Monsanto has acquired WestBred LLC of Bozeman, Montana, a company that specializes in wheat germplasm. Monsanto says it will invest in both new breeding and biotechnology innovations in wheat. Monsanto got out of the wheat business in 2004 citing declining planted acreage and resistance to biotech wheat. Executive Vice President of Strategy and Operations, Carl Casale says that environment has changed, “When you think about seven of the last ten years, demand for wheat has outstripped supply and the fact that there has not been a tremendous investment in wheat, you can see there is a real opportunity to bring technology to wheat so demand and supply can come into balance.”
Casale says initially, Monsanto will use their conventional and market-assisted breeding expertise on WestBred germplasm as a foundation, “to bring better wheat varieties to the marketplace.” In the longer term, “bring the value of biotechnology along with that.” He says somewhere around the eight to ten years it usually takes for the development of large-acre crops. The company will also form a Wheat Product Development Advisory Group to work with them as products and technologies are developed.
The National Association of Wheat Growers welcomed the news stating the announcement “comes at a time when basic research into agronomic improvements to wheat is critically needed. ”
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