WestBred Bought Out

There used to be an innovative little company in Montana named WestBred. These folks wore lab coats and researched wheat. In fact, In a field west of the labs and offices, different varieties of wheat grew in blocks that were either thriving or dying, depending on how the grain had been bred to withstand herbicides and disease.

They used ultraviolet lights to quicken growth – in order to speed up the number of generations it could produce and increase varieties. Genius!!Well…guess what happened to WestBred. Like so many other small innovative companies that are full of geniuses…they were swallowed by a giant by the name of Monsanto for $45 million.

So why does a huge operation like Monsanto want to buy up “the little engine that could?” Here’s Blaine Jacobson, Executive Director of the Idaho Wheat Commission to explain: “Monsanto’s been real aggressive with Roundup Ready other varieties of  plants. By acquiring WestBred, they’re looking to the future.”

So, in the end, all the folks that put their hearts, souls and backs into WestBred, may get a big payout and that’s the American way.