St. Louis, Missouri
April 6, 2009
Vectran™ technology, robotic arms
and a video featuring National Football League legend Kurt
Warner aren’t the typical images that come to mind when one
thinks about agriculture. Building awareness about innovation in
agriculture is part of what
Monsanto Company has in mind when it takes its 53-foot-long
Mobile Technology Unit (MTU) on the road to educate students,
consumers, media and others about the technologies it’s
developing to help U.S. farmers double their yields by 2030 to
meet the rising global demands for food, feed and fuel.
 Today
the one-of-a-kind agricultural exhibit on wheels makes pays its
first visit to a major urban market: Washington, D.C. Area 4-H
youth and government staffers will be among those who tour
the MTU to learn about the agriculture company’s breeding and
biotechnology efforts.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to bring the MTU to
Washington, D.C., and share with USDA and government staffers
some of the cutting-edge advances in agriculture that will help
farmers produce more while at the same time conserve precious
natural resources,” said Kevin Holloway, Monsanto’s Vice
President of U.S. Commercial Strategy and Operations.
 The
tours, scheduled throughout the day today, highlight some of the
new corn, cotton and soybean technologies in Monsanto’s robust
pipeline and provide a teachable opportunity to tell about the
amazing advances under way in U.S. agriculture.
“We appreciate the interest level participants show when they
tour the MTU and welcome the chance to engage in conversation
about our new technologies and how they support our commitment
to sustainable agriculture,” Holloway said. “Many are surprised
to learn, for example, that we have an Omega-3 soybean in
development, or that we are developing seed technologies, such
as our Genuity™ SmartStax™ corn, that will enable farmers to
reduce their pesticide use.”
As a company focused solely on agriculture, Monsanto is
committed to developing new products and technologies that help
farmers be successful. The company invests about $2.6 million a
day – nearly $1 billion annually – in new product research and
development. Beginning in 2010, these innovations will be
marketed under the company’s Genuity™ brand family of traits.
To view a short, time-elapsed video showing the 18-wheeler as it
is being built, go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI1bdd6-T9w
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains
focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to
produce more from their land while conserving more of our
world's natural resources such as water and energy.
GenuityTM , SmartStax™, Vectran™ and Monsanto Imagine® and Vine
Design® are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC. |
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