Cotton has been genetically modified for resistance to glyphosate ( marketed as Roundup in North America ) a broad-spectrum herbicide sold by Monsanto which also sells some of the Bt cotton seeds to farmers.

Some activities by activists attending the WSF have also been criticised, such as at the WSF 2001, where activists invaded and destroyed an experimental genetically modified plantation of the Monsanto Company.

Monsanto is also a leading producer of genetically engineered ( GE ) seed.

Monsanto also was a leading manufacturer of controversial products such as the insecticide DDT, PCBs which were used as electrical insulators, and the defoliant Agent Orange.

As one of pioneering companies in applying biotechnology to agriculture, Monsanto also brought into agriculture the standard biotechnology industry business model, in which patent rights play a key role, as patents allow such companies to recoup the expense of biotech research.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Monsanto was also one of the most important producers of Agent Orange for United States Military operations in Vietnam.

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 ".

Monsanto has also developed a Roundup Ready wheat ( MON 71800 ).

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.

It also would prevent farmers from planting seeds they harvest, requiring them to repurchase seed for every planting, although they also need to do this for hybrid seeds, because second-generation seeds are inferior, and in cases of patented transgenic seeds, where patent-holders like Monsanto enter into contracts with farmers who agree not to plant harvested seeds as a condition of purchase.

Monsanto has also made frequent use of the courts to defend its patents, particularly in the area of agricultural biotechnology, as have other companies in the field, such as Dupont Pioneer and Syngenta.

Monsanto and its customers, such as Westinghouse and GE also faced litigation from third parties, such as workers at scrapyards that bought used electrical equipment and broke them down to reclaim valuable metals.

Monsanto also agreed to pay a $ 1. 5m fine.

Monsanto also has admitted to paying bribes to a number of other high-ranking Indonesian officials between 1997 and 2002.

The " revolving door syndrome " is also pointed out in the research as a threat to the quality and independence of the scientific conclusions about the effects of Monsanto products, especially those reached by the Food and Drug Administration.

It also shows the effect Monsanto has had on some of the world's agricultural markets.

The Monsanto plant in Sauget was also home to a very serious accident on January 4, 1992 when a worker ( Charles Pritchett ) was critically hurt.

Based on earlier research by Monsanto Company and Bayer, a fiber – para-aramid – with much higher tenacity and elastic modulus was also developed in the 1960s – 1970s by DuPont and Akzo Nobel, both profiting from their knowledge of rayon, polyester and nylon processing.

Since that time, Monsanto has also been an important sponsor.

In 1997, Steve Wilson and Jane Akre began work on a story regarding the agricultural biotechnology company Monsanto and recombinant bovine growth hormone ( rBGH ), a milk additive that had been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration but also blamed for a number of health issues.

" In a joint statement, Wilson claimed that he and Akre " were repeatedly ordered to go forward and broadcast demonstrably inaccurate and dishonest versions of the story ," and " were given those instructions after some very high-level corporate lobbying by Monsanto ( the powerful drug company that makes the hormone ) and also ... by members of Florida ’ s dairy and grocery industries.

On January 26, 2001 a number of activists with Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Terra ( MST ) reacted in protest to the growing role of Monsanto in global agribusiness, which was considered by the group to be unethically using their seed patents to harm the rights of rural peoples, tore up an experimental plot of transgenic crops in Não-me-Toque, 300 km from Porto Alegre, where the World Social Forum was taking place at the time.

In one high-profile case ( Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser ) the Monsanto Company sued Percy Schmeiser for patent infringement after he replanted canola seed that he had harvested from his field, which he discovered was contaminated with Monsanto's patented glyphosate-tolerant canola by spraying it with Roundup, leaving only the resistant plants.

The Supreme Court ruled that Percy was in violation of Monsanto's patent because he knowingly replanted the resistant seed that he had harvested, but he was not required to pay Monsanto damages since he did not benefit financially from its presence.

