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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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Tag Archives: USDA

USDA

I heard Monsanto Employees Control USDA, FDA, etc

Do you ever wonder if Monsanto people are making decisions about the future of the country through positions at the USDA, FDA or other government bodies? It’s a strange question but based on the Twitter search strings I see sometimes, it seems this is a theory a lot of people think is plausible. What’s the basis for the thought? A handful of Monsanto employees in the past couple of decades left the company and ended up working for the U.S. Government.

In no way, does Monsanto control the government. We simply seem to have a shared goal of hiring good … Full Article »

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Originally published
February 15, 2012 by Janice Person

Healthy soy and soy with sudden death syndrome, side by side

Sudden Death Syndrome Making its Mark in Soybeans

I couldn’t cut it as a farmer—for a multitude of reasons—but primarily, I couldn’t stomach the business risks involved. There are risks such as weather and disease that are completely out of your hands no matter how much forethought and planning you do.

It appears that U.S. soybean farmers are facing one such risk this year with Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), based on news reports and feedback from farmers and Monsanto sales teams. Farmers are scouting, or surveying, their fields for signs of SDS. Symptoms generally show up in July/August, but can often be mistaken for other diseases such … Full Article »

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Originally published
August 26, 2010 by Mica Veihman

Harvesting Alfalfa

Supreme Court Decision on Biotech Alfalfa – Who Wins?

The big news kicking off the week is the U.S. Supreme Court’s 7-1 ruling to reverse a lower court’s ban on Monsanto’s Roundup Ready alfalfa product. Media reports trumpeted Monsanto’s win:

Then, surprisingly, the Center for Food Safety issued a statement mid-day claiming victory. According to CFS, they are “celebrating” today the victory of a 7-1 … Full Article »

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Originally published
June 21, 2010 by Mica Veihman

Alfalfa Field

Roundup Ready Alfalfa and the Supreme Court – the End of GMOs?

Today, Roundup Ready Alfalfa gets its day before the U.S. Supreme Court. And thousands of farmers will be watching and waiting—including the 5,500 farmers who planted approximately 260,000 acres of Roundup Ready alfalfa prior to the injunction.

This is significant because it’s the first time a biotech or genetically modified crop has gone before the high court. However, this case isn’t about the safety or the benefits of Roundup Ready alfalfa. It’s about whether the ban, or injunction, that’s currently in place is appropriate.

Roundup Ready alfalfa has been tied up in the court system. The product was commercialized in … Full Article »

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Originally published
April 27, 2010 by Mica Veihman

cotton-emergence

An Official Update at the Unofficial Start of 2010 Planting

Co-authored by Janice Person and Nick Weber

The unofficial start of planting season got under way today, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its 2010 Prospective Plantings report. It’s an annual report that the agency issues each March 31 as its best estimates on what farmers may plant for corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and many other crops.

The quick highlights:

  • A record 78.1 million acres of soybeans
  • 88.8 million acres of corn (second-highest on record)
  • 53.8 million acres of wheat (lowest since 1970)
  • 10.5 million acres of cotton (15 percent higher than 2009)

According to Kansas farmer Darin … Full Article »

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Originally published
March 31, 2010 by Monsantoco

After the USDA/DOJ Workshop…

We were pleased to participate in the March 12th workshop and provide more information about our business. It was a unique opportunity to highlight the investment that Monsanto and hundreds of other seed companies are making on behalf of U.S. farmers. With dozens of trait technologies available to farmers today and fifty new traits currently under development, it’s clear that competition within the U.S. seeds industry is growing. The fight to win the farmer’s business is intense. We remain committed to investing in new products for farmers, products that present another option on farm and offer them more value … Full Article »

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Originally published
March 19, 2010 by Glynn Young

From the Farm- Farmer in Field of Corn

Online Coverage of the USDA/DOJ Workshop

Seven hundred people are expected at today’s joint USDA/DOJ workshop on “Issues of Concern to Farmers,” in Ankeny, Iowa. Event organizers are answering questions and completing last-minute preparations. There is a lot of anticipation and wonder over what today will look like.

I landed yesterday in a still wintry Des Moines and will be one of the hundreds in the audience. I will be tweeting live coverage of the panels via my Twitter account @mica_MON using the hashtag #agworkshop. You can also get twitter coverage via our corporate account @MonsantoCo.

The law bloggers at Truth on the Market have … Full Article »

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Originally published
March 12, 2010 by Mica Veihman

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 and cotton. I’ve pulled out the top 10 production states by crop and highlighted their crop stats below.… Full Article »

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Originally published
January 12, 2010 by Nick Weber

Monsanto Public Comments to DOJ Available On-line

Today, we posted on the Monsanto.com Web site, the official public comments we submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the upcoming workshops on competition in Agriculture. The DOJ and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are holding joint workshops on competition this year. The agencies have invited agribusiness to participate in these workshops and requested comments from the public. The comment period ran through the end of 2009.

You can access our comments here.

In addition to the public comments, a rebuttal to the American Antitrust Institute’s public paper, “Transgenic Seed Platforms: Competition Between a Rock and … Full Article »

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Originally published
January 5, 2010 by Mica Veihman

So Whats the Deal with Roundup Ready Sugarbeets?

Sugarbeet farmers are anxiously following every step of the litigation surrounding the deregulation of Monsanto’s GenuityTM Roundup Ready Sugarbeets technology to determine what it means for next year’s seed purchases.

Briefly for those that haven’t been following: in January 2008, the Center for Food Safety along with Organic Seed Alliance, Sierra Club and High Mowing Organic Seeds initiated legal action challenging the USDA’s deregulation of Roundup Ready sugarbeets. In September 2009, a judge ruled that the USDA would have to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Roundup Ready sugarbeets. The ruling focused on the process USDA used and … Full Article »

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Originally published
December 11, 2009 by Mica Veihman