An Incredible Learning Experience With Farm Bureau
For the last few years, I have had an opportunity to go to the annual meeting of the Farm Bureau. A group of us have also enjoyed being able to share the experience in real-time (thanks to Twitter) and with a bit of reflection on the AFBF meeting blog. This year, I wrote 1-2 blog [...]
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.
New Experiences, Perceptions & Lessons
Monsanto has two interns from Scotland’s Saltire Foundation spending their summer with us. The Saltire Foundation is an independent charitable organization representing a new vision for Scotland, providing invaluable opportunities through experience, learning and business networking. This is the first blog from Rory, one of the interns. Both interns will be blogging their insights on St. Louis, Monsanto, agriculture and anything else that strikes their fancy during their stay throughout the coming weeks.
Golden Tower Pepper Improves the Lives of 30,000 Chinese Growers
Hongge Cai is a 49-year-old Chinese grower who used to feed his family by working on a two-hectare parcel of land growing corn. He, his wife, and two sons barely survived on $2,000 a year. But switching to a hybrid pepper on their farm improved their lives-along with 30,000 others.
Gothenburg Learning Center Highlights Agricultural Conservation
By Sara Duncan Water limitations are constant constraints to western agricultural production. In 2008, Monsanto pledged to reduce, by one-third, soil, land, water and energy resources required to produce a unit of its corn, soybeans and cotton crops between 2000 and 2030. Using a combination of advanced breeding, biotechnology and improved farm-management practices, the company [...]
Attending the BSR Conference
I’m not quite sure how to describe the experience of being in the company of about 1,000 people from around the world who are recognized as leaders in sustainability and corporate social responsibility both in the business world and in the world of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Amazing, exciting and inspiring are words that just don’t [...]
Farmers: Environmentalists That Are Making a Difference
I spend time each day looking through online farm publications. I have a list that I follow, ranging from news aggregators to the web versions of farm magazines, and I’m usually looking for so-called “hard news.” Recently, I was looking at Indiana Prairie Farmer, and I almost passed this headline by: Five Farm Families Receive [...]
Monsanto’s Hugh Grant Named one of the World’s Best-Performing CEOs
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 [...]
Monsanto a Water Bully? Not So
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. [...]
A Peek Behind the Curtain at Monsanto
Monsanto employees see the value of accountability. We understand that food is an emotional issue. We know the deep passions and the romance we all have about our food. But we also know that there are many, many false claims about Monsanto on the Web.
Reasons Why We Do Need GM Foods: The World is Bigger Than Your House
Monsanto holds together a group of extraordinary people from all over the world who work extra time and devote their life to help make a better world for everybody, including you.
Does Going Green Always Mean Organic?
When planning a green wedding or just trying to live more sustainability there are more options that just organic products.
