Ten years after its launch, the Chemstrand Corporation became a wholly owned Monsanto subsidiary. Today, Solutia Inc. is No. 1 in the world in acrylic fiber and No. 2 in nylon. When the Corvette rolled off the assembly line in St. Louis in 1953, it was as important a day for Monsanto as it was for GM. The Corvette body was the first ever to be made from reinforced fiberglass, which contained Monsanto's maleic anhydride, a critical and necessary intermediate chemical. In 1966 AstroTurf stadium surface is invented to provide a playing surface in Houston's new domed stadium, in which grass wouldn't grow. The material is based on Monsanto carpet fiber technology. Monsanto researcher Dr. John Franz synthesizes a molecule in 1970 that will become known as glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide. Posilac bovine somatotropin (BST), first product of biotechnology, was approved for commercial sale in 1993. Also the same year they acquired Ortho Consumer Products business, the U.S. leader in lawn and garden products, which leads to formation of Solaris unit, built around Ortho, Greensweep and Roundup lawn and garden products. On November 29, 2001: Monsanto employees and retirees celebrate the company's 100th anniversary. That is some of the main products Monsanto is know for producing.
Two of their top products now are roundup and Posilac. Developed in 1970 as a herbicide to be used for agricultural applications. Roundup was originally marketed in concentrated form for commercial agricultural applications. It was marked through a network of major agricultural suppliers worldwide. .
In the late 1980's Monsanto became move involved in the lawn and garden products when it acquired the Green sweep company. By 1993 a long of Green sweep and roundup lawn and garden products were being developed. The marketing strategy for roundup had expanded to include uses for the home lawn and gardener. Packaging research sowed the need for ready to use packaging.
