Monsanto#Legal actions and controversies

{{Further|Timeline of Monsanto}}

In 1901, Monsanto was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, as a chemical company.{{Cite news |url = http://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/biotech-firms-need-innovation-strategies/5563/ |title=Biotech Firms Need Innovation Strategies |last = Glick |first=J. Leslie |date=September 1, 2015 |work=Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News |access-date=September 29, 2015 |page = 11}}{{Open access}} The founder was John Francis Queeny, who, at age 42, was a 30‑year veteran of the nascent pharmaceutical industry.[http://www.ja.org/nested/stlouis/John_Queeny.pdf] brief bio from Junior Achievement {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206123651/http://www.ja.org/nested/stlouis/John_Queeny.pdf|date=February 6, 2009}} He funded the firm with his own money and capital from a soft drink distributor. He used for the company name the maiden name of his wife, Olga Méndez Monsanto, who was a scioness of the Monsanto family.{{harvnb|Ehrlich|1997|p=3}}

The company's first products were commodity food additives, such as the artificial sweetener saccharin, caffeine and vanillin.Erik Simani, World Resources Institute. 2001. [http://pdf.wri.org/bell/case_1-56973-475-5_full_version_a_english.pdf The Monsanto Company: Quest for Sustainability]{{rp|6}}{{cite web|title=Our history – Early years|url=http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/monsanto-history.aspx|publisher=Monsanto official website|access-date=September 27, 2013}}Marc S. Reisch for Chemical & Engineering News. January 12, 1998 [http://pubs.acs.org/cen/hotarticles/cenear/980112/coal.html From Coal Tar to Crafting a Wealth of Diversity]Robert Ancuceanu. [http://practica-farmaceutica.medica.ro/reviste_med/download/practica_farmaceutica/2011.2/PF_Nr-2_2011_Art-1.pdf Saccharin – urban myths and scientific data] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515182436/http://practica-farmaceutica.medica.ro/reviste_med/download/practica_farmaceutica/2011.2/PF_Nr-2_2011_Art-1.pdf |date=May 15, 2014 }} Practica Farmaceutică 2011 4(2):69–72{{cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=uVq_AAAAQBAJ}} |title=Sweet Stuff: An American History of Sweeteners from Sugar to Sucralose | publisher=Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press |author=Warner, Deborah Jean |year=2011 |pages=182–190 |isbn=978-1-935623-05-2}}

Monsanto expanded to Europe in 1919 in a partnership with Graesser's Chemical Works at Cefn Mawr, Wales. The venture produced vanillin, aspirin and its raw ingredient salicylic acid, and later rubber processing chemicals.

In the 1920s, Monsanto expanded into basic industrial chemicals such as sulfuric acid and PCBs. Queeny's son Edgar Monsanto Queeny took over the company in 1928.

In 1926 the company founded and incorporated a town called Monsanto in Illinois (now known as Sauget). It was formed to provide minimal regulation and low taxes for Monsanto plants at a time when local jurisdictions had most of the responsibility for environmental rules. It was renamed in honor of Leo Sauget, its first village president.{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB115984289083380869|title=Yes, in My Backyard: Tiny Sauget, Illinois, Likes Business Misfits|last=Spain|first=William|date=2006-10-03|work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=2017-12-22|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}

In 1935, Monsanto bought the Swann Chemical Company in Anniston, Alabama, and thereby entered the business of producing PCBs.{{cite web|title=Poisoned by PCBs: 'A Lack of Control'|url=http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/dirtysecrets/anniston/2.asp|website=Chemical Industry Archives|access-date=November 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210110457/http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/dirtysecrets/anniston/2.asp|archive-date=December 10, 2015}}{{cite journal |last1=Head|first1=Thomas R. III|title=PCBs—The Rise and Fall of an Industrial Miracle|journal=Natural Resources & Environment|date=Spring 2005|page=18|url=http://www.americanbar.org/tools/digitalassetabstract.html/content/dam/aba/publishing/natural_resources_environment/environ_mo_premium_nr_nre_spring05_Head.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208230006/http://www.americanbar.org/tools/digitalassetabstract.html/content/dam/aba/publishing/natural_resources_environment/environ_mo_premium_nr_nre_spring05_Head.pdf |archive-date=2015-12-08 |url-status=live|access-date=November 30, 2015}}{{cite web |last1=Montague|first1=Peter|title=How We Got Here – Part 1: The History of Chlorinated Diphenyl (PCB's)|url=http://www.hudsonwatch.net/rachels01.html|website=HudsonWatch.net}}

In 1936, Monsanto acquired Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories in Dayton, Ohio, to acquire the expertise of Charles Allen Thomas and Carroll A. Hochwalt. The acquisition became Monsanto's Central Research Department.Ralph Landau, [http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4548&page=338 "Charles Allen Thomas," Memorial Tributes], vol. 2, National Academy of Engineering{{rp|340–341}} Thomas spent the rest of his career at Monsanto, serving as President (1951–1960) and Board Chair (1960–1965). He retired in 1970.David Bird, [https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/31/obituaries/charles-thomas-ex-chairman-of-monsanto.html "Charles Thomas, Ex-Chairman of Monsanto" (obituary)], The New York Times, March 31, 1982. In 1943, Thomas was called to a meeting in Washington, D.C., with Leslie Groves, commander of the Manhattan Project, and James Conant, president of Harvard University and chairman of the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC).Dayton Daily News. September 18, 1983 [http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/building_the_bomb_in_oakw.html "Building the Bomb in Oakwood"]. They urged Thomas to become co-director of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos with Robert Oppenheimer, but Thomas was reluctant to leave Dayton and Monsanto. He joined the NDRC, and Monsanto's Central Research Department began to conduct related research.Harvey V. Moyer, ed., [http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/4367751-nEJIbm/4367751.pdf Polonium. TID-5221], Atomic Energy Commission U.S.A., July 1956{{rp|vii}} To that end, Monsanto operated the Dayton Project, and later Mound Laboratories, and assisted in the development of the first nuclear weapons.

In 1946, Monsanto developed and marketed "All" laundry detergent, which it sold to Lever Brothers in 1957.{{cite web|url=http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/unilever-lever-brothers/98749/ |title=Unilever (Lever Brothers Co.) | AdAge Encyclopedia of Advertising – Advertising Age |publisher=Adage.com |date=September 15, 2003}} In 1947, its styrene factory was destroyed in the Texas City Disaster.{{cite web| title=Fire on the Grandcamp| url=http://www.texascity-library.org/disaster/first.php| publisher=Moore Memorial Public Library| location=Texas City, TX| date=n.d.| access-date=October 21, 2015| archive-date=June 24, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624233433/http://www.texascity-library.org/disaster/first.php}} In 1949, Monsanto acquired American Viscose Corporation from Courtaulds. In 1954, Monsanto partnered with German chemical giant Bayer to form Mobay and market polyurethanes in the United States.{{cite book|last1=Wallace|first1=Cynthia Day|title=Legal control of the multinational enterprise: national regulatory techniques and the prospects for international controls|date=1982|publisher=Nijhoff|location=The Hague|isbn=978-90-247-2668-4|page=188}}

Monsanto began manufacturing DDT in 1944, along with some 15 other companies. This insecticide was used to kill malaria-transmitting mosquitoes, but it was banned in the United States in 1972 due to its harmful environmental impacts.

In 1977, Monsanto stopped producing PCBs; Congress banned PCB production two years later.[http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/pubs/about.htm Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)]. EPA.gov (June 28, 2006).

In the mid‑1960s, William Standish Knowles and his team invented a way to selectively synthesize enantiomers via asymmetric hydrogenation. This was the first method for the catalytic production of pure chiral compounds.William S. Knowles. [https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2001/knowles-lecture.pdf ASYMMETRIC HYDROGENATIONS]. Nobel Lecture, December 8, 2001 Knowles' team designed the "first industrial process to chirally synthesize an important compound"—L‑dopa, which is used to treat Parkinson's disease.{{cite journal |last=Yun |first=O. |date=November 22, 2005 |title=Profile of William S. Knowles |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=102 |pages=16913–16915 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0507546102 |pmc=1287994 |pmid=16286647 |issue=47|bibcode=2005PNAS..10216913Y |doi-access=free }} In 2001, Knowles and Ryōji Noyori won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In the mid-1960s, chemists at Monsanto developed the Monsanto process for making acetic acid, which until 2000 was the most widely used production method. In 1964, Monsanto chemists invented AstroTurf (initially ChemGrass).{{cite web|url=http://www.astroturf.com/1964/06/|title=June – 1964 – AstroTurf|access-date=June 15, 2015|archive-date=July 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714075949/http://www.astroturf.com/1964/06/}}

In the 1960s and 1970s, Monsanto was a producer of Agent Orange for United States Armed Forces operations in Vietnam, and settled out of court in a lawsuit brought by veterans in 1984."Agent Orange" entry in Encyclopedia of United States National Security, edited by Richard J. Samuel. SAGE Publications, 2005. {{ISBN|9781452265353}}{{rp|6}} In 1968, it became the first company to start mass production of (visible) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), using gallium arsenide phosphide. From 1968 to 1970, sales doubled every few months. Their products (discrete LEDs and seven-segment numeric displays) became industry standards. The primary markets then were electronic calculators, digital watches and digital clocks.{{Cite book|author=E. Fred Schubert|title=Light-Emitting Diodes|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2003|chapter=1|isbn=978-0-8194-3956-7}} Monsanto became a pioneer of optoelectronics in the 1970s.

Between 1968 and 1974, the company sponsored the PGA Tour event in Pensacola, Florida, which was renamed the Monsanto Open.

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.Patricia K. Donahoe. [http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/folkman-judah.pdf Judah Folkman: 1933–2008. A Biographical Memoir] National Academy of Sciences, 2014Harvard Medical School [http://fa.hms.harvard.edu/files/memorialminute_folkman_judah.pdf Bio at Harvard Medical School]

Monsanto scientists were among the first to genetically modify a plant cell, publishing their results in 1983. Five years later the company conducted the first field tests of genetically modified crops. Increasing involvement in agricultural biotechnology dates from the installment of Richard Mahoney as Monsanto's CEO in 1983. This involvement increased under the leadership of Robert Shapiro, appointed CEO in 1995, leading ultimately to the disposition of product lines unrelated to agriculture.

In 1985, Monsanto acquired G.D. Searle & Company, a life sciences company that focused on pharmaceuticals, agriculture and animal health. In 1993, its Searle division filed a patent application for Celebrex,[http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/ob/docs/patexclnew.cfm?Appl_No=020998&Product_No=003&table1=OB_Rx Orange Book: Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations]. accessdata.fda.gov{{Cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US5466823A/en|title=Substituted pyrazolyl benzenesulfonamides}} which in 1998 became the first selective COX‑2 inhibitor to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).{{cite web|url=http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/nda/98/20998.cfm |title=Drug Approval Package: Celebrex (Celecoxib) NDA# 20-998 |publisher=Accessdata.fda.gov}} Celebrex became a blockbuster drug and was often mentioned as a key reason for Pfizer's acquisition of Monsanto's pharmaceutical business in 2002.{{cite news|author1=Frank, Robert |author2=Hensley, Scott |name-list-style=amp |title=Pfizer to Buy Pharmacia For $60 Billion in Stock|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1026684057282753560|work=The Wall Street Journal |date=July 16, 2002}}

In 1994, Monsanto introduced a recombinant version of bovine somatotropin, brand-named Posilac.{{cite web | url = http://www.monsantodairy.com/about/general_info/index.html | title = General information – Posilac| year = 2007 | publisher = Monsanto | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080101123956/http://www.monsantodairy.com/about/general_info/index.html| archive-date = January 1, 2008}} Monsanto later sold this business to Eli Lilly and Company.

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.{{Cite press release|title = WR Grace Sells Agracetus to Monsanto for $150M|url = http://www.biotechprofiles.com/companyfiles/madisonnetwork/c81a944349224f0984a586f89719edb6.pdf|date = April 8, 1996|publisher = W. R. Grace|via = BiotechProfiles|access-date = August 11, 2012|archive-date = November 5, 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111105040555/http://biotechprofiles.com/companyfiles/madisonnetwork/c81a944349224f0984a586f89719edb6.pdf}}

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.

Monsanto first entered the maize seed business when it purchased 40% of Dekalb in 1996; it purchased the remainder of the corporation in 1998.{{cite press release |title=Justice Department Approves Monsanto's Acquisition of Dekalb Genetics Corporation |date=November 30, 1998 |url=https://www.justice.gov/atr/public/press_releases/1998/2103.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040218013852/http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/press_releases/1998/2103.htm |archive-date=February 18, 2004 |publisher=United States Department of Justice}} In 1997, the company first published an annual report citing Monsanto's Law, a biotechnological take on Moore's Law, indicating its future directions and exponential growth in the use of biotechnology. In the same year, Californian GMO company Calgene was acquired.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=25968 |title = Stocks|website = Bloomberg News}}{{cite web |url=https://money.cnn.com/1997/04/01/deals/monsanto/|title=Monsanto buys Calgene - Apr. 1, 1997 |website=money.cnn.com}} In 1998, Monsanto purchased Cargill's international seed business, which gave it access to sales and distribution facilities in 51 countries. In 2005, it finalized the purchase of Seminis Inc, a leading global vegetable and fruit seed company, for $1.4 billion.{{cite news |title=Monsanto closes $1.4 billion buy of Seminis |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/03/21/daily37.html |access-date=2018-01-06 |work=St. Louis Business Journal |date=March 23, 2005}} This made it the world's largest conventional seed company.

