Monsanto To Get Together With Customers Through Council Desiree J Hanford / Wall Street Journal 4apr01

ST. LOUIS -- Monsanto Co. (MON) expects its new grower advisory council will play a role in its business strategy, Monsanto's general manager for North American agriculture business told Dow Jones Newswires.

Earlier Tuesday, Monsanto announced that 14 members from several farm organizations, including the American Soybean Association and the National Corn Growers Association, will work on the council with Carl Casale, general manager for Monsanto's North American agriculture business, and Brett Begemann, vice president of U.S. branded products for Monsanto. Former Illinois Rep. Tom Ewing is chairman of the council.

The council will give Monsanto input on business policy issues, Casale said, and give growers and Monsanto a forum for discussion on such issues as new uses of Monsanto's products.

"This isn't about how much we should charge for a product," Casale said. "We want this to be independent, for farmers to be critical of us or our policies or actions."

Tony Anderson, a farmer who's a member of the American Soybean Association board and the council, views the council as a good-faith effort on Monsanto's part.

"My desire is that we continue to improve communications efforts, and that we can effectively discuss very sensitive issues much better in a closed room setting than press releases," Anderson said. "The desire is to improve grower opportunities, environmental opportunities and manufacturing opportunities."

Ewing said he hopes both sides will view him as an independent chairman. There are issues both sides will agree on, such as setting standards for seed quality, Ewing said. Others, such as how long to wait for European approval of a product or technology, may not be as easy.

Casale said the council can help Monsanto's business, because if growers have a say in the company's policy they may buy more Monsanto products.

The St. Louis company is one of the world's largest producers of seeds, herbicides and other agricultural products. It is a publicly traded unit of Pharmacia Corp. (PHA).