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.avatar Monsantoco Posts

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Researchers from Monsanto's Chesterfield Village site come out to Jerseyville to observe new traits and technologies growing outside.

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 of a handful of sites where biotech traits are tested in the field. Their performance and reaction to the conditions (much more variable than in a controlled setting like a greenhouse) are monitored and tracked throughout the season.

That’s why nearly a dozen researchers from … Full Article »

Precision planting! Sean and Pat have nearly the identical form

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, the farm planned on hitting the fields. Research associate Joe Kinser replied immediately, “We caught a shower here this morning, but I think we will plant a few small fields in the 1 to 4 p.m. time frame at Jerseyville today. Let me know when … Full Article »

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 the opportunity to get an intimate look at agriculture through the eyes of our customers and our employees.

I’m happy to say that I get the honor of being a contributor to this coverage. I’ll provide reports on Monsanto’s research farms and what their experiences Full Article »