Natural Resources Featured Article

By Dr. Margaret Zeigler
Global Harvest Initiative

How can we feed the estimated nine billion people that will be on our planet by 2050, and do so in a way that preserves water, soil, air, forests, and environmental systems needed for our survival? As I wrote with Dr. Roberto Lenton on The Chicago Council’s Global Food for Thought blog, extreme weather in 2012 caused disruption for global food systems. Serious climate challenges compound the impact of our growing population and rising incomes in developing and transition countries on the global food supply.

The Global Harvest Initiative (GHI) and … Full Article »

Tags: Agriculture, Global Harvest Initiative, National Drought Mitigation Center, Sustainability, USAID, Water for Food Institute, World Resources Institute

Originally published
April 10, 2013 by Monsantoco

The Future of Food Featured Article

By Michael Doane
Sustainable Agriculture Policy

I had a cool opportunity today to think more about farming and the role it plays in the future of food when I joined a panel discussion at the International Association Culinary Professionals at their annual meeting in San Francisco. We focused on answering this question: What is the future of food?

Growing up on a working wheat and cattle farm in northwest Kansas, I never really thought about how the work was connected to food. Sure – wheat goes into bread and cattle provide milk and meat. I understood that, but my … Full Article »

Tags: Agriculture, cropland, global food, nutrition, Sustainability, Water use

Originally published
April 8, 2013 by Monsantoco

The Importance of Water – Via Latin America Featured Article

World Water Day was noted on March 22, but the importance of water for global agriculture is 365 days a year. It takes a lot of water to grow food – and agriculture consumers about 75 percent of total freshwater use.

Considerable research is underway on developing crops that use less water – or use it more efficiently. Some varieties are juts now coming on the market – the first deliveries of Monsanto’s Genuity DroughtGard hybrid corn were made in late February in Texas. (You can read about these hybrids on Monsanto.com, and a recent article also provides more … Full Article »

Tags: Agriculture, Corn, Drought, DroughtGard, Latin America, Water, water efficiency

Originally published
April 4, 2013 by Glynn Young

How Many Crayons in an Acre of Soybeans? Featured Article

What is the highest natural source of dietary fiber?

How many $100 bills can be made from a bale of cotton?

How much of the world’s corn does the United States produce?

In 1960, the average U.S. farmer fed 26 people. How many does the farmer feed today?

No, it’s not an agriculture trivia game.

Over at America’s Farmers, the “Did You Know” section has been updated with new facts, infographics and information on American agricultural production. It’s a collection of a lot of fun facts, and even a video or two.

Behind the fun facts, though, is … Full Article »

Tags: Agriculture, America's Farmers, facts, U.S.

Originally published
March 27, 2013 by Glynn Young

Smithsonian Telling the Story of American Agriculture Featured Article

As part of National Agriculture Day, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History unveiled a new web portal where the public is being encouraged to upload stories and photos about innovations in agriculture that have changed their lives. The website is part of the planning for the “American Enterprise” exhibition.

Scheduled to open in 2015, “American Enterprise” will be a multimedia experience dedicated to telling the story of business and innovation in the United States, including documenting the important role agriculture has played throughout U.S. history. Monsanto has made a $2 million donation to help support the development of the … Full Article »

Tags: Agriculture, heritage, innovation, Monsanto, Smithsonian. American History, web portal

Originally published
March 19, 2013 by Monsantoco

Pride, Humility, Courage, and the Long Haul Featured Article

Today is National Agricultural Day – the day designated to celebrate American agriculture and the abundance of food it provides.

It’s a day, too, to consider who makes that abundance of food possible.

You can’t be in agriculture for long without realizing the people are who agriculture, and the values that underpin what they do every day.

The people are the farm families, the people who, despite all the hoopla about “corporate” and “industrial” agriculture, are still responsible for most of the food production in the United States. Ninety-eight percent of farms in America are owned by families.

The values … Full Article »

Tags: Agriculture, farm families, Farmers, National Agriculture Day, values

Originally published
March 19, 2013 by Glynn Young

Beyond the Rows