In 1999, Monsanto sold off NutraSweet Co. In December of the same year, Monsanto agreed to merge with Pharmacia & Upjohn, in a deal valuing the transaction at $27 billion.{{cite news |last1=Deogun |first1=Nikhil |last2=Langreth |first2=Robert |last3=Burton |first3=Thomas M. |title=Pharmacia & Upjohn, Monsanto Boards Approve $27 Billion Merger of Equals |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB945650774971796642 |access-date=2018-01-06 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=December 20, 1999}}{{Cite news |last=Barboza |first=David |date=December 20, 1999 |title=Monsanto and Pharmacia to Join, Creating a Pharmaceutical Giant |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/20/business/monsanto-and-pharmacia-to-join-creating-a-pharmaceutical-giant.html?ref=monsantocompany |access-date=2018-06-15 |work=The New York Times |language=en}} The agricultural division became a wholly owned subsidiary of the "new" Pharmacia; Monsanto's medical research division, which included products such as Celebrex.{{cite news |last1=Barboza |first1=David |title=Monsanto and Pharmacia to Join, Creating a Pharmaceutical Giant |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/20/business/monsanto-and-pharmacia-to-join-creating-a-pharmaceutical-giant.html |access-date=2018-01-06 |work=The New York Times |date=December 20, 1999}}

In 2000, Pharmacia spun off its agro-biotech subsidiary into a new company, the "new Monsanto",{{cite news |title=Monsanto Raises $700 Million in IPO |date=October 18, 2000 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-oct-18-fi-38228-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |agency=Bloomberg News}} focused on four key agricultural crops—soybeans, maize, wheat and cotton.{{cite magazine |title=Genetically modified company |url=https://www.economist.com/business/2002/08/15/genetically-modified-company |access-date=September 26, 2018 |magazine=The Economist |date=August 15, 2002}} Monsanto agreed to indemnify Pharmacia against potential liabilities from judgments against Solutia. As a result, the new Monsanto continued to be a party to numerous lawsuits over the prior Monsanto. Pharmacia was bought by Pfizer in 2003.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/15/business/pfizer-said-to-buy-large-drug-rival-in-60-billion-deal.html|title=Pfizer Said to Buy Large Drug Rival in $60 Billion Deal |last=Sorkin |first=Andrew Ross |date=2002-07-15 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2017-12-22 |language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}Staff, CNN/Money. April 16, 2003 [https://money.cnn.com/2003/04/16/news/companies/pfizer_pharma/ It's official: Pfizer buys Pharmacia ]

In 2005, Monsanto acquired Emergent Genetics and its Stoneville and NexGen cotton brands. Emergent was the third-largest U.S. cotton seed company, with about 12% of the U.S. market. Monsanto's goal was to obtain "a strategic cotton germplasm and traits platform".{{cite web |url=http://www.seedtoday.com/articles/monsanto_to_acquire_emergent_genetics__stoneville_and_nexgen_cotton_brands-25250.html |title=Monsanto to Acquire Emergent Genetics, Stoneville and NexGen Cotton Brands |publisher=Seed Today |date=February 17, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015161004/http://www.seedtoday.com/articles/monsanto_to_acquire_emergent_genetics__stoneville_and_nexgen_cotton_brands-25250.html |archive-date=October 15, 2013}}

Also in 2005, Monsanto purchased Seminis, the California-based world leader in vegetable seed production, for $1.4 billion.{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304458604577490600217020934|title=Monsanto Digs Into Seeds|publisher=The Wall Street|author=Ian Berry Journal|date=2012-06-26}} Seminis developed new vegetable varieties using advanced cross-pollination methods. Monsanto indicated that Seminis would continue with non-GM development, while not ruling out GM in the longer term.{{cite magazine |title=Lord of the seeds |url=https://www.economist.com/business/2005/01/27/lord-of-the-seeds |access-date=September 26, 2018 |magazine=The Economist |date=January 27, 2005}}

In June 2007, Monsanto purchased Delta and Pine Land Company, a major cotton seed breeder, for $1.5 billion.{{cite web | title = Monsanto Company Completes Acquisition of Delta and Pine Land Company, Seeks Approval of Related Divestitures | date = June 1, 2007 | url = http://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/524921}} As a condition for approval from the Department of Justice, Monsanto was obligated to divest its Stoneville cotton business, which it sold to Bayer, and to divest its NexGen cotton business, which it sold to Americot.{{cite web |url=http://www.hpj.com/archives/2007/jun07/jun11/Monsantoreachesagreementwit.cfm |title=Monsanto reaches agreement with Department of Justice to acqui |publisher=Hpj.com |date=June 7, 2007 |access-date=August 14, 2012 |archive-date=October 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015100816/http://www.hpj.com/archives/2007/jun07/jun11/Monsantoreachesagreementwit.cfm }} Monsanto also exited the pig-breeding business by selling Monsanto Choice Genetics to Newsham Genetics LC in November, divesting itself of "any and all swine-related patents, patent applications, and all other intellectual property".{{cite book|last=Twine|first=Richard|title=Animals As Biotechnology: Ethics, Sustainability and Critical Animal Studies |url={{Google books |plainurl=y |id=C6osZJLbJ3cC|page=108}} |publisher=Earthscan |year=2010 |pages=108– |isbn=978-1-84977-635-6}}{{rp|108}} In 2007, Monsanto and BASF announced a long-term agreement to cooperate in the research, development, and marketing of new plant biotechnology products.{{cite web |url=http://www.corporate.basf.com/de/investor/veranstaltungen/termine/070321_interview.htm?id=V00-Eq3z_CNjlbcp.*0 |title=BASF-Gruppe: Interview Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht zur Zusammenarbeit mit Monsanto |publisher=Corporate.basf.com |date=March 21, 2007 |access-date=June 2, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124043448/http://www.corporate.basf.com/de/investor/veranstaltungen/termine/070321_interview.htm?id=V00-Eq3z_CNjlbcp.*0 |archive-date=November 24, 2012 }}

In 2008, Monsanto purchased Dutch seed company De Ruiter Seeds for €546 million,{{cite news |title=De Ruiter Seeds Acquisition |date=March 31, 2008 |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/deruiter-monsanto-idINWNAS636420080331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306172450/http://in.reuters.com/article/deruiter-monsanto-idINWNAS636420080331 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |publisher=Reuters}} and sold its POSILAC bovine somatotropin brand and related business to Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly & Co, in August for $300 million plus "additional contingent consideration".{{cite web |title=Eli Lilly and Company to Acquire Monsanto's POSILAC Brand Dairy Product and Related Business |date=August 20, 2008 |url=http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=629 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603213428/http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=629 |archive-date=June 3, 2010 }}

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.Berry, Ian (May 23, 2012) [https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304707604577422162132896528 Monsanto to Buy Planting Technology Company] The Wall Street Journal, Retrieved July 16, 2014

Monsanto purchased San Francisco–based Climate Corp for $930 million in 2013.{{cite news |title=Monsanto posts deeper fourth-quarter loss, unveils acquisition |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-monsanto-results-idUSBRE9910J520131002 |publisher=Reuters |date=October 2, 2013 |author=Gillam, Carey |access-date=July 1, 2017 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924185532/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/02/us-monsanto-results-idUSBRE9910J520131002 |url-status=live }} Climate Corp makes local weather forecasts for farmers based on data modelling and historical data; if the forecasts were wrong, the farmer was compensated.Vance, Ashlee (October 2, 2013) [https://web.archive.org/web/20131004035010/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-02/monsanto-buys-climate-corporation-for-930-million-bringing-big-data-to-the-farm Monsanto's Billion-Dollar Bet Brings Big Data to the Farm] Bloomberg Business Week, Technology, Retrieved July 16, 2014

In May 2013, a worldwide protest against Monsanto corporation, called March Against Monsanto, was held in over 400 cities.Associated Press. May 25, 2013, [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/25/march-against-monsanto-gmo-protest_n_3336627.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000029&ir=Business Protesters Rally Against U.S. Seed Giant And GMO Products]. The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 25, 2013.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/science/a-race-to-save-the-orange-by-altering-its-dna.html?pagewanted=all |title=A Race to Save the Orange by Altering Its DNA |last=Harmon |first=Amy |date=2013-07-27 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2017-12-22 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} A second protest took place in May 2014.

Monsanto tried to acquire Swiss agro-biotechnology rival Syngenta for US$46.5 billion in 2015, but failed.{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2015/08/26/monsanto-drops-46-5-billion-offer-for-syngenta-stock-buyback-double-earnings-market-rout/#1b56f8803894|title=Monsanto Drops $46.5B Bid For Syngenta, Paving Way For Stock Buyback Amid Market Rout|last=Gara|first=Antoine|website=Forbes|access-date=May 23, 2016}} In that year Monsanto was the world's biggest supplier of seeds, controlling 26% of the global seed market (Du Pont was second with 21%).{{cite web |url=http://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/dow-dupont-merger-could-create-global-farm-supply-giant.htm |title=Dow-DuPont merger could create global farm supply giant |last=Jones |first=David |date=2015-12-10 |website=Farmers Weekly |language=en-GB |access-date=2016-09-07}} Monsanto was the only manufacturer of white phosphorus for military use in the US.{{cite web |url=https://www.fbo.gov/utils/view?id=aa766891fe32cf9ae7f87f3c7d3611a3|title=Department of the Army Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition |website= www.fbo.gov |language=en-US |date= January 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220080213/https://www.fbo.gov/utils/view?id=aa766891fe32cf9ae7f87f3c7d3611a3|archive-date=2016-12-20}}

In September 2016, Monsanto agreed to be acquired by Bayer for US$66 billion.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/bayers-all-cash-offer-values-monsanto-at-62-billion-1463981986|title=Bayer Makes $62 Billion Bid for Monsanto|last=Alessi|first=Christopher|date=May 23, 2016 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660|access-date=May 23, 2016}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37361556|title=Bayer confirms $66bn Monsanto takeover|date=September 14, 2016|newspaper=BBC News|access-date=June 5, 2018}} In an effort to receive regulatory clearance for the deal, Bayer announced the sale of significant portions of its current agriculture businesses, including its seed and herbicide businesses, to BASF.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/bayer-to-sell-assets-to-basf-for-7-billion-subject-to-monsanto-acquisition-1507877275|title=Bayer to Sell Assets to BASF for $7 Billion Amid Scrutiny of Monsanto Megadeal|last1=Shevlin|first1=Anthony|date=2017-10-13|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=2018-06-05|last2=Drozdiak|first2=Natalia|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-competition-bureau-asks-bayer-to-divest-some-canadian-assets-to-win/|title=Competition Bureau asks Bayer to divest some Canadian assets to win Monsanto deal approval|work=The Globe and Mail|access-date=2018-06-05}}

The deal was approved by the European Union on March 21, 2018,{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-21/bayer-clears-eu-hurdle-for-monsanto-deal-with-basf-sale-pledge|title=Bayer Clears EU Hurdle for Monsanto Deal With BASF Sale|first=Aoife|last=White|work=Bloomberg News|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|location=New York City|date=March 21, 2018|access-date=March 21, 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/8c3d51d0-6349-11e8-90c2-9563a0613e56 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/8c3d51d0-6349-11e8-90c2-9563a0613e56 |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription|title=US set to approve Bayer-Monsanto deal with divestures|website=Financial Times|date=May 29, 2018|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-06-05|last1=Dye|first1=Jessica|last2=Shubber|first2=Kadhim}}{{subscription required}} and approved in the United States on May 29, 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-29/bayer-wins-u-s-nod-for-monsanto-nearing-end-of-two-year-quest|title=Bayer Wins U.S. Approval for Monsanto After Two-Year Quest|date=2018-05-29|work=Bloomberg.com|access-date=2018-06-05|language=en}} The sale closed on June 7, 2018; Bayer announced its intent to discontinue the Monsanto name, with the combined company operating solely under the Bayer brand.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/agribusiness-and-food/bayer-to-ditch-monsanto-name-after-closing-54bn-deal-1.3519972|title=Bayer to ditch Monsanto name after closing €54bn deal|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2018-06-05|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/07/germanys-bayer-closes-monsanto-deal-plans-to-drop-us-companys-name.html|title=Germany's Bayer closes $63 billion Monsanto takeover, plans to drop US company's name|last=Daniels|first=Jeff|date=2018-06-07|work=CNBC|access-date=2018-06-19}}

Under the terms of merger, Bayer promised to maintain Monsanto's more than 9,000 U.S. jobs and add 3,000 new U.S. high-tech positions.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/bayer-monsanto-idINF9N0ZM02D|title=Bayer, Monsanto pledge U.S. R&D spending, jobs after merger|newspaper=Reuters |date=January 17, 2017|via=www.reuters.com}}

The prospective merger parties said at the time the combined agriculture business planned to spend $16 billion on research and development over the next six years and at least $8 billion on research and development in United States.{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/monsanto-shares-up-on-bayer-trump-promise-for-billions-in-u-s-investment-jobs|title = Monsanto Shares up on Bayer-Trump Promise for Billions in U.S. Investment, Jobs|website = Fox Business|date = January 13, 2017}}

Bayer would also establish its new global Seeds & Traits and North American commercial headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri.{{Cite web|url=https://www.missouripartnership.com/bayer-monsanto-complete-merger-establish-global-seeds-traits-north-american-headquarters-missouri/|title=Missouri Partnership | Economic Development | Bayer & Monsanto Complete Merger, Establish Global Seeds & Traits and North American Headquarters In Missouri|date=June 11, 2018|website=Missouri Partnership}}

The Bayer-Monsanto merger is widely considered to be one of the worst mergers in history, mostly due to the exposure to Roundup litigation.{{Cite news |last=Farrell |first=Maureen |date=2023-12-06 |title=Years After Monsanto Deal, Bayer's Roundup Bills Keep Piling Up |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/business/monsanto-bayer-roundup-lawsuit-settlements.html |access-date=2023-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206112824/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/business/monsanto-bayer-roundup-lawsuit-settlements.html |archive-date=December 6, 2023}} By 2023, Bayer's market value had declined by over 60% since its 2016 merger, leaving the company's overall worth at less than half of what it paid to acquire Monsanto.

{{See also|Glyphosate}}

Following its 1970 introduction, Monsanto's last commercially relevant United States patent on the herbicide glyphosate (brand name RoundUp) expired in 2000. Glyphosate has since been marketed by many agrochemical companies, in various solution strengths and with various adjuvants, under dozens of tradenames.Farm Chemicals International [http://www.farmchemicalsinternational.com/crop-protection-database/#//product/brief/203900 Glyphosate entry in Crop Protection Database]{{cite web |url=http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fruits/gapeach/pdf/mirror.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614082039/http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fruits/gapeach/pdf/mirror.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-14 |url-status=live |title=Mirror or Mirror on the Wall Show Me the Best Glyphosate Formulation of All |author=Mitchem W |publisher=North Carolina State University Extension |access-date=July 23, 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.weeds.iastate.edu/mgmt/2001/glyphosate%20review.htm#Glyphosate%20Products |title=ISU Weed Science Online – Glyphosate – A Review |author=Hartzler B |publisher=Iowa State University Extension |access-date=August 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518051215/http://www.weeds.iastate.edu/mgmt/2001/glyphosate%20review.htm#Glyphosate%20Products |archive-date=May 18, 2018 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.invasive.org/gist/products/handbook/14.Glyphosate.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021002518/http://www.invasive.org/gist/products/handbook/14.Glyphosate.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-21 |url-status=live |title=Glyphosate |vauthors=Tu M, Hurd C, Robison R, Randall JM |date=November 1, 2001 |work=Weed Control Methods Handbook |publisher=The Nature Conservancy}} As of 2009, glyphosate represented about 10% of Monsanto's revenue.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14904184 |title=The debate over whether Monsanto is a corporate sinner or saint |date=November 19, 2009 |magazine=The Economist |access-date=November 20, 2009}} Roundup-related products (which include genetically modified seeds) represented about half of Monsanto's gross margin.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/06/29/monsanto-potash-fertilizer-personal-finance-investing-ideas-agrium-mosaic.html |title=The Seeds Of A Monsanto Short Play |author= Cavallaro M |date=June 26, 2009 |magazine=Forbes |access-date=July 11, 2009}}

{{See also|Hybrid seed|Genetically modified crops|Genetically modified food|Genetically modified food controversies}}

As of 2015, Monsanto's line of seed products included corn, cotton, soy and vegetable seeds.

