Let me begin by stating that I am a Monsanto employee and proud to be. As a company, our income comes only from agriculture. If farmers don't see value in our products and make that vote with their purchases, we do not profit. We take alot of steps to ensure that we have a quality, high performing product available to get that vote.
In some respects you're right. Glyphosate resistant products do not have alot of value to the end user of the grain...directly. Where they do provide value is at the grower/farmer level. They offer a safe, effective weed management tool. Some users have abused this tool, and are finding that it is not as effective as it once was, but those that used it resposibly are still finding it quite effective. This is no different than a screwdriver. If you use you screwdriver as a chisel, a prybar, or in other methods that it was not designed for, it is not going to be as good to use as a screwdriver anymore. Glyphosate is not, and has not been positioned as a stand alone weed control solution. For many years, both Monsanto and University weed management experts have promoted the use of other residual herbicides to be used in conjunction with Roundup for a comprehensive weed resistance management program.
You've cited a source there that has been critized within the industry. A limited number of observations, and is not supported by other studies. I'm including a link to some other articles that we've put together using 3rd party data and trials that discusses several of the topics you brought up.
Do we have pending cases against farmers for improper use of our technology? Yes. Is it because of blow in pollen? NO. We do not prosecute those who truely do have GM pollen drift issues. We and every other seed company in the U.S. do protect our investment in seeds and traits. Keep in mind that it is not just the traits that are patent protected, but in some cases the genetics are PVP also. I believe in the last 2 years, the Ag college in Kansas (I don't remember if that's U of K or KSU) brought suits against a few wheat farmers for just that. We aren't expecting to be sole source of seed stock, but would like the same level of patent protection that those companies in other industries have.
Is Monsanto a big company? Yes. Are there others bigger? Yes. But I really feel that the ethics within this company are as solid as any other out there. Again, I am a PROUD employee of Monsanto, and feel that the innovation that we're bringing to the market will really help the U.S. farmer to continue to provide a safe and abundant food supply for the world, and do that at a competitive price point vs. production from other world regions.
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Today's Featured Article - Oil Bath Air Filters - by Chris Pratt. Some of us grew up thinking that an air filter was a paper thing that allowed air to pass while trapping dirt particles of a particles of a certain size. What a surprise to open up your first old tractor's air filter case and find a can that appears to be filled with the scrap metal swept from around a machine shop metal lathe. To top that off, you have a cup with oil in it ("why would you want to lubricate your carburetor?"). On closer examination (and some reading in a AC D-14 service manual), I found out that this is a pretty ingenious method of cleaning the air in the tractor's intake tract.
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