Product Stewardship policies are set at the highest levels of the company and extend throughout our company culture. Focus areas for stewardship include:

• Product Stewardship and The Pledge: Monsanto is committed to meeting high stewardship standards and operating with integrity in accordance with our Pledge values.
• Product Stewardship and Safety: Product Stewardship is a life cycle approach to product management, whether the products are based on biotechnology or crop protection. This approach helps to assure the safety and integrity of Monsanto’s products and the practices used to develop, produce, and manage them.
• Integrated Pest Management: Monsanto has long supported integrated pest management, an environmentally sustainable strategy that relies on a combination of practices to control insects, weeds, and other pests harmful to agricultural productivity. This includes recommendations for insect resistance management (IRM) and herbicide resistance management (HRM) to ensure effective technologies remain available to manage these pests. IRM tools include the Grower Guide, the Technology Use Guide, the IRM Refuge Calculator, and educational materials to encourage and facilitate grower compliance around the globe. HRM tools include best management recommendations such as Roundup Ready PLUS^™, to control glyphosate-resistant weeds.
• Monsanto’s Glyphosate Endangered Species Initiative: As leaders in the stewardship of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup agricultural herbicides, Monsanto has established  the Glyphosate Endangered Species Initiative. This initiative depends on Monsanto working in partnership with growers and applicators.
• Industry Stewardship Standards: Monsanto is a member of several industry organizations with collective goals to foster the effective implementation of stewardship programs. These include CropLife International, an association of agribusiness companies that champions the role of agricultural innovations in crop protection and plant biotechnology to support and advance modern agriculture. Monsanto also is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship (ETS), a global industry-coordinated organization that promotes the universal adoption of stewardship programs and quality management systems for the full life cycle of biotechnology-derived plant products. In addition, Monsanto is a member of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and is formally committed to implementing BIO’s Launch Stewardship Policy, which supports a regulatory framework that facilitates and enables the development and commercialization of new biotechnology-derived plant products. Click the following links to view Monsanto’s commitment to the BIO Product Launch Stewardship Policy and the ETS self-certification letter.
• Seed Patent Protection: Patents are a form of intellectual property that grants to the patent owner the exclusive right to make, use and sell an invention for a limited time. Patents in agriculture cover innovations such as seeds with enhanced biotech traits and new plant varieties. Monsanto enforces its patents to ensure a level playing field for the farmers who abide by their agreements and to discourage using unpaid technology to gain an unfair advantage.
• Seed Dealer Stewardship Policy: Seed dealers that are authorized to sell seed containing Monsanto patented technologies are responsible to clearly communicate Monsanto’s stewardship policies to employees, especially those who manage seed and customer seed sales. Market research confirms that growers listen to their seed dealers and retailers when it comes to stewardship. Dealers are integral in communicating not just the importance of proper stewardship but also educating employees and customers on Monsanto Stewardship Policies.

Insect Resistance Management Documents

• Bollgard III IRM Guide
• Corn Refuge Best Management Practices
• Corn Rootworm Best Management Practices
• 4 Steps Toward IRM Compliance

Grower Licensing Documents

• AgCelerate Grower Licensing Portal
• AgCelerate Grower Registration Instructions