Many of Monsanto's agricultural seed products are genetically modified, such as for resistance to herbicides, including glyphosate and dicamba. Monsanto calls glyphosate-tolerant seeds Roundup Ready. Monsanto's introduction of this system (planting a glyphosate-resistant seed and then applying glyphosate once plants emerged) allowed farmers to increase yield by planting rows closer together.{{cite web |url=http://www.hpj.com/archives/roundup-ready-soybean-trait-patent-nears-expiration-in/article_8c7a83b7-2a37-5291-9204-2633eb3e4c0d.html |title=Roundup Ready soybean trait patent nears expiration in 2014 |publisher=High Plains Journal |date=August 10, 2010 |author=Latzke, Jennifer M. |access-date=March 23, 2015 |archive-date=January 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107122725/https://www.hpj.com/archives/roundup-ready-soybean-trait-patent-nears-expiration-in/article_8c7a83b7-2a37-5291-9204-2633eb3e4c0d.html |url-status=dead }} Without it, farmers had to plant rows far enough apart to allow the control of post-emergent weeds with mechanical tillage. Farmers widely adopted the technology—for example over 80% of maize (Mon 832), soybean (MON-Ø4Ø32-6), cotton, sugar beet and canola planted in the United States are glyphosate-tolerant. Monsanto developed a Roundup Ready genetically modified wheat (MON 71800) but ended development in 2004 due to concerns from wheat exporters about the rejection of genetically modified (GM) wheat by foreign markets.{{cite web|last1=Person|first1=Daniel|title=Sale could change wheat industry: WestBred's owner Monsanto looks to develop 'genetically modified' varieties|url=http://missoulian.com/business/agriculture/sale-could-change-wheat-industry-westbred-s-owner-monsanto-looks/article_1db27912-ac3b-11de-8024-001cc4c002e0.html|website=Missoulian|date=September 28, 2009|access-date=May 4, 2016}}

Two patents were critical to Monsanto's GM soybean business; one expired in 2011 and the other in 2014.Patently-O Blog, September 26, 2011. [http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2011/09/when-monsantos-patents-expire.html When Monsanto's Patents Expire] The second expiration meant that glyphosate resistant soybeans became "generic".Andrew Pollack, [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/business/18seed.html "As Patent Ends, a Seed's Use Will Survive"], The New York Times. December 17, 2009.Illinois Soybean Association [http://www.ilsoy.org/sites/default/files/documents/1105.pdf Get Ready: Post-Patent Roundup Ready 1 Era Coming] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402154825/http://www.ilsoy.org/sites/default/files/documents/1105.pdf |date=April 2, 2015 }}Monsanto Official Website [http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/Pages/roundup-ready-patent-expiration.aspx Roundup Ready Soybean Patent Expiration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122132343/http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/Pages/roundup-ready-patent-expiration.aspx |date=January 22, 2013 }}{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_05/b4165019364939.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127202826/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_05/b4165019364939.htm|archive-date=January 27, 2010|title=Monsanto Will Let Bio-Crop Patents Expire|date=January 21, 2010|work=Business Week}} The first harvest of generic glyphosate-tolerant soybeans came in 2015.Monsanto. [http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/roundup-ready-patent-expiration.aspx Roundup Ready Soybean Patent Expiration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208222145/http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/roundup-ready-patent-expiration.aspx |date=February 8, 2015 }} Monsanto broadly licensed the patent to other seed companies that include glyphosate resistance trait in their seed products.{{cite web|url=http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/seed-licensing.aspx |title=Monsanto ~ Licensing |publisher=Monsanto.com |date=November 3, 2008 }} About 150 companies have licensed the technology,[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122498255 Monsanto GMO Ignites Big Seed War]. NPR. including competitors Syngenta{{cite web|url=http://www.syngenta-us.com/legal/useragreement.html |title=User Agreement and Legal Information|publisher=Syngenta.com}} and DuPont Pioneer.{{cite web |url=https://www.pioneer.com/home/site/us/agronomy/library/template.CONTENT/guid.80D8C28A-31F7-C434-64D9-D61AAF9D661C/ |title=Agronomy Library – Pioneer Hi-Bred Agronomy Library |publisher=Pioneer.com |access-date=August 30, 2012 |archive-date=October 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017162512/https://www.pioneer.com/home/site/us/agronomy/library/template.CONTENT/guid.80D8C28A-31F7-C434-64D9-D61AAF9D661C/ }}

Monsanto invented and sells genetically modified seeds that make a crystalline insecticidal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis, known as Bt. In 1995 Monsanto's potato plants producing Bt toxin were approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, following approval by the FDA, making it the first pesticide-producing crop to be approved in the United States.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=A0YyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jOYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4631,1776980&dq=bacillus+thuringiensis+potato+1996+approved&hl= Genetically Altered Potato Ok'd For Crops]

Lawrence Journal-World, May 6, 1995. Monsanto subsequently developed Bt maize (MON 802, MON 809, MON 863, MON 810), Bt soybean{{cite web|author=Crop Biotech Update |url=http://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=6565 |title=Monsanto's Bt Roundup Ready 2 Yield Soybeans Approved for Planting in Brazil – Crop Biotech Update (8/27/2010) | ISAAA.org/KC |publisher=Isaaa.org |date=August 27, 2010}} and Bt cotton.

Monsanto produces seed that has multiple genetic modifications, also known as "stacked traits"—for instance, cotton that make one or more Bt proteins and is resistant to glyphosate. One of these, created in collaboration with Dow Chemical Company, is called SmartStax. In 2011 Monsanto launched the Genuity brand for its stacked-trait products.[http://southeastfarmpress.com/agribusiness-monsanto-unveils-genuity-branding "Agribusiness: Monsanto unveils Genuity branding"]. SE Farm News, March 2, 2009.

As of 2012, the agricultural seed lineup included Roundup Ready alfalfa, canola and sugarbeet; Bt and/or Roundup Ready cotton; sorghum hybrids; soybeans with various oil profiles, most with the Roundup Ready trait; and a wide range of wheat products, many of which incorporate the nontransgenic "clearfield" imazamox-tolerant{{cite web|url=http://agproducts.basf.us/products/clearfield-wheat.html |title=The CLEARFIELD Production System for Wheat|publisher=Agproducts.basf.us}} trait from BASF.{{cite web |url=http://www.monsanto.com/products/Pages/monsanto-agricultural-seeds.aspx |title=Monsanto ~ Agricultural Seeds |publisher=Monsanto.com |date=November 3, 2008 |access-date=August 17, 2012 |archive-date=June 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616173630/http://www.monsanto.com/products/Pages/monsanto-agricultural-seeds.aspx }}

In 2013 Monsanto launched the first transgenic drought tolerance trait in a line of corn hybrids branded DroughtGard.OECD BioTrack Database. [http://www2.oecd.org/biotech/Product.aspx?id=MON-8746%C3%98-4 MON87460] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701140407/http://www2.oecd.org/biotech/Product.aspx?id=MON-8746%C3%98-4 |date=July 1, 2017 }} The MON 87460 trait is provided by the insertion of the cspB gene from the soil microbe Bacillus subtilis; it was approved by the USDA in 2011[http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/fedregister/BRS_20111227c.pdf Federal Register], Vol. 76, No. 248, December 27, 2011. and by China in 2013.Michael Eisenstein [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v501/n7468_supp/full/501S7a.html "Plant breeding: Discovery in a dry spell"] Nature 501, S7–S9 (September 26, 2013) Published online September 25, 2013.

The "Xtend Crop System" includes seed genetically modified to be resistant to both glyphosate and dicamba, and a herbicide product including those two active ingredients.[http://www.monsanto.com/products/Pages/roundup-ready-xtend-crop-system.aspx Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402202350/http://www.monsanto.com/products/Pages/roundup-ready-xtend-crop-system.aspx |date=April 2, 2013 }} Accessed May 11, 2013 In December 2014, the system was approved for use in the US. In February 2016, China approved the Roundup Ready 2 Xtend system.{{Cite web|url=http://www.agweb.com/article/roundup-ready-2-xtend-finally-approved-by-china-naa-sonja-begemann/|title=Roundup Ready 2 Xtend Finally Approved by China|website=AgWeb – The Home Page of Agriculture|language=en-US|access-date=May 6, 2016}} The lack of European Union approval led many American traders to reject the use of Xtend soybeans over concerns that the new seeds would become mixed with EU-approved seeds, leading Europe to reject American soybean exports.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/grain-traders-rejecting-new-soybeans-developed-by-monsanto-1462217040|title=Grain Traders Rejecting New Soybeans Developed by Monsanto|last=Bunge|first=Jacob|date=2016-05-02|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660|access-date=May 6, 2016}}

In 2009, Monsanto scientists discovered insects that had developed resistance to the Bt Cotton planted in Gujarat. Monsanto communicated this to the Indian government and its customers, stating that "Resistance is natural and expected, so measures to delay resistance are important. Among the factors that may have contributed to pink bollworm resistance to the Cry1Ac protein in Bollgard I in Gujarat are limited refuge planting and early use of unapproved Bt cotton seed, planted prior to GEAC approval of Bollgard I cotton, which may have had lower protein expression levels."{{cite web|url=http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/Pages/india-pink-bollworm.aspx|title=Monsanto ~ Cotton In India|date=November 3, 2008|publisher=Monsanto.com}} The company advised farmers to switch to its second generation of Bt cotton – Bolgard II – which had two resistance genes instead of one,{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/06/stories/2010030664831400.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315155536/http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/06/stories/2010030664831400.htm|archive-date=March 15, 2010|title=Bt cotton ineffective against pest in parts of Gujarat, admits Monsanto|date=March 6, 2010|work=The Hindu|place=Chennai, India}} the widely recognised best practice to forestall, prevent, and cope with any kind of pesticide resistance.{{cite web | title=Slowing and Combating Pest Resistance to Pesticides | author=US EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) | date=May 12, 2016 | url=http://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/slowing-and-combating-pest-resistance-pesticides | access-date=2021-10-28}}{{cite web | last=Buhler | first=Wayne | title=Take Steps to Avoid Insecticide Resistance – Pesticide Environmental Stewardship | website=Pesticide Environmental Stewardship | publisher=North Carolina Extension | url=http://pesticidestewardship.org/resistance/insecticide-resistance/take-steps-to-avoid-insecticide-resistance/ | access-date=2021-10-28}}{{cite web | title=Managing Pesticide Resistance | website=WSU Tree Fruit | date=2018-05-15 | url=http://treefruit.wsu.edu/crop-protection/opm/resistance/ | access-date=2021-10-28}}{{cite web | url=http://nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/resources/Insecticide%20resistance.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910030336/http://nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/resources/Insecticide%20resistance.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-10 |url-status=live | title=Insecticide Resistance: Causes and Action | author1=Insecticide Resistance Action Committee | author2=Regional IPM Centers | website=USDA (United States Department of Agriculture)}}{{cite web | url=http://agriculture.basf.com/global/assets/en/Crop%20Protection/innovation/BASF_Insecticide_MoA_Manual_2014.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420062556/https://agriculture.basf.com/global/assets/en/Crop%20Protection/innovation/BASF_Insecticide_MoA_Manual_2014.pdf |archive-date=2021-04-20 |url-status=live | title=Insecticide Mode of Action - Technical Training Manual | author=BASF}}{{cite web | title=La résistance aux produits phytopharmaceutiques | date=2016-03-29 | url=http://agriculture.gouv.fr/la-resistance-aux-produits-phytopharmaceutiques | quote=Il faut aussi ... varier les modes d'actions ... et éviter les faux mélanges de produits ayant le même mode d'action qui ne font qu'augmenter le risque | website=French Agriculture Ministry | first=Christophe | last=Délye | trans-quote=We must also ... vary the MOAs ... and avoid fake mixes with the same MOA which only increase the risk.}}{{cite web | url=http://www.bmel.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/Publications/NAP.html | title=National Action Plan on Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products | website=German Agriculture Ministry | quote=The varieties being grown today are usually resistant to or tolerant of individual biotic or abiotic influences. Resistances based solely on one plant characteristic (often controlled through one gene) can be broken by adapting the harmful organisms. Increasingly, the aim in resistance research is to create modern breeding measures which breed polygenic resistant plants with resistance mechanisms that harmful organisms find it difficult to circumvent. | access-date=October 28, 2021 | archive-date=October 30, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030033850/https://www.bmel.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/Publications/NAP.html }} However, this advice was criticized: "an internal analysis of the statement of the Ministry of Environment and Forests says it 'appears that this could be a business strategy to phase out single gene events [that is, the first-generation Bollgard I product] and promote double genes [the second generation Bollgard II] which would fetch higher price.{{'"}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/12/stories/2010031263690900.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314222159/http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/12/stories/2010031263690900.htm|archive-date=March 14, 2010|title=Monsanto 'admission' has business motives?|date=March 12, 2010|work=The Hindu|place=Chennai, India}}

Monsanto's GM cotton seed was the subject of NGO agitation because of its higher cost. Indian farmers crossed GM varieties with local varieties, using plant breeding, violating their agreements with Monsanto.Ghosh, Pallab (June 17, 2003), [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/2998150.stm "India's GM seed Piracy"], BBC News. In 2009, high prices of Bt Cotton were blamed for forcing farmers of Jhabua district into debt when the crops died due to lack of rain.{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/25/stories/2009082554841400.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828160245/http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/25/stories/2009082554841400.htm|archive-date=August 28, 2009|title=Jhabua on its way to becoming Vidarbha-II?|date=August 25, 2009|work=The Hindu|place=Chennai, India}}

In 2012 Monsanto was the world's largest supplier of non-GE vegetable seeds by value, with sales of $800M. 95% of the research and development for vegetable seed is in conventional breeding. The company concentrates on improving flavor. According to their website they sell "4,000 distinct seed varieties representing more than 20 species".{{cite web |url=http://www.monsanto.com/products/Pages/vegetable-seeds.aspx |title=Monsanto ~ Monsanto Vegetable Seeds |publisher=Monsanto.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610041315/http://www.monsanto.com/products/Pages/vegetable-seeds.aspx |archive-date=June 10, 2012 }} Broccoli, with the brand name Beneforté, with increased amounts of glucoraphanin was introduced in 2010 following development by its Seminis subsidiary.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/01/new-monsanto-vegetables/|title=Monsanto is going organic in a quest for the perfect veggie|magazine=Wired|year=2015|author=Wired}}

