Monsanto Company

• Date Founded: 1901
• Industry: Agricultural Products and Chemicals
• Corporate Headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri
• Type: Public

Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Monsanto Company provided seeds, herbicides, and technology services to the farming industry. Founded in 1901 by John F. Queeny, the company went through several phases before becoming a leader in agribusiness, a position that brought significant negative attention due to controversy over issues such as genetically modified crops, seed patents, and the health impacts of certain products. It ceased to operate as an independent company following its 2018 acquisition by the pharmaceutical company Bayer.

Monsanto’s products included seeds for corn, cotton, soybeans, canola, and a range of vegetables. It pioneered the development of genetically modified seeds, which became among its most important products—as well as its most controversial. Monsanto aimed to develop hearty seeds even in adverse conditions triggered by water shortages, diseases, and pests. However, critics suggested such modifications could have adverse health and environmental impacts. Also controversially, Monsanto held patents for the seeds it generated using biotechnology and licensed its innovations to other agribusinesses.

The company also manufactured herbicides, such as Roundup, for use in agricultural and residential markets. Roundup is specially formulated to kill weeds without damaging particular crops, plants, and soil. However, it was at the center of much litigation surrounding the possible carcinogenic nature of a key ingredient, glyphosate. Furthermore, Monsanto analyzed, packaged, and sold the detailed data it collected about local weather and farming conditions. Farmers use these data services to plan operations, monitor crops, and manage costs.

After pharmaceutical company Bayer completed its purchase of Monsanto in 2018, it was announced that the Monsanto name would be phased out, though its products would continue to be sold; at this point, Monsanto ceased to operate as an independent entity. Before the Bayer acquisition, Monsanto employed over 20,000 people in 2017 as an independent multinational corporation and operated hundreds of facilities in over sixty countries. However, its high-profile controversies made it one of the most publicly reviled companies in the United States.

History

John Queeny launched Monsanto Chemical Works in 1901, borrowing his wife's maiden name as its moniker. Its first product was saccharin, an artificial sweetener. Monsanto grew slowly until the Coca-Cola Company began buying the sweetener in bulk in 1903. Years later, Monsanto produced another artificial sweetener from aspartame and sold it under NutraSweet. Other early products included the food additives vanillin, which is a component of vanilla, and caffeine.

Monsanto continued to diversify into a variety of industries. In addition to making food additives, it entered the pharmaceutical business by producing aspirin and an antiseptic known as phenol. Following World War I (1914–18), Monsanto attempted to meet the demand for industrial chemicals by domestic companies whose European suppliers had to rebuild capacity damaged by the conflict. Among these chemicals were various acids and cresol, an ingredient in disinfectants. Also, by acquiring another chemical company in 1929, Monsanto began making synthetic rubber components.

In the late 1920s, Monsanto went public, and shortly after that, the company's leadership passed from John Queeny to his son Edgar. The firm changed its name to the Monsanto Chemical Company in 1933. Two years later, it acquired Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories, which expanded the company's well-established research facilities.

During the 1940s, the company started producing chemicals for agricultural applications. From 1948 to 1969, Monsanto made Herbicide Orange, more commonly known as Agent Orange. This highly toxic herbicide and defoliant was deployed by the US military during the Vietnam War both to destroy leaves from trees and plants in forests used by guerilla fighters for shelter and also to reduce the enemy's food supply. DDT was an insecticide Monsanto started making in the 1940s. While credited with destroying pests that spread deadly diseases, this chemical was ultimately shown to damage the environment, which led to the ban of its use by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1972.

Monsanto was one of several companies recruited in 1943 during World War II by the US government to assist in the building of an atomic bomb. This covert research revolved around developing a practical and efficient method to purify uranium, the critical component in this weapon. Monsanto's subsidiary Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories carried out this highly secretive work.

The company's Agricultural Chemicals division was inaugurated in 1960 to continue improving Monsanto's line of herbicides. The introduction of Roundup in 1970 was a watershed moment for Monsanto. Farmers worldwide quickly adopted this herbicide brand, making it a noteworthy commercial success.

Monsanto's investment in making agricultural products increased during the mid-1970s when the company began researching the cell biology of crops. Using its findings, Monsanto developed heartier strains of seeds to resist weeds, pests, disease, and drought. In 1982, the company made a breakthrough by becoming the first to modify the genes of a plant successfully. That same year, researchers at Monsanto were able to grow entire plants from seeds that had been genetically modified. In 1996, Monsanto discovered a means to breed seeds that could withstand the popular herbicide Roundup, whose purpose was to kill only weeds.

