Delta & Pine Land Company of Mississippi

The original Delta and Pine Land (D&PL) Company was chartered in 1886 to sell farm and timber land in the state of Mississippi, under laws that allowed almost unlimited land holdings by a single company. State laws were later changed to restrict land acquisition and ownership, but these laws did not apply retroactively to companies that were grandfathered in under older laws. The roughly 1,000 black tenant labor force cultivated six to eight acres per person in their family and were able to purchase goods from the company store account and were provided incentives for work outside of their allotted acreage. but D&PL was producing an average of of cotton fiber per acre (0.4 ha) and of seed by the 1930s. By the mid-1930s D&PL company life had attracted international attention with many agriculturalists, journalists, and universities visiting to learn how it operated profitably. The farm gained further praise from the Tuskegee Institute in 1942. During the years that followed, most of the D&PL farm acreage was sold and the company concentrated on research and development of improved varieties of cotton and soybean seeds. ==Research==

D&PL became the world’s largest cotton breeder, doing business in the U.S and in 18 other countries. Other research successes included development of early maturing varieties, transgenic row-crop seeds, and the first Roundup Ready cotton seeds. The first patent (Number 5723765) was issued on March 3, 1998, which patented three genes which together cause seed to be sterile unless treated with a proprietary spray, dubbed a "technology protection system." After the announcement, D&PL stock rose sharply and it was anticipated that USDA profits would increase dramatically. Advocates claimed that the technology restricted the introduction of genetically modified plants into nature by causing second generation seeds to be sterile and controlling genetics would be good for food production. The opposing point of view was that farmers who used terminator seeds could no longer rely on saved seeds to produce subsequent crops which was a threat to food security and biodiversity. The patent also marked the first time food crops, particularly staple crops, could enter into the hands of private monopolies. ==Acquisition==

During the 1990s, D&PL had entered into successful research ventures with Monsanto. In 1998, Monsanto agreed to merge with D&PL, but the agreement collapsed under antitrust scrutiny by the Department of Justice. In September 2016, Monsanto agreed to a takeover offer by Bayer, pending regulatory approval. On June 7, 2018, Bayer completed its acquisition of Monsanto following approval by the European Union on March 21, 2018, and the United States on May 29, 2018. ==References==