Until it ended production in 1977, Monsanto was the source of 99% of the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) used by U.S. industry. They were sold under brand names including Aroclor and Santotherm; the name Santotherm is still used for non-chlorinated products.{{cite journal |first1=Mitchell D. |last1=Erickson |first2=Robert G. |last2=Kaley, II |title=Applications of polychlorinated biphenyls |journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research International |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=135–51 |publisher=Springer-Verlag |url=http://cdn.eastchem.com/therminol/Applications_of_PCBs_Erickson_Kaley_Aug2010_AuthorsProof_0.pdf |access-date=2015-03-03 |pmid=20848233 |year=2011 |doi=10.1007/s11356-010-0392-1 |bibcode=2011ESPR...18..135E |s2cid=25260209 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402163101/http://cdn.eastchem.com/therminol/Applications_of_PCBs_Erickson_Kaley_Aug2010_AuthorsProof_0.pdf |archive-date=April 2, 2015 }}{{cite book|last=Crompton|first=T R|title=Determination of Organic Compounds in Natural and Treated Waters|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=wIKYde_zKqMC|page=396}}|date=June 1, 2002|publisher=CRC Press|page=396|isbn=978-0-203-01635-0}} PCBs are a persistent organic pollutant, and cause cancer in both animals and humans, among other health effects.[http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/pubs/effects.htm "Health Effects of PCBs"], U.S. Environmental Protection Agency PCBs were initially welcomed due to the electrical industry's need for durable, safer (than flammable mineral oil) cooling and insulating fluid for industrial transformers and capacitors. PCBs were also commonly used as stabilizing additives in the manufacture of flexible PVC coatings for electrical wiring and in electronic components to enhance PVC heat and fire resistance.{{cite book |title=Health Concerns and Environmental Issues with PVC-Containing Building Materials in Green Buildings |author1=Karlyn Black Kaley |author2=Jim Carlisle |author3=David Siegel |author4=Julio Salinas |publisher=Integrated Waste Management Board, California Environmental Protection Agency, USA |date=October 2006 |page=11 |url=http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/publications/GreenBuilding/43106016.pdf |access-date=October 21, 2012 |archive-date=July 15, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715221107/http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Publications/GreenBuilding/43106016.pdf }} As transformer leaks occurred and toxicity problems arose near factories, their durability and toxicity became recognized as serious problems. PCB production was banned by the U.S. Congress in 1979 and by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001.[http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp17-c5.pdf "PCBs: Production, Import/Export, Use, and Disposal"], Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, at 467.{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/region2/pcbs/index.html|title=PCB's in NYC Schools – Region 2 – US EPA|date=January 29, 2013 |access-date=September 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906133728/http://www.epa.gov/region02/pcbs/index.html|archive-date=September 6, 2015}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20150627014048/http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/international/agreements/ "International Agreements and Treaties on Pesticides"], Pesticides: International Activities, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Archived from [http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/international/agreements/ the original] on June 27, 2015.

{{Main|Agent Orange}}

Monsanto, Dow Chemical, and eight other chemical companies made Agent Orange for the U.S. Department of Defense.{{rp|6}} It was given its name from the color of the orange-striped barrels in which it was shipped, and was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides".{{cite book|last=Hay|first=Alastair|title=The Chemical Scythe: Lessons of 2,4,5-T and Dioxin|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=V524J4zh06MC|page=151}}|date=September 1, 1982|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-0-306-40973-8|pages=151–}}

{{Main|Bovine somatotropin}}

Monsanto developed and sold recombinant bovine somatotropin (also known as rBST and rBGH), a synthetic hormone that increases milk production by 11–16% when injected into cows.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Dohoo | first1 = I. R.

| last2 = Leslie | first2 = K.

| last3 = Descôteaux | first3 = L.

| last4 = Fredeen | first4 = A.

| last5 = Dowling | first5 = P.

| last6 = Preston | first6 = A.

| last7 = Shewfelt | first7 = W.

| title = A meta-analysis review of the effects of recombinant bovine somatotropin. 1. Methodology and effects on production

| journal = Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research

| volume = 67

| issue = 4

| pages = 241–251

| year = 2003

| pmid = 14620860

| pmc = 280708

}}{{Cite journal

| last1 = Dohoo | first1 = I. R.

| last2 = Descôteaux | first2 = L.

| last3 = Leslie | first3 = K.

| last4 = Fredeen | first4 = A.

| last5 = Shewfelt | first5 = W.

| last6 = Preston | first6 = A.

| last7 = Dowling | first7 = P.

| title = A meta-analysis review of the effects of recombinant bovine somatotropin. 2. Effects on animal health, reproductive performance, and culling

| journal = Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research

| volume = 67

| issue = 4

| pages = 252–264

| year = 2003

| pmid = 14620861

| pmc = 280709

}} In October 2008, Monsanto sold this business to Eli Lilly for $300 million plus additional considerations.{{Cite news|url=http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/eli-lilly-to-buy-monsantos-dairy-cow-hormone-for-300-million/ |title=Eli Lilly to Buy Monsanto's Dairy Cow Hormone for $300 million – DealBook Blog |work=The New York Times| date=August 20, 2008}}

The use of rBST remains controversial with respect to its effects on cows and their milk.Dobson, William D. (June 1996) [http://www.aae.wisc.edu/pubs/sps/pdf/stpap397.pdf The BST Case] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921122744/https://aae.wisc.edu/pubs/sps/pdf/stpap397.pdf/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209122114/http://www.aae.wisc.edu/pubs/sps/pdf/stpap397.pdf |archive-date=2006-02-09 |url-status=live |date=September 21, 2020 }}. University of Wisconsin-Madison Agricultural and Applied Economics Staff Paper Series No. 397

In some markets, milk from cows that are not treated with rBST is sold with labels indicating that it is rBST-free: this milk has proved popular with consumers.[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09feed.html Fighting on a Battlefield the Size of a Milk Label], The New York Times, March 9, 2008 In reaction to this, in early 2008 a pro-rBST advocacy group called "American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology" (AFACT),{{cite web|url=http://itisafact.org/ |title=AFACT: American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology |publisher=Itisafact.org }} made up of dairies and originally affiliated with Monsanto, formed and began lobbying to ban such labels. AFACT stated that "absence" labels can be misleading and imply that milk from cows treated with rBST is inferior.

Monsanto also developed notable technologies that were not ultimately commercialized.

{{main|Genetic use restriction technology}}

Genetic use restriction technology, colloquially known as "terminator technology", produces plants with sterile seeds. This trait would prevent the spread of those seeds into the wild. It also would prevent farmers from planting seeds they harvest, requiring them to purchase seed for every planting, allowing the company to enforce its licensing terms via technology. Farmers have been buying hybrid seeds for generations, instead of replanting their harvest, because second-generation hybrid seeds are inferior. Nevertheless, most seed companies contract only with farmers who agree not to plant harvested seeds.

Terminator technology has been developed by governmental labs, university researchers and companies.{{cite web |url=http://ngin.tripod.com/353.htm |title=RAFI on new Terminator patent |publisher=Ngin.tripod.com}}{{cite web |url=http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=gm-104#gm-104 |title=Context of 'July 20, 1999: USDA and Delta & Pine Land Secure New Patent for Improvements in Terminator Genetic Seed Sterilization Technology' |publisher=Historycommons.org |access-date=July 24, 2012 |archive-date=February 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205064112/http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=gm-104#gm-104 }}{{cite journal |first=Hugh |last=Warwick |editor-last=Wijeratna |editor-first=Alex |editor2-last=Meienberg |editor2-first=François |editor3-last= Meienberg |title = Syngenta – Switching off farmers' rights? |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |date=October 2000 |url = http://www.fao.org/righttofood/KC/downloads/vl/docs/AH428.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512172032/http://www.fao.org/righttofood/KC/downloads/vl/docs/AH428.pdf |archive-date=May 12, 2011}} The technology has not been used commercially.{{cite web |url=http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/Pages/terminator-seeds.aspx |title=Monsanto ~ Is Monsanto Going to Develop or Sell "Terminator" Seeds? |publisher=Monsanto.com |date=November 3, 2008 |access-date=July 24, 2012 |archive-date=June 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605020705/http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/Pages/terminator-seeds.aspx }}{{cite web |url=http://www.banterminator.org/The-Issues/Introduction |title=Introduction / The Issues / |publisher=Ban Terminator |date=June 1, 2007 |access-date=August 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709023839/http://www.banterminator.org/The-Issues/Introduction |archive-date=July 9, 2012 }} Rumors that Monsanto and other companies intended to introduce terminator technology caused protests, for example in India.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/465969.stm |work=BBC News |title=Farmers welcome halt of 'terminator' |date=October 5, 1999}}{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/~sr793/doc/RHerring.pdf |title=CAS 38-4 24 Oct 2006.vp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531024738/http://www.columbia.edu/~sr793/doc/RHerring.pdf |archive-date=May 31, 2013}}

In 1999, Monsanto pledged not to commercialize terminator technology.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/1999/oct/06/gm.food2 |title=World braced for terminator 2 |last=Vidal |first=John |date=October 5, 1999 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London}} The Delta & Pine Land Company of Mississippi intended to commercialize the technology, but D&PL was acquired by Monsanto in 2007.[http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/pages/monsanto-history.aspx "Monsanto Company History"] monsanto.com

Monsanto "Terminator seeds" were never commercialized nor used in any farmer's field anywhere in the world. The patent expired in 2015.{{Cite web|last=Mangan|first=Mary|date=2021-02-12|title='Terminator seeds'—the anti-GMO bogeyman that never existed|url=https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2021/02/12/viewpoint-farewell-to-terminator-seeds-1995-2015-the-anti-gmo-movements-favorite-bogeyman/|access-date=2021-07-16|website=Genetic Literacy Project}}

{{main|Genetically modified wheat}}

Monsanto developed several strains of genetically modified wheat, including glyphosate-resistant strains, in the 1990s. Field tests were done in the United States between 1998 and 2005.{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2013/05/29/unapproved-monsanto-gmo-wheat-found-in-oregon.html |agency=Reuters |title=Unapproved Monsanto GMO Wheat Found in Oregon |publisher=CNBC |date=2013-05-29 |access-date=September 20, 2018}} As of 2017, no genetically modified wheat had been released for commercial use.{{cite web |last1=Regalado |first1=Antonio |title=These are not your father's GMOs |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609230/these-are-not-your-fathers-gmos/ |website=MIT Technology Review |access-date=September 20, 2018}}

{{main|Monsanto legal cases}}

Monsanto engaged in high-profile lawsuits, as both plaintiff and defendant. It defended lawsuits mostly over its products' health and environmental effects. 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{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/93431968/Pioneer-Hi-Bred-International-v-Does-1-5|title=Pioneer Hi Bred International v. Does 1–5|date=May 14, 2012|publisher=Scribd.com}}{{cite web|url=https://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2001/2001_99_1996/|title=J.E.M. Supply v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International | The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law|publisher=Oyez.org}} and Syngenta.{{cite web|url=http://www.hpj.com/archives/syngenta-sues-to-stop-illegal-sales-of-coker-seed-varieties/article_1d4dfb89-877b-5c7e-9900-7a2795b67210.html|title=Syngenta sues to stop illegal sales of COKER seed varieties|date=January 2002|publisher=Hpj.com|access-date=March 1, 2015|archive-date=January 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129111538/https://www.hpj.com/archives/syngenta-sues-to-stop-illegal-sales-of-coker-seed-varieties/article_1d4dfb89-877b-5c7e-9900-7a2795b67210.html|url-status=dead}} Monsanto also became one of the most controversial large corporations in the world, over a range of issues involving its industrial and agricultural chemical products, and GM seed.{{cite news |last1=Dewey |first1=Caitlin |title=Why 'Monsanto' is no more |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/04/why-monsanto-is-no-more/ |access-date=September 28, 2018 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=June 4, 2018}} In April 2018, just prior to Bayer's acquisition, Bayer indicated that improving Monsanto's reputation represented a major challenge.{{cite news |title=Bayer CEO says Monsanto's reputation is a 'major challenge' |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bayer-agm/bayer-ceo-says-monsantos-reputation-is-a-major-challenge-idUSKBN17U127 |access-date=September 28, 2018 |publisher=Reuters |date=April 28, 2018}} That June, Bayer announced it would drop the Monsanto name as part of a campaign to regain consumer trust.

Argentina approved Roundup Ready soy in 1996. Between 1996 and 2008 soy production grew from 14 million acres to 42 million acres. The growth was driven by Argentine investors' interest in export markets.[http://www.towardfreedom.com/32-archives/environment/1600-the-soy-republic-of-argentina The Soy Republic of Argentina]. Towardfreedom.com (September 2, 2009). The consolidation led to a decrease in production of many staples such as milk, rice, maize, potatoes and lentils. As of 2004, about 150,000 small farmers had left the countryside; as of 2009, 50% in the Chaco region.[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/apr/16/gm.food GM soya 'miracle' turns sour in Argentina]. The Guardian (April 16, 2004).Carlos Reboratti (2010) [https://web.archive.org/web/20130606074701/http://www.geo.puc.cl/html/revista/PDF/RGNG_N45/art05.pdf "A sea of soybean: Consequences of the new agriculture in Argentina (Un mar de soja: La nueva agricultura en Argentina y sus consecuencias)"]. Norte Grande Geography Journal Revista de geografía Norte Grande 45: 63–76.

The Guardian reported that a Monsanto representative had said, "any problems with GM soya were to do with use of the crop as a monoculture, not because it was GM. If you grow any crop to the exclusion of any other you are bound to get problems."

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.[http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstrygmo013106.html Seeds of conflict take root in debate over Michigan farming bill]. Cropchoice.com, January 31, 2006.

