Scotts may sell genetically modified bluegrass by 2015

Logo: Scotts Miracle Grow Co.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., based in Marysville, Ohio, will test a genetically modified grass seed in the family lawns of a small number of employees this growing season, The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch reports.

The employees will test Kentucky bluegrass that has been modified to protect it from being killed by Roundup, the herbicide produced by Monsanto and sold by Scotts.

The employee testing “is a major step forward,” Scotts CEO Jim Hagedorn told shareholders at their annual meeting Jan. 30, The Columbus Dispatch reports. “I think we will see limited commercial activity the following year (2015), and I think, if all goes well, much more (activity) in the consumer market in 2016.”

In 2011 the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates genetically modified crops, exempted Scotts’ genetically modified Kentucky bluegrass from regulation because of the way the seed was modified.

For the full article, visit The Columbus Dispatch.

Scotts also reported its net sales were down 5 percent year over year for the first quarter 2014. Scotts LawnService sales were up 3 percent to $46.2 million in the first quarter, compared to $44.8 million during the same quarter a year ago, primarily due to an increase in customer count. Sales in the fiscal first quarter represent approximately 6 percent to 7 percent of the company’s full-year sales.