Editing Monsanto (section)

==== Row crops ====
Many of Monsanto's agricultural seed products are genetically modified, such as for resistance to [[herbicide]]s, 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.<ref name=HighPlainsJ>{{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 }}</ref> Without it, farmers had to plant rows far enough apart to allow the control of post-emergent weeds with mechanical tillage.<ref name=HighPlainsJ /> Farmers widely adopted the technology—for example over 80% of maize ([[Mon 832]]), [[Roundup Ready soybean|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

Two patents were critical to Monsanto's GM soybean business; one expired in 2011 and the other in 2014.<ref>Patently-O Blog, September 26, 2011. [http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2011/09/when-monsantos-patents-expire.html When Monsanto's Patents Expire]</ref> The second expiration meant that glyphosate resistant soybeans became "generic".<ref name="HighPlainsJ" /><ref>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.</ref><ref>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 }}</ref><ref>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 }}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> The first harvest of generic glyphosate-tolerant soybeans came in 2015.<ref>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 }}</ref> Monsanto broadly licensed the patent to other seed companies that include glyphosate resistance trait in their seed products.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/seed-licensing.aspx |title=Monsanto ~ Licensing |publisher=Monsanto.com |date=November 3, 2008 }}</ref> About 150 companies have licensed the technology,<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122498255 Monsanto GMO Ignites Big Seed War]. NPR.</ref> including competitors Syngenta<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.syngenta-us.com/legal/useragreement.html |title=User Agreement and Legal Information|publisher=Syngenta.com}}</ref> and [[DuPont Pioneer]].<ref>{{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/  }}</ref>

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.<ref>[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.</ref> Monsanto subsequently developed [[Transgenic maize#Bt corn|Bt maize]] ([[MON 802]], [[MON 809]], [[MON 863]], [[MON 810]]), [[Genetically modified soybean|Bt soybean]]<ref>{{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) &#124; ISAAA.org/KC |publisher=Isaaa.org |date=August 27, 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://southeastfarmpress.com/agribusiness-monsanto-unveils-genuity-branding "Agribusiness: Monsanto unveils Genuity branding"]. ''SE Farm News'', March 2, 2009.</ref>

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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://agproducts.basf.us/products/clearfield-wheat.html |title=The CLEARFIELD Production System for Wheat|publisher=Agproducts.basf.us}}</ref> trait from [[BASF]].<ref>{{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  }}</ref>

In 2013 Monsanto launched the first transgenic drought tolerance trait in a line of corn hybrids branded DroughtGard.<ref>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 }}</ref> 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<ref>[http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/fedregister/BRS_20111227c.pdf Federal Register], Vol. 76, No. 248, December 27, 2011.</ref> and by China in 2013.<ref>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.</ref>

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.<ref name="XtendOfficial">[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</ref> In December 2014, the system was approved for use in the US. In February 2016, China approved the Roundup Ready 2 Xtend system.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>