The company also continued to pursue other industries. In 1985, it purchased G. D. Searle, the maker of two products: the sweetener NutraSweet and also Celebrex, a blockbuster drug used for treating arthritis. After a long history of growth through acquisitions, Monsanto itself was purchased by Pharmacia & Upjohn Company in 2000, at which point management of Searle's operations was transferred to the new parent company. Two years later, Monsanto became an independent entity once again when it spun off from Pharmacia. Its stock began trading once more as a public company in September 2002.

Monsanto continued to improve the breeding of genetically modified seeds, refine its herbicides, and develop new farming techniques tailored to all growing conditions. In 2013, it purchased Climate Corporation, which collects weather data and monitors field conditions for farmers to use in planning operations, increasing efficiency, and managing resources.

Pharmaceutical and life sciences company Bayer sealed an agreement to purchase Monsanto for $66 billion in 2016. However, due to antitrust concerns, the EU and US regulatory bodies were initially reluctant to approve the deal. Bayer had to agree to sell some of Monsanto's assets to competitor BASF. The European Union finally approved it in March 2018; the US Department of Justice followed suit a month later. The merger was officially completed in June 2018. Bayer announced the move away from the Monsanto name, which was dropped by August of that year.

After the acquisition, Bayer worked to address the roughly 100,000 remaining lawsuits against Monsanto. In 2020, Bayer settled most of these suits with a payout of $11 billion. The company also announced plans to stop selling Roundup and other glyphosate products in 2023.

Impact and Controversy

Monsanto successfully changed from being a conglomerate active in many industries to specializing in agricultural products and services. The company made many technological advances in cell biology and practical applications for genetic research. Monsanto extended its core businesses to specialized services for farmers. For instance, the company created learning centers to educate the agribusiness industry on best practices in farming. Monsanto's data services and analytics augmented the value of the company's agricultural products with tools for strategic planning in raising crop yields, controlling costs, conserving water, and maximizing land use.

However, throughout its history, the company has proved highly controversial. It was accused of insensitivity toward protecting the environment by allowing its manufacturing facilities to discharge effluents into waterways. Local governments have sued the company after finding rivers and streams contaminated by chemical runoff from Monsanto plants. From 1929 until 1971, Monsanto produced chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for use in making insulation and electrical equipment. PCBs have been proven to be highly toxic to humans and soil. Though banned in 1979, these compounds break down slowly and continue to be found in waterways and soil. Another controversy surrounded bovine growth hormone, a synthetic hormone credited with boosting milk yields of dairy cows, which has been blamed for harming livestock by increasing infections and reducing fertility. Several countries have banned products made from cows' milk that have received this hormone.

The movement toward consuming more natural and organically produced food led to calls for legislation requiring labeling products that include genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Monsanto and others resisted these efforts, claiming that such foods are safe for humans and cattle. Another issue surrounding GMOs is that they can be patented and, thus, controlled more tightly by the company that developed them. Monsanto forbade farmers from harvesting seeds from their Monsanto-developed GMO crops to plant the following season, requiring them to purchase new seeds every year, and prosecuted farmers found to have Monsanto-developed GMO crops on their properties without paying Monsanto for the seeds. In some cases, this resulted from the wind, birds, or other vehicles carrying seeds from a neighboring farmer's field.

While Monsanto's record with environmental and GMO controversies made it a frequent target of protestors and activists, perhaps the most damaging scandal for the company was litigation surrounding its popular Roundup herbicide. The active ingredient in the weedkiller product is the chemical glyphosate, which some studies suggest might be linked to an increased risk of developing cancer. Monsanto vigorously denied such claims, and some other studies dispute glyphosate's carcinogenic status. However, many lawsuits were filed against the company, mainly focusing on claims that Monsanto was guilty of neglecting to warn the public of the potential health risks of Roundup. The first such case to be successful came in August 2018, when Dewayne Johnson, a groundskeeper who regularly used Roundup and eventually developed terminal non-Hodgkin lymphoma, was awarded $289 million by a jury in California. While Monsanto quickly appealed the decision, the costly litigation, many lawsuits, and negative publicity were widely seen as contributing to Bayer's decision to retire the Monsanto name altogether.

As of 2024, Bayer was still facing issues regarding its Roundup herbicide product, with approximately 170,000 lawsuits against the company. According to Androvett, the lawsuits claimed that exposure to glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, had led to different types of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. By 2024, Bayer had settled about 100,000 claims for around 11 billion dollars, but there were still around 58,000 ongoing cases, including 4,300 consolidated in a class action lawsuit. In rulings, Bayer faced significant financial losses, with a Pennsylvania resident receiving a substantial $ 11 billion settlement due to developing cancer from Roundup use. These court cases shed light on the doubts surrounding the safety of glyphosate-based products, illustrating a growing focus on the regulation and legal responsibilities associated with chemicals.

Bibliography

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