Students in the College of Agriculture will soon see the benefits of a $150,000 gift from the Monsanto Company.

The gift will be used to establish a graduate fellowship in global seed policy and regulations for the college.The fellowship will benefit graduate students in the College of Agriculture who are conducting research on issues related to global or domestic seed policies, including protection of intellectual property rights, trade issues, and export and import issues.

“There’s still a very scientific emphasis to this because policy issues have strong links between diseases and trade issues,” said Brian Meyer, spokesman for the College of Agriculture.

The establishment of the fellowship is a way to contribute to the success of students, who, in turn, contribute to the improved quality of our industry, said Kristen Sebben, Monsanto spokeswoman.

Sebben said Monsanto supports Iowa State in a variety of ways because of “the commitment we share to support the sustainability and growth of the agriculture industry.”

Monsanto has donated lab equipment, worked with the ISU Plant Sciences Institute on research collaboration opportunities and offers numerous internship and scholarship programs.

“Iowa State students help sustain the intellectual vitality of the seed industry,” Sebben said. “Many of Monsanto’s current employees and interns have come from Iowa State.”

Monsanto provides agriculture products and solutions by using plant biotechnology, genomics and breeding to improve productivity and to reduce the costs of farming. It develops traits that integrate insect and weed control into the seed itself. Monsanto also makes commercial herbicides, like Roundup, which can be combined with the company’s seeds and traits to offer farmers integrated solutions.

Iowa State has an international reputation for the highest quality seed possible for farmers to grow, Meyer said. The seed science program has been at Iowa State for more than 100 years and is one of the oldest programs at the university.

“Seeds are the beginning of things for agriculture,” Meyer said. “But there are a lot of areas for careers, like in the business side, disease research and problem solving and ag engineering.”