75 Facts About Monsanto

Monsanto Company was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri.

Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in the 1970s.

Monsanto was one of four groups to introduce genes into plants in 1983, and was among the first to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops in 1987.

Monsanto was one of the first companies to apply the biotechnology industry business model to agriculture, using techniques developed by biotech drug companies.

Monsanto once manufactured controversial products such as the insecticide DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, and recombinant bovine growth hormone.

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The name Monsanto was no longer used, but Monsanto's previous product brand names were maintained.

In 1901 Monsanto was founded in St Louis, Missouri, as a chemical company.

Monsanto funded the firm with his own money and capital from a soft drink distributor.

Monsanto expanded to Europe in 1919 in a partnership with Graesser's Chemical Works at Cefn Mawr, Wales.

In 1935, Monsanto bought the Swann Chemical Company in Anniston, Alabama, and thereby entered the business of producing PCBs.

Monsanto joined the NDRC, and Monsanto's Central Research Department began to conduct related research.

In 1946, Monsanto developed and marketed "All" laundry detergent, which they sold to Lever Brothers in 1957.

In 1954, Monsanto partnered with German chemical giant Bayer to form Mobay and market polyurethanes in the United States.

Monsanto began manufacturing DDT in 1944, along with some 15 other companies.

In 1977, Monsanto stopped producing PCBs; Congress banned PCB production two years later.

In 1974, Harvard University and Monsanto signed a 10-year research grant to support the cancer research of Judah Folkman, which became the largest such arrangement ever made; medical inventions arising from that research were the first for which Harvard allowed its faculty to submit patent application.

Monsanto scientists were among the first to genetically modify a plant cell, publishing their results in 1983.

In 1994, Monsanto introduced a recombinant version of bovine somatotropin, brand-named Posilac.

In 1996, Monsanto purchased Agracetus, the biotechnology company that had generated the first transgenic cotton, soybeans, peanuts and other crops, and from which Monsanto had been licensing technology since 1991.

In 1997, Monsanto divested Solutia, a company created to carry off the responsibility for Monsanto's PCB business and associated liabilities, along with some related organic chemical production.

In 1998, Monsanto purchased Cargill's international seed business, which gave it access to sales and distribution facilities in 51 countries.

In 2000: Pharmacia spun off its agro-biotech subsidiary into a new company, the "new Monsanto", focused on four key agricultural crops—soybeans, maize, wheat and cotton.

Monsanto agreed to indemnify Pharmacia against potential liabilities from judgments against Solutia.

In 2005, Monsanto acquired Emergent Genetics and its Stoneville and NexGen cotton brands.

Monsanto's goal was to obtain "a strategic cotton germplasm and traits platform".

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Also in 2005, Monsanto purchased Seminis, the California-based world leader in vegetable seed production, for $1.

Monsanto indicated that Seminis would continue with non-GM development, while not ruling out GM in the longer term.

In June 2007, Monsanto purchased Delta and Pine Land Company, a major cotton seed breeder, for $1.

In 2012, Monsanto purchased for $210 million Precision Planting Inc, a company that produced computer hardware and software designed to enable farmers to increase yield and productivity through more precise planting.

Monsanto purchased San Francisco-based Climate Corp for $930 million in 2013.

In May 2013, a worldwide protest against Monsanto corporation, called March Against Monsanto, was held in over 400 cities.

Monsanto tried to acquire Swiss agro-biotechnology rival Syngenta for US$46.

Monsanto was the only manufacturer of white phosphorus for military use in the US.

Monsanto developed a Roundup Ready genetically modified wheat but ended development in 2004 due to concerns from wheat exporters about the rejection of genetically modified wheat by foreign markets.

Monsanto broadly licensed the patent to other seed companies that include glyphosate resistance trait in their seed products.

Monsanto invented and sells genetically modified seeds that make a crystalline insecticidal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis, known as Bt.

Monsanto subsequently developed Bt maize, Bt soybean and Bt cotton.

Monsanto produces seed that has multiple genetic modifications, known as "stacked traits"—for instance, cotton that make one or more Bt proteins and is resistant to glyphosate.

In 2011 Monsanto launched the Genuity brand for its stacked-trait products.

