- Garst Seed Company, based in Slater, Iowa, recently awarded $1,000 scholarships to 26 FFA students pursuing college degrees in the field of agriculture. Among this year’s recipients are future crop scientists, seed sales managers, farm broadcasters, marketing specialists and U.S. farmers. Garst committed $75,000 to the FFA Collegiate Scholarship Program in 2005 as part of its 75th anniversary celebration and pledged to award 75 $1,000 scholarships over a three-year period.
- Preemergent control of tough weeds in no-till sunflowers is available with Aim herbicide and Spartan herbicide from FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC). These herbicides are two excellent tools that can become part of an overall burndown program with glyphosate. The combination of Aim and Spartan provides control of tough weeds in no-till sunflowers, whether used in a one-shot program (a tank mix of Spartan, glyphosate and Aim) or a two-shot program of Spartan followed by a tank mix of Aim and glyphosate.
- Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) announced that it has completed its divestitures of the Stoneville and NexGen businesses and will begin combining existing operations with the Delta and Pine Land Company (D&PL). This process will bring together two industry leaders to combine their expertise and resources for the benefit of U.S. cotton producers. Monsanto’s entire Southern business will be known as Delta and Pine Land, and will include D&PL brands of cotton and soybeans, as well as Monsanto’s DEKALB® corn, Asgrow® soybeans and Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides. The Delta and Pine Land business will support Monsanto’s seed, biotechnology and chemistry products.
- VeraSun Energy Corporation (NYSE: VSE), one of the nation’s largest ethanol producers, today announced the appointment of Kurt Swenson, Keith Bruinsma and Darin Fedt to the position of Vice President and the addition of Bryan Meier as Vice President and Controller. VeraSun Energy Corporation (NYSE: VSE), headquartered in Brookings, South Dakota, is a leading producer of renewable fuel. The Company has three operating ethanol production facilities located in Aurora, SD, Fort Dodge, IA, and Charles City, IA.
- Bayer CropScience AG and Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON), two of the leading agro-companies worldwide, have entered into a series of long-term business and licensing agreements related to key enabling agricultural technologies. Within the framework of these agreements Bayer CropScience will grant Monsanto a royalty bearing, non-exclusive license for its LibertyLink® herbicide tolerance technology for use in corn and soybeans, the two largest field crops in terms of acreage in the United States. The agreements provide Monsanto with an option to market corn and soybean seeds which contain both Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® and Bayer CropScience’s LibertyLink® technologies, which could provide farmers with additional weed management solutions.