In 2013 environmentalist groups objected to a Monsanto corn seed conditioning facility in Malvinas Argentinas, Córdoba. Neighbours objected to the risk of environmental impact. Court rulings supported the project,{{cite web|url=http://www.lavoz.com.ar/noticias/politica/monsanto-podra-continuar-con-obra-civil-pero-no-con-operativa|title=Monsanto podrá continuar con obra civil pero no con operativa|date=April 23, 2013|publisher=La Voz|language=es}} but environmentalist groups organised demonstrations and opened an online petition for the subject to be decided in a popular referendum.{{cite web|url=http://www.argenpress.info/2013/12/monsanto-contamina-el-medio-ambiente-y.html|title=Monsanto contamina el medio ambiente y también la democracia|last=Marín|first=Emiliom|date=December 2, 2013|publisher=Argenpress.info}} The court rulings stipulated that while construction could continue, the facility could not begin operating until the environmental impact report required by law had been duly presented.{{cite web|url=http://www.lavoz.com.ar/politica/ratifican-que-monsanto-podra-continuar-con-la-obra-civil|title=Ratifican que Monsanto podrá continuar con la obra civil|date=October 10, 2013|publisher=La Voz|language=es}}

In 2016 Monsanto reached an agreement with Argentina's government on soybean seed royalty payments. Monsanto agreed to give the Argentine Seed Institute (Inase) oversight over crops grown from Monsanto's Intacta genetically modified soybean seeds. Before the agreement, Argentine farmers generally avoided royalties by using seeds from previous harvests or purchased from non-registered suppliers. Inase agreed to delegate testing to grain exchanges. About 6 million sample tests were to be conducted annually. Seeds that appear to be GMOs may be tested again using a polymerase chain reaction test.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-14/monsanto-argentina-seed-pact-said-to-become-effective-next-week|title=Monsanto-Argentina Seed Pact Said to Become Effective Next Week|last=Gonzalez|first=Pablo Rosendo|date=2016-06-14|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|access-date=2016-12-15}}

Brazil is the second largest producer of GMO soy. In 2003 GM soy was found in fields planted in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.[http://www.economist.com/node/2102001 "GM crops in Brazil: An amber light for agri-business"]. The Economist (October 2, 2003). This was a controversial decision, and in response, the Landless Workers' Movement protested by invading and occupying several Monsanto farm plots used for research, training and seed-processing.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/americas/2961284.stm Americas | Brazil activists target Monsanto]. BBC News (June 3, 2003). In 2005 Brazil passed a law creating a regulatory pathway for GM crops.

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.wyzxsx.com/Article/Class4/201001/128373.html |title=郎咸平：孟山都的转基因帝国-大豆、玉米与棉花 |publisher=Wyzxsx.com |date=January 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328142034/http://www.wyzxsx.com/Article/Class4/201001/128373.html |archive-date=March 28, 2010 }}

{{main|Farmers' suicides in India}}

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, public attention was drawn to suicides by indebted farmers following crop failures.[https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/07/seeds_of_suicid.html FRONTLINE/WORLD. Rough Cut. Seeds of Suicide]. PBS (July 26, 2005). For example, in the early 2000s, farmers in Andhra Pradesh (AP) were in economic crisis due to high-interest rates and crop failures, leading to widespread unrest and farmer suicides.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3855517.stm | work=BBC News | title=India PM pledge over suicide farmers | date=July 1, 2004}} Monsanto was one focus of protests with respect to the price and yields of Bt seed. In 2005, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, the Indian regulatory authority, released a study on field tests of certain Bt cotton strains in AP and ruled that Monsanto could not market those strains in AP because of poor yields.The Hindu Business Line. May 26, 2005 [http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-agri-biz-and-commodity/nuziveedu-launches-bt-cotton-strains/article2178519.ece Nuziveedu launches Bt cotton strains] 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 4.5 crore (about one million US$) to indebted farmers in some districts, and because the government blamed Monsanto's seeds for crop failures.{{Cite news |title=Angry Andhra uproots Monsanto |url=http://www.financialexpress.com/news/angry-andhra-uproots-monsanto/139771/0 |work=financialexpress.com |location=Hyderabad |date=June 23, 2005}} The order was later lifted.

In 2006, AP tried to convince Monsanto to reduce the price of Bt seeds. Unsatisfied, the state filed several cases against Monsanto and its Mumbai-based licensee, Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110512173248/http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/27/stories/2006062704310700.htm A.P. Government files contempt petition before MRTPC against Monsanto], The Hindu, June 27, 2006. Research by International Food Policy Research Institute found no evidence supporting an increased suicide rate following the introduction of Bt cotton and that Bt cotton.{{cite journal|title=Bt Cotton and Farmer Suicides in India: An Evidence-based Assessment |journal=The Journal of Development Studies |year=2011 |volume=47 |issue=2 |doi=10.1080/00220388.2010.492863 |last1=Gruère |first1=Guillaume |last2=Sengupta |first2=Debdatta |pages=316–37 |pmid=21506303|s2cid=20145281 }}{{cite journal |title=Doubts surround link between Bt cotton failure and farmer suicide : Article: Nature Biotechnology |journal=Nature Biotechnology |url=http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v27/n1/full/nbt0109-9.html |access-date=May 6, 2013|date=January 2009 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=9–10 |doi=10.1038/nbt0109-9 |last1=Sheridan |first1=Cormac |pmid=19131979 |s2cid=82412990 }} The report stated that farmer suicides predated commercial introduction in 2002 (and unofficial introduction in 2001) and that such suicides had made up a fairly constant portion of the overall national suicide rate since 1997.{{cite web |url=http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp00808.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511180115/http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp00808.pdf |archive-date=2011-05-11 |url-status=live |year=2008 |title=Bt Cotton and Farmer Suicides in India: Reviewing the Evidence |author=Guillaume P. Gruère, Purvi Mehta-Bhatt and Debdatta Sengupta |publisher=International Food Policy Research Institute}} The report concluded that while Bt cotton may have been a factor in specific suicides, the contribution was likely marginal compared to socio-economic factors. As of 2009, Bt cotton was planted in 87% of Indian cotton-growing land.Choudhary, B. & Gaur, K. 2010. [http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/biotech_crop_profiles/bt_cotton_in_india-a_country_profile/download/Bt_Cotton_in_India-A_Country_Profile.pdf Bt Cotton in India: A Country Profile]. ISAAA Series of Biotech Crop Profiles. ISAAA: Ithaca, NY.

Critics including Vandana Shiva said that the crop failures could "often be traced to" Monsanto's Bt cotton, that the seeds increased farmer indebtedness and argued that Monsanto misrepresented the profitability of their Bt Cotton, causing losses leading to debt.[http://www.democracynow.org/2006/12/13/vandana_shiva_on_farmer_suicides_the Vandana Shiva on Farmer Suicides, the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal, Wal-Mart in India and More]. Democracy Now! (December 13, 2006).Peled, M. X. (Producer and Director) (September 1, 2011). [http://teddybearfilms.fatcow.com/2011/10/01/bitter-seeds-2/ Bitter Seeds] (motion picture). United States: Teddy Bear Films.{{cite journal |url=http://filmmakermagazine.com/40204-bitter-seeds-an-interview-with-director-micha-x-peled/ |journal=Filmmaker |last=Scott |first=Daniel James|date=February 9, 2012 |title=Director Micha X. Peled on Bitter Seeds |access-date=May 1, 2013}} In 2009, Shiva wrote that Indian farmers who had previously spent as little as ₹7 (rupees) per kilogram were now paying up to ₹17,000 per kilo per year for Bt cotton.{{cite news |title=Vandana Shiva: From Seeds of Suicide to Seeds of Hope: Why Are Indian Farmers Committing Suicide and How Can We Stop This Tragedy? | date=April 28, 2009| url = https://www.huffingtonpost.com/vandana-shiva/from-seeds-of-suicide-to_b_192419.html |access-date=May 2, 2013 |first=Vandana |last=Shiva |work=Huffington Post}} In 2012 the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) stated that for the first time farmer suicides could be linked to a decline in the performance of Bt cotton, and advised, "cotton farmers are in a deep crisis since shifting to Bt cotton. The spate of farmer suicides in 2011–12 has been particularly severe among Bt cotton farmers."

In 2004, in response to an order from the Bombay High Court the Tata Institute produced a report on farmer suicides in Maharashtra in 2005.Staff, InfoChange August 2005. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160307171856/http://infochangeindia.org/agriculture/books-a-reports/644-farmer-suicides-in-maharashtra-since-2001-says-tiss-report.html 644 farmer suicides in Maharashtra since 2001, says TISS report]}}Dandekar A., et al., Tata Institute. [http://www.vnss-mission.gov.in/htmldocs/Farmers_suicide_TISS_report.pdf "Causes of Farmer Suicides in Maharashtra: An Enquiry. Final Report Submitted to the Mumbai High Court March 15, 2005".] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130809074417/http://vnss-mission.gov.in/htmldocs/Farmers_suicide_TISS_report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704201549/http://www.vnss-mission.gov.in/htmldocs/Farmers_suicide_TISS_report.pdf |archive-date=2009-07-04 |url-status=live |date=August 9, 2013 }} The survey cited "government apathy, the absence of a safety net for farmers, and lack of access to information related to agriculture as the chief causes for the desperate condition of farmers in the state."

Various studies identified the important factors as insufficient or risky credit systems, the difficulty of farming semi-arid regions, poor agricultural income, absence of alternative income opportunities, a downturn in the urban economy which forced non-farmers into farming and the absence of suitable counseling services.{{cite web|author=Nagraj, K. |year=2008 |title=Farmers suicide in India: magnitudes, trends and spatial patterns |url=http://www.macroscan.com/anl/mar08/pdf/Farmers_Suicides.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512173317/http://www.macroscan.com/anl/mar08/pdf/Farmers_Suicides.pdf |archive-date=May 12, 2011 }}{{cite web|title=Risks, Farmers' Suicides and Agrarian Crisis in India: Is There A Way Out?|author=Mishra, Srijit|publisher=Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR)|year=2007|url=http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/WP-2007-014.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110118215816/http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/WP-2007-014.pdf |archive-date=2011-01-18 |url-status=live}} ICAR and CCRI stated that the cost of cotton cultivation had jumped as a consequence of rising pesticide costs, while total Bt cotton production in the five years from 2007 to 2012 had declined.{{cite web | title = Ministry blames Bt cotton for farmer suicides – Hindustan Times |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/Business/Ministry-blames-Btcotton-for-farmer-suicides/Article1-830798.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722005640/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/Business/Ministry-blames-Btcotton-for-farmer-suicides/Article1-830798.aspx |archive-date=July 22, 2013 |access-date=May 2, 2013 |first=Hindustan |last=Times}}

{{Main|Brofiscin Quarry}}

Brofiscin Quarry was used as a waste site from about 1965 to 1972 and accepted waste from BP, Veolia and Monsanto.Staff, Wales Online. October 17, 2011 [http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/remedial-work-start-quarry-1805774 Remedial work to start on quarry]Burges Salmon LLP. April 12, 2012 [http://www.inhouselawyer.co.uk/index.php/environment/9839-changes-to-the-contaminated-land-regime Changes to the contaminated land regime] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903061851/http://www.inhouselawyer.co.uk/index.php/environment/9839-changes-to-the-contaminated-land-regime |date=September 3, 2014 }} A 2005 report by Environment Agency Wales (EAW) found that the quarry contained up to 75 toxic substances, including heavy metals, Agent Orange and PCBs.BBC June 15, 2011 [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-13768700 Brofiscin Quarry pollution at Groesfaen to be cleaned]

In February 2011, Monsanto agreed to help with the costs of remediation, but did not accept responsibility for the pollution.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/21/monsanto-brofiscin-pollution|title=Monsanto agrees to clean up toxic chemicals in South Wales quarry|date=February 21, 2011|access-date=June 5, 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|last1=Levitt|first1=Tom}}{{cite web|url=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/publications/122041.aspx|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140328084622/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/publications/122041.aspx|archive-date=March 28, 2014|title= EA responsibility|publisher=Environment Agency Wales|access-date=June 5, 2013}} In 2011, EAW and the Rhondda Cynon Taf council announced that they had decided to place an engineered cap over the waste mass,Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council [http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/en/environmentplanningandwaste/pollution/brofiscin/brofiscin.aspx RCTCBC "Brofiscin" site] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902060620/http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/en/environmentplanningandwaste/pollution/brofiscin/brofiscin.aspx |date=September 2, 2014 }} Accessed September 1, 2014 and stated that the cost would be £1.5 million; previous estimates had been as high as £100 million.BBC, February 12, 2007, 22:48 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6355835.stm £100m site clean up cost denied]

In the late 1960s, the Monsanto plant in Sauget, Illinois, was the nation's largest producer of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds, which remained in the water along Dead Creek there. An EPA official referred to Sauget as "one of the most polluted communities in the region" and "a soup of different chemicals".{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06276/727066-28.stm |title=Tiny Sauget, Illinois, likes business misfits |publisher=Post-gazette.com |date=October 3, 2006 |first=William |last=Spain}}

In Anniston, Alabama, plaintiffs in a 2002 lawsuit provided documentation showing that the local Monsanto factory knowingly discharged both mercury and PCB-laden waste into local creeks for over 40 years.{{Cite news|title=Monsanto Hid Decades Of Pollution|url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0101-02.htm|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Michael|last=Grunwald|date=January 1, 2002|access-date=May 26, 2013|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108111529/https://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0101-02.htm}} 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.{{Cite news|title= PCB Pollution Suits Have Day in Court in Alabama |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04EED7143AF934A15752C0A9649C8B63|work=The New York Times| first=Kevin | last=Sack | date=January 27, 2002}} In August 2003, Solutia and Monsanto agreed to pay plaintiffs $700 million to settle claims by over 20,000 Anniston residents.{{cite news |author=The Associated Press |title=$700 Million Settlement in Alabama PCB Lawsuit |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/21/business/700-million-settlement-in-alabama-pcb-lawsuit.html |work=The New York Times |date=August 21, 2003}}

In June 2020, Bayer proposed paying $650 million to settle local PCB lawsuits, and $170 million to the attorneys-general of New Mexico, Washington and the District of Columbia. 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. State Impact of Pennsylvania stated "In 1979, the EPA banned the use of PCBs, but they still exist in some products produced before 1979. They persist in the environment because they bind to sediments and soils. High exposure to PCBs can cause birth defects, developmental delays, and liver changes." On November 25, 2020, however U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin rejected the proposed $650 million settlement from Bayer and allowed Monsanto-related lawsuits involving PCB to proceed.{{cite news|url=https://www.semissourian.com/story/2853810.html|title=Bayer's $650 Million PCB Pollution Settlement Rejected by Judge|first1=Joel|last1=Rosenblatt|first2=Mark|last2=Chediak|publisher=Claims Journal|date=December 1, 2020|access-date=December 15, 2020}}{{dead link|date=October 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

In January 2025, Monsanto was ordered to pay $100 million to four people who say they were sickened by PCBs at a school in Monroe, Washington.{{cite news | last1=Pierson | first1=Brendan | last2=Knauth | first2=Dietrich | title=Jury orders Bayer to pay $100 million over PCBs in Washington school | date=January 14, 2025 | url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/bayer-must-pay-100-million-latest-trial-over-pcbs-washington-school-jury-finds-2025-01-14/ | work=reuters.com }}

As of November 2013, Monsanto was associated with nine "active" Superfund sites and 32 "archived" sites in the US, in the EPA's Superfund database.[http://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/srchsites.cfm EPA superfund search engine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024164408/http://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/srchsites.cfm |date=October 24, 2012 }} Search for "Monsanto" in "Alias/Alternative Site Name" field, first in "active" sites, then "archived" sites, October 20, 2012 Monsanto was sued and settled multiple times for damaging the health of its employees or residents near its Superfund sites through pollution and poisoning.{{Cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-338869.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115751/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-338869.html |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |title=Monsanto Held Liable For PCB Dumping | newspaper=The Washington Post |date=February 22, 2002}}[http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/dirtysecrets/annistonindepth/toxicity.asp "The Inside Story: Anniston, AL In-depth: Monsanto knew about PCB toxicity for decades"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050718082623/http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/dirtysecrets/annistonindepth/toxicity.asp |date=July 18, 2005 }}. Chemicalindustryarchives.org.

