Monsanto joins research campus

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — The N.C. Research Campus will land its highest profile tenant to date when global agriculture giant Monsanto Company, maker of Roundup, joins the biotechnology campus today.

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MON, Monsanto said in a press release this morning that the company will join the Research Campus in a "strategic alliance with the David H. Murdock Research Institute."

The Murdock Research Institute owns and operates the centerpiece Core Laboratory on the campus.

In Kannapolis, Monsanto will "accelerate development of flavorful, nutritious food" and collaborate to develop "new and improved plant varieties," the company said.

Owned by California billionaire David Murdock, who also owns Dole Food Co. and Castle & Cooke, the $1.5 billion Research Campus focuses on health, nutrition and agriculture.

Monsanto has signed a long-term lease to establish research facilities focused on the taste and nutritional composition of vegetables and enhanced nutrition in food-focused row crops such as soybeans.

Based in St. Louis, Monsanto is the world's largest producer of seed.

"I commend David for his vision in pulling together such diverse institutions that are leaders in their fields" Robb Fraley, chief technology officer for Monsanto, said in the release. "The research center holds great promise and the potential to make a significant contribution to human health, nutrition and agriculture. The synergy that exists at a campus like this could lead to truly innovative research and products with long-term benefits for consumers."

The Research Campus has long courted Monsanto.

"Monsanto's presence on the NCRC constitutes yet another critical piece in ensuring the success of the campus," Murdock said in the release. "I am proud to have a company with the outstanding reputation of Monsanto, a leader in the field of agricultural biotechnology, as our newest partner. I look forward to great collaboration and scientific breakthroughs between Monsanto and our other academic and industry partners on the campus."

Last year Monsanto announced a five-year collaboration with Dole Food to develop vegetable varieties with consumer-focused attributes such as flavor, texture, aroma and nutrition.

The Kannapolis campus provides Monsanto and other institutions locating there an opportunity to forge new relationships that could lead to new flavorful and healthy choices for consumers, said David Stark, vice president of consumer traits for Monsanto.

Only 29 percent of adults eat the recommended three to five servings of vegetables per day, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control. Only 16 percent eat the recommended two to four servings of fruit.

By developing better-tasting produce, Stark said the company hopes to encourage people to eat more vegetables.

Monsanto will be a flagship corporate tenant at the 350-acre life science campus, which includes branches of eight North Carolina universities, a community college and more than a dozen private companies.

Before today, Pepsico was the highest profile partner at the campus until the food and beverage giant backed out of an agreement to open a 4,000-square-foot lab in Kannapolis.