FFA visits Monsanto in St. Louis

by Mr. Eisenhauer

September 25, 2009

Sam, Austin and Curtis at bank of Mississippi River as a barge passes by in the background.

Austin, Sam and Curtis at a table listening to a Monsanto executive.

On Sept 20^th Austin Hamm, Sam Elsberry and Curtis Dather from the local FFA Chapter accompanied their advisor, Richard Eisenhauer, to St. Louis, Missouri to attend a Monsanto sponsored educational tour. They flew out of the Omaha airport at 9:30 am, arriving in St Louis an hour later.

First stop on their agenda was to visit the St. Louis City Museum. This was a combination of an indoor amusement park and a historical museum. The students enjoyed many interactive exhibits. After leaving the museum, they arrived at the Gateway Arch near the Mississippi River. The students toured the museum, learning how and why it was built. After the tour, they took the 320 foot ride in small capsule to the top to observe the city from the look-out lobby on top of the arch.

Next, it was traveling to the motel and then off to a Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals baseball game that Monsanto treated them to. This was the night that St. Louis was expected to clinch their play-off berth so the stadium was full and there was excitement everywhere. It turned out to be a very exciting game. It was tied at the bottom of the 9^th, the Cards scored the winning run, and fireworks went off everywhere. When the umpires gained control of the situation, they called a runner out so the score did not count and the Cubs went on to win.

The highlight of the tour started Monday morning as we drove to Monsanto’s world headquarters. Security was extremely tight as we entered the complex. Two security concerns are bio-terrorism and stealing of research secrets. A short introduction to the facility was followed by a walking tour. Students were able to see the laboratories, growing chambers, and greenhouses that were developing the products of the future. Students learned how plants such as roundup resistant corn and beans were developed. They were also given insight as to the plants of the future. The goal of companies, such as Monsanto, is to double production while decreasing the input cost by 1/3 by the year 2030. This means that in twenty years, the nation corn yield will average 300 bushel per acre and soybeans yields will be 80 bushel per acre!

Their goal is to accomplish this through improving plant genetics rather than applying more fertilizer and chemical. Students were invited on this trip to interest them into pursuing careers in plant research and biotechnology recruiting the next generation of scientists. The tour was concluded with Monsanto serving a noon meal. At the meal, a Monsanto representative told us how they were working with other agricultural companies to give us the most productive but safest food supply in the world. He said that in the next 20 years we will have to produce more than has been produced since the beginning of time if we are to keep up with food demand.

The FFA chapter was selected to participate in this educational tour as an outcome from the corn test plot. Monsanto asked us to select students involved in the program that were interested in future agricultural production. The FFA chapter thanks Monsanto, CVA, CHS, and BC Coop for the opportunity to participate.