Agrochemical company Monsanto announced in 2017 that they would be merging with German-based company Bayer. Troy Coziahr, Manager at Monsanto Learning Center in rural Monmouth, talked about the latest developments with the merger:
“It’s still in the regulatory approval process. The only thing we continue to hear is early this year, so within the next couple months is the expectation right now. I think they have about half of the regulatory approvals that they need. I forget how many countries are involved, but they have about half of those approvals at this point,” he said.
Coziahr and his staff research crops with specific breeding and trait testing, crop physiology testing, and various trials and demonstrations. The testing of certain products can take upwards of a decade or more to fully understand how they will react to certain conditions or situations.
“We have a five-phase pipeline. We start with the discovery phase, which happens in the laboratory and greenhouses. It moves through Phase 1 through 4. 4 is pre-launch; that’s basically when we are getting all the final approvals in place and ramping up seed production,” Coziahr said.
The main function of the learning center is to bring in farmers to educate them on the latest research, new products, and technologies that are coming about. Monsanto publishes eight to 12 trials in hard-copy form and online for learning purposes as well.
The facility brings in 5,000 to 7,000 people per year, and anywhere between 800 to 1,200 visitors from outside of the U.S. For more information, visit monsanto.com.
written by Jackson Kane