In 2013 Monsanto launched the first transgenic drought tolerance trait in a line of corn hybrids branded DroughtGard.

In 2009, Monsanto scientists discovered insects that had developed resistance to the Bt Cotton planted in Gujarat.

In 2012 Monsanto was the world's largest supplier of non-GE vegetable seeds by value, with sales of $800M.

In October 2008, Monsanto sold this business to Eli Lilly for $300 million plus additional considerations.

Monsanto developed several strains of genetically modified wheat, including glyphosate-resistant strains, in the 1990s.

Monsanto engaged in high-profile lawsuits, as both plaintiff and defendant.

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Monsanto used the courts to enforce its patents, particularly in agricultural biotechnology, an approach similar to that of other companies in the field, such as Dupont Pioneer and Syngenta.

Monsanto became one of the most vilified large corporations in the world, over a range of issues involving its industrial and agricultural chemical products, and GM seed.

In 2005 and 2006, Monsanto attempted to enforce its patents on soymeal originating in Argentina and shipped to Spain by having Spanish customs officials seize the soymeal shipments.

The seizures were part of a larger attempt by Monsanto to put pressure on the Argentinian government to enforce Monsanto's seed patents.

In 2016 Monsanto reached an agreement with Argentina's government on soybean seed royalty payments.

Monsanto agreed to give the Argentine Seed Institute oversight over crops grown from Monsanto's Intacta genetically modified soybean seeds.

Monsanto was criticized by Chinese economist Larry Lang for controlling the Chinese soybean market, and for trying to do the same to Chinese corn and cotton.

Monsanto was one focus of protests with respect to the price and yields of Bt seed.

At about the same time, the state agriculture minister barred the company from selling Bt cotton seed, because Monsanto refused a request by the state government to provide pay about Rs 4.

In February 2011, Monsanto agreed to help with the costs of remediation, but did not accept responsibility for the pollution.

In 1969 Monsanto dumped 45 tons of PCBs into Snow Creek, a feeder for Choccolocco Creek, which supplies much of the area's drinking water, and buried millions of pounds of PCB in open-pit landfills located on hillsides above the plant and surrounding neighborhoods.

Monsanto was acknowledged at the time of the settlement to have ceased making PCBs in 1977, though State Impact of Pennsylvania reported that this did not stop PCBs from contaminating people many years later.

Monsanto was sued and settled multiple times for damaging the health of its employees or residents near its Superfund sites through pollution and poisoning.

In 2013 a Monsanto-developed transgenic cultivar of glyphosate-resistant wheat was discovered on a farm in Oregon, growing as a weed or "volunteer plant".

Monsanto faced penalties up to $1 million over potential violations of the Plant Protection Act.

Monsanto said it had destroyed all the material it held after completing trials in 2004 and it was "mystified" by its appearance.

Monsanto has faced controversy in the United States over claims that its herbicide products might be carcinogens.

Dewayne Johnson, who has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, was initially awarded $289 million in damages after a jury in San Francisco said that Monsanto had failed to adequately warn consumers of cancer risks posed by the herbicide.

In November 2018, Monsanto appealed the judgement, asking an appellate court to consider a motion for a new trial.

On March 27,2019, Monsanto was found liable in a federal court for Edwin Hardeman's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and ordered to pay $80 million in damages.

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Monsanto paid $80 million in penalties pursuant to a subsequent settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Monsanto regularly lobbied the US government with expenses reaching $8.

Monsanto Company Citizenship Fund aka Monsanto Citizenship Fund is a political action committee that donated over $10 million to various candidates from 2003 to 2013.

Critics argued that the connections between the company and the government allowed Monsanto to obtain favorable regulations at the expense of consumer safety.

Monsanto was a member of EuropaBio, the leading biotechnology trade group in Europe.

In September 2017 Monsanto lobbyists were banned from the European parliament after the Monsanto refused to attend a parliamentary hearing into allegations of regulatory interference.

Monsanto has engaged in various public relations campaigns to improve its image and public perception of some of its products.

Monsanto was a major funder of science research at Washington University in St Louis for many years.

In 2015, Monsanto gave Washington University's Institute for School Partnership a $1.

In 2009 Monsanto was chosen as Forbes magazine's company of the year.