Monsanto's role in these changes in agriculture ( which include its litigation and its seed commercialization practices ), its current and former agbiotech products ( genetically engineered seed and bovine growth hormone ), and its history as a chemical company, have made Monsanto controversial.

Monsanto first entered the maize seed business when it purchased 40 % of DEKALB in 1996 ; it purchased the remainder of the corporation in 1998.

In 1998 Monsanto purchased Cargill's seed business, which gave it access to sales and distribution facilities in 51 countries.

In January, Monsanto announced the purchase of Holden's Foundations Seeds, a privately held seed business.

By acquiring Holden's, Monsanto became the biggest American producer of foundation corn, the parent seed from which hybrids are made.

* 2007: In June, Monsanto completed its purchase of Delta and Pine Land Company, a major cotton seed breeder, for $ 1. 5 billion.

* 2008: Monsanto purchased the Dutch seed company De Ruiter Seeds for € 546 million, and sells its POSILAC bovine somatotropin brand and related business to Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly in August for $ 300 million plus " additional contingent consideration ".

Many of Monsanto's agricultural seed products are genetically modified for resistance to herbicides, such as glyphosate, which Monsanto sells under the brand, " Roundup "-Monsanto calls these seeds " Roundup Ready ".

Monsanto has broadly licensed the patent to other seed companies that include the glyphosate resistance trait in their seed products.

Since the mid &# 8209 ; 1990s, Monsanto indicates that it has sued 145 individual U. S. farmers for patent infringement and / or breach of contract in connection with its genetically engineered seed.

The Center for Food Safety has listed 112 lawsuits by Monsanto against farmers for claims of seed patent violations.

In 2007 Monsanto sued Indiana farmer Vernon Hugh Bowman, who in 1999 bought seed for his second planting from a grain elevator-the same elevator that he and others sold their transgenic crops to.

Monsanto stated that he was infringing their patents because the soybeans he bought from the elevator were new products that he purchased for use as seeds without a license from Monsanto ; Bowman stated that he had not infringed due to patent exhaustion on the first sale of seed to whatever farmers had produced the crops that he bought from the elevator, on the grounds that for seed, all future generations are embodied in the first generation that was originally sold.

Aspartame is currently the most popular artificial sweetener in the U. S. food industry, as the price has dropped significantly since the Monsanto Company patent expired in 1992.

Monsanto has subsequently developed Bt maize ( MON 802, MON 809, MON 863, MON 810 ), Bt soybean, and Bt cotton.

Monsanto has been identified by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency as being a " potentially responsible party " for 56 contaminated sites ( Superfund sites ) in the United States.

Monsanto has been sued, and has settled, multiple times for damaging the health of its employees or residents near its Superfund sites through pollution and poisoning.

In 1999, Monsanto pledged not to commercialize terminator technology, and has kept that pledge on its website to the present day.

In 2006 the Public Patent Foundation filed requests with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to revoke four patents that Monsanto has used in patent lawsuits against farmers, namely U. S. Patents Nos.

Monsanto has asked Spanish customs officials to inspect soymeal shipments to determine if they use Monsanto's " Roundup Ready " technology.

Monsanto has had a controversial history in India, starting with the accusation that Monsanto used terminator genes in its seeds, causing demonstrations against the company.

Monsanto has referred to these third-party studies and added that Indian farmers are the " fastest-growing users of biotech crops in the world.

Monsanto has contributed $ 4, 208, 000 to oppose the passage of California Proposition 37, which would mandate the disclosure of genetically modified crops used in the production of California food products.

Monsanto has been the corporate sponsor of many attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

The Monsanto Plant in Sauget was the nation's largest producer of PCBs, and United States Environmental Protection Agency has designated the plant site along Dead Creek as a superfund site.

Ruckelshaus serves or has served as a director on boards of several corporations, including Monsanto, Cummins Engine Company, Pharmacia Corporation, Solutia, Coinstar, Nordstrom, and Weyerhaeuser Company.