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". The final Oregon field test had occurred in 2001. As of May 2013, the GMO seed source was unknown. Volunteer wheat from a former test field two miles away was tested and was not found to be glyphosate-tolerant. Monsanto faced penalties up to $1 million over potential violations of the Plant Protection Act. The discovery threatened world-leading US wheat exports, which totaled $8.1 billion in 2012.Alan Bjerga, [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-29/monsanto-modified-wheat-unapproved-by-usda-found-in-oregon-field.html "Monsanto Modified Wheat Not Approved by USDA Found in Field"], Bloomberg News. May 29, 2013.Andrew Pollack, [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/business/energy-environment/genetically-engineered-wheat-found-in-oregon-field.html "Modified Wheat Is Discovered in Oregon"], The New York Times, May 29, 2013. This wheat variety was rarely exported to Europe and was more likely destined for Asia. Monsanto said it had destroyed all the material it held after completing trials in 2004 and it was "mystified" by its appearance.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23638-monsanto-modified-wheat-mystery-deepens-in-oregon.html|title=Monsanto modified wheat mystery deepens in Oregon |author=Andy Coghlan|magazine=New Scientist|date=2013-06-03}} On June 14, 2013, the USDA announced: "As of today, USDA has neither found nor been informed of anything that would indicate that this incident amounts to more than a single isolated incident in a single field on a single farm. All information collected so far shows no indication of the presence of GE wheat in commerce."Staff, Food Safety News. June 17, 2013. [http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/06/gmo-wheat-found-in-oregon-was-isolated-incident-says-usda/#.Ub_B8ufksl8 GMO Wheat Found in Oregon Was Isolated Incident, Says USDA] As of August 30, 2013, while the source of the GM wheat remained unknown, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan had all resumed placing orders.Associated Press. August 30, 2013. [http://bigstory.ap.org/article/source-gmo-wheat-oregon-remains-mystery "Source of GMO wheat in Oregon remains mystery".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914124347/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/source-gmo-wheat-oregon-remains-mystery |date=September 14, 2013 }}

Monsanto has faced controversy in the United States over claims that its herbicide products might be carcinogens. There is limited evidence that human cancer risk might increase as a result of occupational exposure to large amounts of glyphosate, as in agricultural work, but no good evidence of such a risk from home use, such as in domestic gardening.{{cite web |publisher=Cancer Research UK |title=Food Controversies—Pesticides and organic foods |url=http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer/food-controversies#food_controversies4 |date=2016 |access-date=November 28, 2017}} The consensus among national pesticide regulatory agencies and scientific organizations is that labeled uses of glyphosate have demonstrated no evidence of human carcinogenicity.{{cite journal |last1=Tarazona |first1=Jose V. |last2=Court-Marques |first2=Daniele |last3=Tiramani |first3=Manuela |last4=Reich |first4=Hermine |last5=Pfeil |first5=Rudolf |last6=Istace |first6=Frederique |last7=Crivellente |first7=Federica |title=Glyphosate toxicity and carcinogenicity: a review of the scientific basis of the European Union assessment and its differences with IARC |journal=Archives of Toxicology |date=April 3, 2017 |volume=91 |issue=8 |pages=2723–2743 |doi=10.1007/s00204-017-1962-5 |pmid=28374158 |pmc=5515989|bibcode=2017ArTox..91.2723T }} Organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization, European Commission, Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency, and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment{{cite web |title=The BfR has finalised its draft report for the re-evaluation of glyphosate – BfR |access-date=August 18, 2018 |url=https://www.bfr.bund.de/en/the_bfr_has_finalised_its_draft_report_for_the_re_evaluation_of_glyphosate-188632.html}} have concluded that there is no evidence that glyphosate poses a carcinogenic or genotoxic risk to humans.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} However, one international scientific organization, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), affiliated with the WHO, has made claims of carcinogenicity in research reviews; in 2015 the IARC declared glyphosate "probably carcinogenic".{{cite journal |last1=Cressey |first1=Daniel |title=Widely used herbicide linked to cancer |url=https://www.nature.com/news/widely-used-herbicide-linked-to-cancer-1.17181 |journal=Nature |year=2015 |doi=10.1038/nature.2015.17181 |s2cid=131732731 |access-date=April 1, 2019|doi-access=free }}

As of October 30, 2019, there were 42,700 plaintiffs who said that glyphosate herbicides caused their cancer after the IARC report in 2015 linking glyphosate to cancer in humans.{{cite news |title=Bayer's Monsanto faces 8,000 lawsuits on glyphosate |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bayer-glyphosate-lawsuits/bayers-monsanto-sued-by-8000-plaintiffs-on-glyphosate-idUSKCN1L81J0 |publisher=Reuters |access-date=September 11, 2018 |date=2018-08-23}}{{cite journal |first1=Daniel |last1=Cressey |name-list-style=vanc |url=http://www.nature.com/news/widely-used-herbicide-linked-to-cancer-1.17181 |title=Widely used herbicide linked to cancer |journal=Nature |date=March 25, 2015 |doi=10.1038/nature.2015.17181 |s2cid=131732731|doi-access=free }}{{cite book |url=https://monographs.iarc.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/mono112.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808103032/https://monographs.iarc.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/mono112.pdf |archive-date=2018-08-08 |url-status=live |title=IARC Monographs, Volume 112. Glyphosate, in: Some Organophosphate Insecticides and Herbicides |last1=International Agency for Research on Cancer |date=2017 |publisher=IARC/WHO |location=Lyon |pages=321–412}}{{cite news |title=Bayer's Roundup Headache Grows as Plaintiffs Pile Into Court |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-30/bayer-is-now-facing-42-700-plaintiffs-in-roundup-litigation |access-date=31 October 2019 |work=Bloomberg |date=October 30, 2019}} Monsanto denies that Roundup is carcinogenic.{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/15/health/roundup-herbicide-cancer-allegations/index.html|title=Patients: Roundup gave us cancer as EPA official helped the company|first=Holly |last=Yan |others=Photographs by John Francis Peters for |publisher=CNN |access-date=2018-08-13}}{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/10/health/monsanto-johnson-trial-verdict/index.html |title=Jurors give $289 million to a man they say got cancer from Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller |first=Holly |last=Yan |publisher=CNN |access-date=2018-08-13}}

In March 2017, 40 plaintiffs filed a lawsuit at the Alameda County Superior Court, a branch of the California Superior Court, asking for damages caused by the company's glyphosate-based weed-killers, including Roundup, and demanding a jury trial.{{cite news|last1=Breitler|first1=Alex|title=SJ, Lode residents among those suing Monsanto claiming Roundup linked to cancer|url=http://www.recordnet.com/news/20170327/sj-lode-residents-among-those-suing-monsanto-claiming-roundup-linked-to-cancer|access-date=2017-04-25|publisher=The Stockton Record|date=2017-03-27}} On August 10, 2018, Monsanto lost the first decided case. 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. Pending appeal, the award was later reduced to $78.5 million.{{cite news |title=Monsanto appeals Roundup cancer verdict |url=https://phys.org/news/2018-11-monsanto-appeals-roundup-cancer-verdict.html |work=Phys.org |access-date=November 30, 2018}}{{cite web |title=Roundup maker Monsanto appeals $78.5 million verdict over Bay Area man's cancer |url=https://abc7news.com/society/roundup-maker-monsanto-appeals-$785-million-verdict-over-bay-area-mans-cancer/4728882/ |website=ABC7 San Francisco |access-date=November 30, 2018 |date=November 21, 2018}} In November 2018, Monsanto appealed the judgement, asking an appellate court to consider a motion for a new trial. A verdict on the appeal was delivered in June 2020 upholding the verdict but further reducing the award to $21.5 million.{{cite news |last1=Egelko |first1=Bob |title=Award to Vallejo groundskeeper in Monsanto cancer case slashed again - verdict upheld |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Award-to-Vallejo-groundskeeper-in-Monsanto-cancer-15421705.php |access-date=3 March 2021 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=21 July 2020}}

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. A spokesperson for Bayer, by this time the parent company of Monsanto, said the company would appeal the verdict.{{cite news |last=Levin |first=Sam |title=Monsanto found liable for California man's cancer and ordered to pay $80m in damages |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/27/monsanto-trial-verdict-cancer-jury |work=The Guardian |date=March 27, 2019 |access-date=March 28, 2019 }}

On May 13, 2019, a jury in California ordered Bayer to pay $2 billion in damages after finding that the company had failed to adequately inform consumers of the possible carcinogenicity of Roundup.{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-13/bayer-loses-its-third-trial-over-claims-roundup-causes-cancer |title=Bayer's $2 Billion Roundup Damages Boost Pressure to Settle |publisher=Bloomberg News |access-date=2019-05-14}} On July 26, 2019, an Alameda County judge cut the settlement to $86.7 million, stating that the judgement by the jury exceeded legal precedent.{{cite news |title=Judge cuts $2 billion award for couple with cancer to $86.7 million in Roundup lawsuit |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/07/26/judge-cuts-billion-award-couple-with-cancer-million-roundup-lawsuit |date=2019-07-26 |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Taylor |last=Telford |access-date=2019-07-27}}

In June 2020, Monsanto acquisitor Bayer agreed to settle over a hundred thousand Roundup cancer lawsuits, agreeing to pay $8.8 to $9.6 billion to settle those claims, and $1.5 billion for any future claims. The settlement does not include three cases that have already gone to jury trials and are being appealed.{{cite news |last1=Chappell |first1=Bill |title=Bayer To Pay More Than $10 Billion To Resolve Cancer Lawsuits Over Weedkiller Roundup |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/06/24/882949098/bayer-to-pay-more-than-10-billion-to-resolve-roundup-cancer-lawsuits |access-date=12 July 2020 |publisher=NPR |date=24 June 2020}}

Following a lawsuit by a peach farmer alleging that Dicamba used as a weed killer drifted in the wind from adjacent crops to destroy his peach orchards, a Missouri trial jury found in February 2020 that Monsanto and codefendant BASF were negligent in design of Dicamba and failed to warn farmers about the product, awarding $15 million for losses and $250 million in punitive damages.{{cite news |url=https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/monsanto-basf-will-pay-250-million-punitive-damages-first-dicamba-trial |title=Monsanto, BASF Will Pay $250 Million In Punitive Damages In First Dicamba Trial |author=Corrine Ruff |date=15 February 2020 |work=St. Louis Public Radio |access-date=15 February 2020}} On February 14, 2020, the jury involved in a Missouri lawsuit involving tree damage caused by dicamba drift ruled against Bayer and its co-defendant BASF and found in favor of Bader Farms owner Bill Bader.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/jury-finds-in-favor-of-missouri-peach-grower-in-lawsuit/article_adcb9979-ca3e-557b-878e-7be4e301adbc.html|title = Jury finds in favor of Missouri peach grower in lawsuit against Bayer, BASF| date=February 14, 2020 }} In June 2020, Bayer agreed to a settlement of up to $400 million for all 2015–2020 crop year dicamba claims, not including the $250 million judgement which was issued to Bader. On November 25, 2020, U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. reduced the punitive damage amount in the Bader Farms case to $60 million.{{cite news|url=https://www.semissourian.com/story/2853810.html|title=District Judge orders reduction of punitive damages in dicamba case|first=J.C.|last=Reeves|publisher=Southeast Missourian|date=December 15, 2020|access-date=December 15, 2020}}{{dead link|date=October 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

From 2009 to 2011, Monsanto improperly accounted for incentive rebates. The actions inflated Monsanto's reported profit by $31 million over the two years. Monsanto paid $80 million in penalties pursuant to a subsequent settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/business/for-monsanto-whistle-blower-a-22-million-award-that-fell-short.html|title=Monsanto Whistle-Blower: $22 Million Richer, but Not Satisfied|last=Morgenson|first=Gretchen|date=2016-09-09|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-12-22|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Monsanto materially misstated its consolidated earnings in response to losing market share of Roundup to generic producers. Monsanto overhauled its internal controls. Two of their top CPAs were suspended and Monsanto was required to hire, at their expense, an independent ethics/compliance consultant for two years.{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2016/33-10037.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405051304/http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2016/33-10037.pdf |archive-date=2016-04-05 |url-status=live|title=ORDER INSTITUTING ADMINISTRATIVE AND CEASE-AND-DESIST PROCEEDINGS PURSUANT TO SECTION 8A OF THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, SECTIONS 4C AND 21C OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AND RULE 102(e) OF THE COMMISSION'S RULES OF PRACTICE, MAKING FINDINGS AND IMPOSING REMEDIAL SANCTIONS AND A CEASE-AND-DESIST ORDER|website=SEC.gov|access-date=October 4, 2016}}

A review of glyphosate's carcinogenic potential by four independent expert panels, with a comparison to the IARC assessment, was published in September 2016. Using emails released in August 2017 by plaintiffs' lawyers who are suing Monsanto, Bloomberg Business Week reported that "Monsanto scientists were heavily involved in organizing, reviewing, and editing drafts submitted by the outside experts." A Monsanto spokesperson responded that Monsanto had provided only non-substantive cosmetic copyediting.{{cite news|title=Monsanto Was Its Own Ghostwriter for Some Safety Reviews|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-09/monsanto-was-its-own-ghostwriter-for-some-safety-reviews|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=August 9, 2017 |access-date=October 26, 2017}}

In 2017, The New York Times reported that a 2015 article attributed to researcher and columnist Henry I. Miller had been drafted by Monsanto.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/business/monsantos-sway-over-research-is-seen-in-disclosed-emails.html|title=Monsanto's Sway Over Research Is Seen in Disclosed Emails|date=2 August 2017|access-date=2 August 2017|work=The New York Times}} According to the report, Monsanto asked Miller to write an article rebutting the findings of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and he indicated willingness to do it if he "could start from a high-quality draft". Forbes later removed Miller's blog from Forbes.com and ended their relationship.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/business/monsantos-sway-over-research-is-seen-in-disclosed-emails.html|title=Monsanto Emails Raise Issue of Influencing Research on Roundup Weed Killer|last=Hakim|first=Danny|date=2017-08-01|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-12-08|issn=0362-4331}}

Monsanto regularly lobbied the US government with[https://web.archive.org/web/20120110044613/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9RL51J81.htm Monsanto spent $2 million lobbying gov't in 3Q], Associated Press December 15, 2011, ©2012 BLOOMBERG L.P. expenses reaching $8.8 million in 2008[http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?lname=Monsanto+Co&year=2008 Monsanto lobbying expenses], Open Secrets. and $6.3 million in 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000000211&year=2011 |title=Lobbying Spending Database – Monsanto Co, 2011 |publisher=OpenSecrets |date=September 17, 2012}} $2 million was spent on matters concerning "Foreign Agriculture Biotechnology Laws, Regulations, and Trade". Some US diplomats in Europe at other times worked directly for Monsanto.

