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Jerry is CEO of a agricultural startup, CoverCress Inc. CoverCress is aiming to develop Pennycress as a winter crop that is a soil and nutrient cover crop as well as producing vegetable oil and animal protein as a third crop in the two year corn soy rotation.
Jerry Steiner retired from Monsanto after a 30 plus year career. From 2003-2013 , he served on the executive team as the company’s Executive Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs. He led the company’s global Government, Public and Industry Affairs teams across the 70 countries where Monsanto conducts business.
Jerry led the efforts to build the novel business model for biotechnology in soybeans in Brazil, Argentina
and Paraguay. Jerry also was a key architect for the strategy to build a profitable business for Roundup herbicide following its global patent expiry.
Key among his responsibilities were shaping the company’s public policy and building partnerships aimed at helping farmers around the world produce more food, while conserving valuable resources like water and energy. A significant partnership that developed under his leadership is the WEMA partnership with five African countries, CIMMYT and the Gates foundation and others. It is now the leading program to deliver higher yielding more drought tolerant corn seeds to African seed companies and farmers.
Mr. Steiner represented the company at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he serves on The New Vision for Agriculture Project Board.
He is a Trustee of Keystone Policy Center which convenes public, private and civic leaders to address societal issues for the environment, health policy, and education. Working with Keystone, he is a founder of Field to Market, a diverse alliance of over 50 entities including leading companies and grower groups that span the value chain all seeking to create sustainable outcomes for agriculture.
He is a member of the board of directors of the Albemarle Corporation (NYSE) and Bpard chair of RNAgri, and ag startup specializing in RNA interference, a way to control agricultural pests without synthetic pesticides. Steiner served as a Board member and Chair of CropLife International Plant Biotechnology Strategy Council and BIO’s Food and Agriculture Section Governing Board.
Steiner received a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Wisconsin, and an MBA from Washington University. He and his family are actively involved with their church, school, and volunteering their community.
