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Janice Person

Online Engagement Lead, Bayer Crop Science

Expert Bio

My passion for agriculture started in college with my first visit to a cotton farm to interview a farmer for a magazine, and I have never looked back. As a city girl, I have gotten lots of opportunities to ask questions that may not be important for farmers but were interesting to me. Decades later friends and family are amazed that the passion has become an integral part of who I am, not just a career, thanks to deep friendships on the farm and in the lab.

Studies, Articles and Answers

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Showing 6 out of 6 results

Question

Q: Why have so many Indian farmers who have purchased your product commit suicide?

Answered By Janice Person - Sep 10, 2013

A: This is an important topic; suicide is an awful, tragic waste, no matter where or why it occurs.  I’ve written a couple of responses to very similar questions on GMO Answers: The UK’s Daily Mail reports that an estimated 125,000 farmers have committed suicide because of crop failure and massive debt since planting GM seeds. I have watched a tv show on this and was wondering how Monsanto feels about this. Its supposed to help farmers but it seems to be wiping out the little guy. Is this seem right?Is Monsanto taking any responsibility to what is happening to the farmers in India?&nbs [...]

Business Practices GMOs & Farmers

Question

Q: Is Monsanto taking any responsibility to what is happening to the farmers in India?

Answered By Janice Person - Sep 02, 2013

A: If you are asking specifically about farmer suicides, we, like everyone else, are anguished by suicides whenever and wherever they occur. Please see my answer to a question on that topic for more information.   If you're asking more broadly about what Monsanto is doing to help Indian farmers, here’s some information you might find useful.   At Monsanto, we believe that agriculture has the ability to help farmers in India pull themselves out of poverty. With hundreds of employees in India—many of whom call rural communities home—we have implemented several projects in the [...]

Business Practices GMOs & Farmers

Question

Q: The UK’s Daily Mail reports that an estimated 125,000 farmers have committed suicide because of crop failure and massive debt since planting GM seeds. I have watched a tv show on this and was wondering how Monsanto feels about this. Its supposed to he

Answered By Janice Person - Aug 31, 2013

A: Like everyone else at Monsanto, when I hear about suicide, I feel the same way you do – my heart breaks. Suicide is an awful, tragic waste no matter where or why it occurs. But the sorrow and hopelessness that leads someone to take his own life is complicated. Trying to attribute it to a single cause – especially when you’re talking about lots of different people – is misleading. And let me be clear – planting GM seeds is not the cause of the farmer suicide problem in India. Suicide has been a problem in the Indian farming community for a long time, since well before the first GM crops ( [...]

Business Practices GMOs & Farmers

Question

Q: How many farmers have committed suicide because of your company? How many lab rats have tested positive for tumors after your 'safe' GMO's? Lastly, What do you think of the Monsanto Protection Act and all the bribery that goes with it? Please take time to

Answered By Janice Person - Sep 19, 2013

A: Thanks for your inquiry. Several different experts have posted responses to very similar questions on GMO Answers:Regarding farmer suicides: The UK’s Daily Mail reports that an estimated 125,000 farmers have committed suicide because of crop failure and massive debt since planting GM seeds. I have watched a tv show on this and was wondering how Monsanto feels about this. Its supposed to help farmers but it seems to be wiping out the little guy. Is this seem right?Regarding Séralini's study on lab rats: Have you reviewed the study showing that GMOs caused cancer in lab rats?Regarding the [...]

Other

Question

Q: As a facebook user,anti-gmo groups & info are all over the place. I tried to find a pro-gmo group to "like" & cannot find one. Fortunately, I understand the need for gmo's but so many people are full of anxiety, worry, & concern. The common person needs t

By GMOAnswers Admin_1 - Apr 18, 2014

A: Based on your question, it seems that you are skeptical about the intentions and awareness of those of us who have dedicated our lives to researching and developing GM crops. I’d like to address your question based on my personal experience. I grew up in southeastern Arkansas, in a small farming town named Dumas, where my grandfather, uncles and cousins were and still are farmers. I worked in the cotton fields every summer, scouting for insect pests so farmers knew when to apply insecticides. If the pest population was bad enough, farmers would spray insecticides two or more times a week [...]

Answered By Janice Person - Feb 26, 2014

A: Since Facebook pages are started by organizations based on their own agenda or by people based on a personal passion, it shouldn’t be surprising that agriculture and segments of agriculture seem outnumbered there. Remember, farmers are less than 2 percent of the general public. At the same time, there are some great pages that support agriculture in general and GMOs specifically. Here are some of my favorite ones that speak to GMOs/biotech crops:From a purely positive mindset, check out the Celebrate GMOs page: https://www.facebook.com/CelebrateGMOsThere is a forum called GMO Skepti-Forum tha [...]

Other

Question

Q: Why doesnt Monsanto and the GMA create an open dialogue with the organizations so heavily against them to help clear the air? Like a Reddit QA discussion. In several documentaries against Monsanto it appears Monsanto avoids interviews. It would make Monsa

Answered By Janice Person - Sep 02, 2015

A: This is the kind of question that has prompted a lot of introspection at Monsanto in the past two years; more importantly, it is the kind of prompt that has led us to act differently.    If you don’t mind, I’ll start with the perception that we avoid interviews, etc. Monsanto is an agricultural company – we sell seed, other tools and provide services to farmers. Until a couple of years ago, we were focused on communicating with the farmers who are our customers and on the company’s investors. We were aloof when it came to engaging in the broader conversatio [...]

Business Practices GMOs & Farmers