California's 2012 Proposition 37 would have mandated the disclosure of genetically modified crops used in the production of California food products. Monsanto spent $8.1 million opposing passage, making it the largest contributor against the initiative. The proposition was rejected by a 53.7% majority.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/nov/07/prop-37-californian-gm-labelling?INTCMP=SRCH|title=Prop 37: Californian voters reject GM food labelling|last=Vaughan|first=Adam|date=November 7, 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London}} Labeling is not required in the US.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-05-02/california-heads-for-vote-on-modified-food-labeling|title=California Heads for Vote on Modified Food Labeling |magazine=Businessweek |date=May 2, 2012}}{{cite news|last=Gillam|first=Carey |title=Prop 37: California GMO Fight Pits Big Food Against Activists| url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/17/prop-37-california_n_1791555.html|work=The Huffington Post|date=August 16, 2012}}

In 2009 Michael R. Taylor, food safety expert and former Monsanto VP for Public Policy,{{cite web|url=https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm170842.htm|title=Noted Food Safety Expert Michael R. Taylor Named Advisor to FDA Commissioner|publisher=Fda.gov |date=July 7, 2009 }}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bguf6j-BOR0C|title=Toward Safer Food: Perspectives on Risk and Priority Setting|last1=Hoffmann|first1=Sandra|last2=Taylor|first2=Michael R.|date=September 30, 2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-52451-6}}{{cite web |url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/sept_20_bios.pdf |title=Woodrow Wilson Center bio |access-date=May 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107023113/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/sept_20_bios.pdf |archive-date=January 7, 2019 }} became a senior advisor to the FDA Commissioner.FDA News Release July 7, 2009 [https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm170842.htm Noted Food Safety Expert Michael R. Taylor Named Advisor to FDA Commissioner]

Monsanto is a member of the Washington D.C.–based Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the world's largest biotechnology trade association, which provides "advocacy, business development, and communications services."{{cite web | title = Modified crops increase herbicide use, WSU researcher says | Local News | The Seattle Times | work = The Seattle Times | url = http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019418644_pesticides13m.html }}{{cite web | title = About BIO | BIO | url = http://www.bio.org/articles/about-bio | access-date = November 7, 2012 | archive-date = November 12, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121112012349/http://www.bio.org/articles/about-bio }} Between 2010 and 2011 BIO spent a total of $16.43 million on lobbying.{{cite web | title = Lobbying Spending Database-Biotechnology Industry Organization, 2010 | OpenSecrets | url = https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000024369&year=2010 }}{{cite web | title = Lobbying Spending Database-Biotechnology Industry Organization, 2011 | OpenSecrets | url = https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000024369&year=2011 }}

The 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.OpenSecrets [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/topcontributor.phtml?u=1758&y=0 Monsanto] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225161526/http://www.followthemoney.org/database/topcontributor.phtml?u=1758&y=0 |date=February 25, 2012 }}Staff, Monsanto. Retrieved July 22, 2013 [http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/political-disclosures.aspx Monsanto's official "Political Disclosures" page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829054837/http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/political-disclosures.aspx |date=August 29, 2013 }}Federal Election Commission. [http://query.nictusa.com/pdf/287/13941177287/13941177287.pdf FEC Form 3x: Report of Receipts and Disbursements, Monsanto Company Citizenship Fund aka Monsanto Citizenship Fund, generated 7/8/2013] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150507203827/http://query.nictusa.com/pdf/287/13941177287/13941177287.pdf |date=May 7, 2015 }}{{cite web |url=http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?C00042069 |title=COMMITTEE DETAILS FOR COMMITTEE ID C00042069 |access-date=June 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000557/http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?C00042069 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.libertyff.com/committees.php?id=C00042069|title=LibertyFF report on the Monsanto Citizenship Fund PAC|access-date=July 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014091653/http://www.libertyff.com/committees.php?id=C00042069|archive-date=October 14, 2013}}

As of October 2013, Monsanto and DuPont Co. continued backing an anti-labeling campaign, spending roughly $18 million. The state of Washington, along with 26 other states, made proposals in November to require GMO labeling.{{cite news| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-25/monsanto-bets-5-million-in-fight-over-gene-altered-food.html | work=Bloomberg | title=Monsanto Bets $5 Million in Fight Over Gene-Altered Food}}

In the US regulatory environment, many individuals move back and forth between positions in the public and private sectors, including at Monsanto. Critics argued that the connections between the company and the government allowed Monsanto to obtain favorable regulations at the expense of consumer safety.{{cite journal |title=Revolving Doors: Monsanto and the Regulators |journal=The Ecologist |last=Ferrara |first=Jennifer |date=September–October 1998 |volume=28 |number=5 |pages=280–286 |url=http://exacteditions.theecologist.org/browsePages.do?issue=5361&size=3&pageLabel=280 |access-date=December 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226013506/http://exacteditions.theecologist.org/browsePages.do?issue=5361&size=3&pageLabel=280 |archive-date=December 26, 2013 }}{{cite web |url=https://mises.org/daily/6580/ |title=Monsanto's Friends in High Places |work=Mises Daily |date=November 9, 2013 |last=Lewis |first=Hunter |author-link=Hunter Lewis |publisher=Ludwig von Mises Institute |access-date=December 25, 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/04/10/1832621/monsanto-protection-act-power |title=The Real Monsanto Protection Act: How The GMO Giant Corrupts Regulators And Consolidates Its Power |last=Shen |first=Aviva |date=April 10, 2013 |work=ThinkProgress |access-date=December 25, 2013}} Supporters of the practice point to the benefits of competent and experienced individuals in both sectors and to the importance of appropriately managing potential conflicts of interest.Stephanie Armour for Bloomberg News. February 29, 2012. [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-29/food-safety-official-s-ties-to-monsanto-spur-petition-for-ouster.html Food Safety Official's Past Work for Monsanto Spurs Petition for Ouster]OECD August 23, 2010 [http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/governance/post-public-employment/post-public-employment-practices-and-concerns_9789264056701-4-en#page4 Post-Public Employment: Good Practices for Preventing Conflict of Interest] {{ISBN|9789264056701}}{{rp|16–23}} The list of such people includes:

• Linda J. Fisher—EPA assistant administrator, then Monsanto VP from 1995 to 2000. then EPA deputy administrator.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/05/monsanto200805|title=Monsanto's Cruel, and Dangerous, Monopolization on American Farming|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=April 2, 2008}}
• Michael A. Friedman, MD—FDA deputy commissioner.{{Cite journal|title=Dr. Michael Friedman, After Serving at the NCI, FDA, and Pharmacia, Returns to Academia as CEO of City of Hope|journal=Oncology Times|volume=25|issue=12|pages=41–42|date=June 25, 2003|doi=10.1097/01.COT.0000289833.46951.54|last1=Laino|first1=Charlene|doi-access=free}}
• Earle H. Harbison Jr., Central Intelligence Agency Deputy Director, then President, Chief Operating Officer, and Director, from 1986 to 1993.
• Robert Holifield—chief of staff of Senate Agriculture Committee, then partner in Lincoln Policy Group.[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/16/monsanto-blanche-lincoln-_n_4110750.html "Monsanto Hires Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln As Lobbyist"], The Huffington Post.
• Mickey Kantor—US trade representative, then Monsanto board member.
• Blanche Lincoln—US Senator and chair of Agriculture Committee, then founder of lobbying firm Lincoln Policy Group
• William D. Ruckelshaus—EPA Administrator, then acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and then Deputy Attorney General of the United States, then EPA administrator, then Monsanto Board member.{{cite web|url=http://ruckelshauscenter.wsu.edu/advisory-board-members/william-d-ruckelshaus/|title=William D. Ruckelshaus|publisher=Ruckelshauscenter.wsu.edu}}
• Donald Rumsfeld—Secretary of Defense and previous secretary of Searle, a Monsanto subsidiary, for eight years{{Cite book|jstor=j.ctt183p5cm|title=Making the World Safe for Capitalism: How Iraq Threatened the US Economic Empire and had to be Destroyed|last=Doran|first=Christopher|publisher=Pluto Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7453-3222-2|page=214|doi=10.2307/j.ctt183p5cm}}
• Michael R. Taylor—assistant to the FDA commissioner, then attorney for King & Spalding,{{cite news |title=New FDA deputy to lead food-safety mandate |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/13/AR2010011304402.html |first=Lyndsey |last=Layton |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 14, 2010}}Palast, Gregory (February 21, 1999) [https://www.theguardian.com/business/1999/feb/21/observerbusiness.theobserver8?INTCMP=SRCH Soured milk of Monsanto's 'kindness'], The Guardian then FDA deputy commissioner for policy on food safety between 1991 and 1994. He was cleared of conflict of interest accusations. Then he became Monsanto's VP for Public Policy, becoming Senior Advisor to the FDA Commissioner for the Obama administration.
• Clarence Thomas—Supreme Court Justice who worked as an attorney for Monsanto in the 1970s, then wrote the majority opinion in J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-1996.ZS.html |title=J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. V. Pioneer Hi-Bredinternational, Inc|publisher=Law.cornell.edu }} finding that "newly developed plant breeds are patentable under the general utility patent laws of the United States."{{cite web |url=http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/articles/harl/HarlMar02.htm |title=Key Supreme Court ruling on plant patents – McEowen, Harl March 2002 |publisher=Extension.iastate.edu |date=January 18, 2002 |access-date=May 19, 2008 |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202000652/http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/articles/harl/HarlMar02.htm }}
• Ann Veneman—Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, and member of the board of directors of Calgene

During the late 1990s, Monsanto lobbied to raise permitted glyphosate levels in soybeans and was successful in convincing Codex Alimentarius and both the UK and US governments to lift levels 200 times to 20 milligrams per kilogram of soya.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdYPAAAAQBAJ|title=Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain|last=Monbiot|first=George|date=July 11, 2013|publisher=Pan Macmillan|isbn=978-1-4472-5247-4}}{{rp|265}} When asked how negotiations with Monsanto were conducted, Lord Donoughue, then the Labour Party Agriculture minister in the House of Lords, stated that all information relating to the matter would be "kept secret".{{rp|265}} During the 24 months prior to the 1997 British election Monsanto representatives had 22 meetings at the departments of Agriculture and the Environment.{{rp|266}} Stanley Greenberg, an election advisor to Tony Blair, later worked as a Monsanto consultant.{{rp|266}} Former Labour spokesperson David Hill, became Monsanto's media adviser at the lobbying firm Bell Pottinger.{{rp|266}} The Labour government was challenged in Parliament about "trips, facilities, gifts and other offerings of financial value provided by Monsanto to civil servants", but only acknowledged that Department of Trade and Industry had two working lunches with Monsanto.{{rp|267}} Peter Luff, then a Conservative Party MP and Chairman of the Agriculture Select Committee, received up to £10,000 a year from Bell Pottinger on behalf of Monsanto.{{rp|266}}{{cite news | title = Monsanto's lobby firm pays key MP | url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1999/jul/04/uk.politicalnews |date=July 4, 1999| first = Antony | last = Barnett | newspaper =The Guardian | location=London}}{{cite news | title = Resign call over MP's link with GM food firm | url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/1999/jul/11/gm.food |date=July 11, 1999 | first = Antony | last = Barnett | newspaper =The Guardian | location=London}}

In January 2011, WikiLeaks documents suggested that US diplomats in Europe responded to a request for help from the Spanish government. One report stated, "In addition, the cables show US diplomats working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto. 'In response to recent urgent requests by [Spanish rural affairs ministry] state secretary Josep Puxeu and Monsanto, post requests renewed US government support of Spain's science-based agricultural biotechnology position through high-level US government intervention.'"{{cite news |title=U.S. targeted EU on GM foods: WikiLeaks |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-s-targeted-eu-on-gm-foods-wikileaks-1.1010690 |date=March 9, 2011 |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation}} The leaked documents showed that in 2009, when the Spanish government's policy approving MON810 was under pressure from EU interests, Monsanto's Director for Biotechnology for Spain and Portugal requested that the US government support Spain on the matter.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/03/wikileaks-us-eu-gm-crops |title=WikiLeaks: US targets EU over GM crops |work=The Guardian |author=Vidal, John |date=January 3, 2011 |location=London, UK}}{{cite web |work=EUobserver |title=Spain a key ally of pro-GMO America, cables reveal |url=http://euobserver.com/news/31544 |date=December 20, 2010}} The leaks indicated that Spain and the US had worked closely together to "persuade the EU not to strengthen biotechnology laws". Spain was viewed as a key GMO supporter and a leading indicator of support across the continent.{{cite web |title=U.S. Presses Europe to Worship Genetically Modified Foods |author=Estabrook, Barry |website=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/01/us-presses-europe-to-worship-genetically-modified-foods/69633/|date=January 17, 2011}}{{cite web |title=EE UU: "España nos pide que presionemos a Bruselas a favor de los transgénicos" |work=El Pais |url=http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=es&to=en&a=http://elpais.com/diario/2010/12/19/espana/1292713201_850215.html |date=December 19, 2010}} The leaks also revealed that in response to an attempt by France to ban MON810 in late 2007, then-US ambassador to France, Craig Roberts Stapleton, asked Washington to "calibrate a targeted retaliation list that [would cause] some pain across the EU", targeting countries that did not support the use of GM crops.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/03/wikileaks-us-eu-gm-crops |title=WikiLeaks: US targets EU over GM crops |work=The Guardian |author=Vidal, John |date=January 3, 2011 |location=London, UK}} This activity transpired after the US, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico and New Zealand had brought an action against Europe via the World Trade Organization with respect to the EU's banning of GMOs; in 2006, the WTO had ruled against the EU.[http://www.euractiv.com/en/trade/eu-gmo-ban-illegal-wto-rules/article-155197 Euractive.com EU GMO ban was illegal, WTO rules] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907170429/http://www.euractiv.com/en/trade/eu-gmo-ban-illegal-wto-rules/article-155197 |date=September 7, 2008 }}, euractiv.com (updated May 23, 2007)[http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/1pagesum_e/ds291sum_e.pdf EC – Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products (Disputes DS291, 292, 293)], World Trade Organisation.

Monsanto was a member of EuropaBio, the leading biotechnology trade group in Europe. One of EuropaBio's initiatives is "Transforming Europe's position on GM food". It found "an urgent need to reshape the terms of the debate about GM in Europe".[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/interactive/2011/oct/20/transforming-europe-gm-food Transforming Europe's position on GM food – ambassadors programme executive summary] The Guardian, October 20, 2011 EuropaBio proposed the recruitment of high-profile "ambassadors" to lobby EU officials.[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/oct/20/europabio-gm-ambassadors-europe?intcmp=239 Biotech group bids to recruit high-profile GM 'ambassadors'] John Vidal and Hanna Gersmann, The Guardian, October 20, 2011[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/interactive/2011/oct/20/gm-food Draft letter from EuropaBio to potential GM ambassadors] (Draft letter from EuropaBio to potential GM ambassadors seeking their involvement in the outreach programme), The Guardian, October 20, 2011

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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/28/monsanto-banned-from-european-parliament|title=Monsanto banned from European parliament|first=Arthur|last=Neslen|date=September 28, 2017|newspaper=The Guardian}}

After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Monsanto donated $255,000 for disaster relief[http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/Haitian_farmers_protest_Monsanto_seed_donations_999.html Haitian farmers protest Monsanto seed donations], Hinche, Haiti (AFP) June 4, 2010 and 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid (non-GM) corn and vegetable seeds worth $4 million.{{cite magazine|last=Katz |first=Jonathan M. |url=http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9FMUQN80.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518201252/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9FMUQN80.htm |archive-date=May 18, 2010 |title=Monsanto gives Haiti $4 million in hybrid seeds |magazine=BusinessWeek |date=May 14, 2010}} However, a Catholic Relief Services (CRS) rapid assessment of seed supply and demand for the five most common food security crops found that the Haitians had enough seed and recommended that imported seeds be introduced only on a small scale.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120308151257/http://oneresponse.info/Disasters/Haiti/Agriculture/publicdocuments/CRS.%20Rapid%20Seed%20Assessment.%20Mars-10.pdf "A Rapid Seed Assessment in the Southern Department of Haiti."] Catholic Relief Services, March 2010 Emmanuel Prophete, head of Haiti's Ministry of Agriculture's Service National Semencier (SNS), stated that SNS was not opposed to the hybrid maize seeds because they at least double yields. Louise Sperling, Principal Researcher at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) told HGW that she was not opposed to hybrids, but noted that most hybrids required extra water and better soils and that most of Haiti was not appropriate for hybrids.

Activists objected that some of the seeds were coated with the fungicides Maxim or thiram. In the United States, pesticides containing thiram are banned in home garden products because most home gardeners do not have adequate protection.[http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=P1009J9G.PDF US EPA: Pesticides – RED Facts Thiram]. (PDF). Activists wrote that the coated seeds were handled in a dangerous manner by the recipients.{{cite web |url=http://www.truth-out.org/monsanto-haiti/1304605989 |title=Monsanto in Haiti |publisher=Truth-out.org |access-date=February 9, 2012 |archive-date=May 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509194832/http://www.truth-out.org/monsanto-haiti/1304605989 }}

The donated seeds were sold at a reduced price in local markets. However, farmers feared that they were being given seeds that would "threaten local varieties".

Monsanto has engaged in various public relations campaigns to improve its image and public perception of some of its products.Jenny Hopkinson, "[https://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/monsanto-agriculture-image-problem-100442 Monsanto's makeover]", Politico, November 29, 2013.John Vidal, "[https://www.theguardian.com/science/1999/oct/07/gm.food We forgot to listen, says Monsanto]", The Guardian, October 6, 1999. These include developing a relationship with scientist Richard Doll with respect to Agent Orange.Sarah Boseley, "[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2006/dec/08/smoking.frontpagenews Renowned cancer scientist was paid by chemical firm for 20 years]"; The Guardian, December 8, 2006."[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6220440.stm Industry 'paid top cancer expert']", BBC, December 8, 2006.{{Cite journal|last=Tweedale|first=Geoffrey|date=2007-04-01|title=Hero or Villain?—Sir Richard Doll and Occupational Cancer|journal=International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health|volume=13|issue=2|pages=233–235|doi=10.1179/oeh.2007.13.2.233|issn=1077-3525|pmid=17718181|s2cid=40438560}} Other campaigns include the joint funding with other biotech companies for the website GMO Answers.Eric Lipton, "[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/us/food-industry-enlisted-academics-in-gmo-lobbying-war-emails-show.html Food Industry Enlisted Academics in G.M.O. Lobbying War, Emails Show]", The New York Times, September 9, 2015.

• Disneyland attractions, namely:
• Hall of Chemistry (1955 to 1966)[http://www.yesterland.com/chemistry.html Monsanto Hall of Chemistry]. Yesterland.com.
• Monsanto House of the Future (from 1957 to 1967)[http://alum.mit.edu/pages/sliceofmit/2010/04/30/monsanto_mit_house/ Houses: Make Mine Small, Modular, and Made of Plastic] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829035358/http://alum.mit.edu/pages/sliceofmit/2010/04/30/monsanto_mit_house/ |date=August 29, 2012 }}. Alum.mit.edu (April 30, 2010)[http://www.yesterland.com/futurewontwait.html "The Future Won't Wait"]. Yesterland.com.
• Fashions and Fabrics through the Years (from 1965 to 1966)
• Adventure Thru Inner Space (from 1967 to 1986)[http://www.yesterland.com/innersp.html Adventure Thru Inner Space]. Yesterland.com.
• Monsanto has donated $10 million to the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis in the 1970s, which named its 1998 plant science facility the 'Monsanto Center', which has been renamed in 2018 as the 'Bayer Center'.Press release [http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/media/news-releases/article/327/missouri-botanical-garden-receives-3-million-gift-from-monsanto-company-toward.aspx "Missouri Botanical Garden receives $3 million gift from Monsanto Company toward development of a World Flora Online."] Missouri Botanical Garden, June 5, 2012
• Field Museum
• Gregor Mendel exhibit[https://www.fieldmuseum.org/sites/default/files/2007_Annual_Report.pdf&sa=U&ved=0CBcQFjAJahUKEwisj_Tv45jIAhVDi5IKHUfsAw4&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNGOjrisbjc_nxp7X70S47qqRW85NQ 2007 Annual Report]{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Field Museum, page 10, 2007: "Restricted gifts and grants 100,000 to $249,999" and "Underground Adventures" since 2011 "about the importance and fragility of the ecosystem within soil".Press Release [http://www.fieldmuseum.org/underground-adventure-press-release Underground Adventure] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627075337/https://www.fieldmuseum.org/underground-adventure-press-release |date=June 27, 2017 }} Field Museum, 2011
• "Monsanto Environmental Education Initiative", led by Gregory M. Mueller
• Chair of the Department of Botany and Associate Curator of Mycology[https://www.fieldmuseum.org/sites/default/files/annual_report1999_0.pdf&sa=U&ved=0CA8QFjAEOApqFQoTCM-ZuerpmMgCFVYWkgod14cA3g&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNHHmdRvgsFxatou5bxDLSFRPlki4ATHE FIELD MUSEUM 1999 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES]{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Office of Academic Affairs, The Field Museum, March 20, 2000, page 53
• Staff of the Field Museum, such as Curator Mark W. Westneat, attended Monsanto meetingsOffice of Collections and Research, The Field Museum [https://www.fieldmuseum.org/.../FINAL_CR_Annual_Report_2012.pdf The field museum 2012 annual report to the board of trustees] page 64.
• Monsanto Insectarium, renamed in 2018 as the Bayer Insectarium, at the St. Louis Zoo, in St. Louis, Missouri,

Monsanto was a major funder of science research at Washington University in St. Louis for many years.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.247.4946.1027|title=Monsanto - WashU|journal=Science|date=March 2, 1990|volume=247|issue=4946|page=1027|doi=10.1126/science.247.4946.1027|last1=Culliton|first1=Barbara J.|pmid=17800050}} This research was highlighted by the Washington University/Monsanto Biomedical Research Agreement, which brought more than $100 million of research funding to the university.{{Cite web|url=https://beckerarchives.wustl.edu/?p=collections/findingaid&id=8381&q=&rootcontentid=157655|title=WU/Monsanto Biomedical Research Agreement {{!}} Vertical File Collection, Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives|website=beckerarchives.wustl.edu|access-date=2019-08-19}} Washington University built the Monsanto Laboratory of the Life Sciences in 1965.{{Cite web|url=https://wustl.edu/about/campuses/danforth-campus/monsanto-laboratory-life-sciences/|title=Monsanto Laboratory of the Life Sciences|website=Washington University in St. Louis|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-19|archive-date=August 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822180137/https://wustl.edu/about/campuses/danforth-campus/monsanto-laboratory-life-sciences/}} In 2015, Monsanto gave Washington University's Institute for School Partnership a $1.94 million grant to help better teach students in STEM fields.{{Cite web|url=https://monsanto.com/news-releases/monsanto-fund-awards-1-9-million-grant-to-institute-for-school-partnership/|title=Monsanto Fund Awards $1.9 Million Grant to Institute for School Partnership|date=2015-08-18|website=Monsanto|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-20|archive-date=August 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820161253/https://monsanto.com/news-releases/monsanto-fund-awards-1-9-million-grant-to-institute-for-school-partnership/}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/biznext/2015/07/monsanto-gives-wash-u-stem-initiative-2-2-million.html|title=Monsanto - WashU Stem Initiative|website=www.bizjournals.com|access-date=2019-08-19}}

In 2009 Monsanto was chosen as Forbes magazine's company of the year.Langreth, Robert and Herper, Matthew, (January 19, 2010) [https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0118/americas-best-company-10-gmos-dupont-planet-versus-monsanto.html The Planet Versus Monsanto] Forbes magazine{{cite news |last1=Weiner |first1=Juli |title=How Seed Giant Monsanto Went from 2009 Company of the Year to Worst Stock of 2010 |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2010/10/how-seed-giant-monsanto-went-from-2009-company-of-the-year-to-worst-stock-of-2010 |access-date=September 20, 2018 |work=The Hive |date=2010-10-07 |language=en}} In 2010 Swiss research firm Covalence rated Monsanto least ethical{{cite web |url=http://www.covalence.ch/index.php/2010/01/26/covalence-ethical-ranking-2009 |title=Covalence Ethical Rankings 2009 |date=2010-01-26 |access-date=March 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317034952/http://www.covalence.ch/index.php/2010/01/26/covalence-ethical-ranking-2009 |archive-date=2010-03-17 }} of 581 multinational corporations based on their EthicalQuote reputation tracking index which "aggregates thousands of positive and negative news items published by the media, companies, and stakeholders",{{cite web |url=http://www.ethicalquote.com/index.php/about-us/ |title=About-Us |author= |website=Covalence EthicalQuote |date=January 12, 2007 |access-date=March 29, 2016}} without attempt to validate sources.{{cite web |url=http://www.covalence.ch/index.php/products/methodology? |title=Methodology |access-date=March 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420063502/http://www.covalence.ch/index.php/products/methodology/|archive-date=April 20, 2010 |quote=Covalence does not see some sources as more reliable than others. Any source is considered equally. Covalence does not validate information sources, neither the content of information.}}{{cite web |url=http://www.covalence.ch/index.php/ethical-rankings/across-sectors |title=Across Sectors |date=2010-01-26 |access-date=March 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325004450/http://www.covalence.ch/index.php/ethical-rankings/across-sectors|archive-date=March 25, 2010 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/04/08/monsanto-leads-in-genetically-modified-agriculture-trails-in-e/ |title=Monsanto leads in genetically modified agriculture, trails in ethics |last1=Cesca |first1=Bob |date=April 9, 2010 |website=Daily Finance |access-date=March 29, 2016 |quote=And where was Monsanto on the list? Dead last. 581 out of 581.}} The journal Science ranked Monsanto in its Top 20 Employers list between 2011 and 2014. In 2012, it described the company as "innovative leader in the industry", "makes changes needed" and "does important quality research".{{cite web|url=http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2012_09_21/science.opms.r1200125|title=Annual Top Employers Survey: Stability in the Face of Change|work=Science Careers|date=September 21, 2012|access-date=June 15, 2015|archive-date=September 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905230955/http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2012_09_21/science.opms.r1200125}}{{cite news |last1=Unglesbee |first1=Ben |title=Monsanto makes top 10 on Science's list of best employers |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/2014/10/monsanto-makes-top-10-on-science-s-list-of-best.html |access-date=September 20, 2018 |work=www.bizjournals.com |date=2014-10-14}} Monsanto executive Robert Fraley won the World Food Prize for "breakthrough achievements in founding, developing, and applying modern agricultural biotechnology".{{cite web|url=https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/2010__2013_laureates/2013__van_montagu_chilton_fraley/|title=2013 – Van Montagu, Chilton, Fraley|access-date=June 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714080549/https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/2010__2013_laureates/2013__van_montagu_chilton_fraley/|archive-date=July 14, 2015}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/business/monsanto-executive-is-among-world-food-prize-winners.html|title=Executive at Monsanto Wins Global Food Honor|date=June 20, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|last1=Pollack|first1=Andrew}}

• The Corporation
• Bitter Seeds
• Food, Inc.
• The Future of Food
• The World According to Monsanto{{YouTube|zfOSFaaLx_o|The World According to Monsanto}}

{{Portal|Companies|Agriculture and agronomy}}

• Biological patents in the United States
• DuPont Pioneer
• Genetically modified food controversies
• Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories
• Temporal analysis of products

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |title=Zion in the Valley, 1807-1907: Volume I, The Jewish Community of St. Louis|last=Ehrlich|first=Walter |year=1997|publisher=University of Missouri Press|isbn=0-8262-1098-8}}
• Forrestal, Dan J. (1977). Faith, Hope & $5000: The Story of Monsanto, Simon & Schuster, {{ISBN|0-671-22784-X}}.
• Pechlaner, Gabriela, Corporate Crops: Biotechnology, Agriculture, and the Struggle for Control, University of Texas Press, 2012, {{ISBN|0292739451}}
• Robin, Marie-Monique, The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of the World's Food Supply, New Press, 2009, {{ISBN|1595584269}}
• Spears, Ellen Griffith, Baptized in PCBs: Race, Pollution, and Justice in an All-American Town, The University of North Carolina Press, 2014, {{ISBN|1469611716}}.
• Shiva, Vandana, Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply, South End Press, 2000, {{ISBN|0896086070}}.

• {{Commons category inline|Monsanto Company}}

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