Monsanto leaving RTP for St. Louis

Monsanto plans to relocate its research and development operations in Research Triangle Park to Missouri, the company announced Monday.

About one-third of the 75 employees who work in RTP are expected to relocate to the company’s global R&D center in Chesterfield, just outside St. Louis.

The company plans to exit its RTP facility by the second half of next year, with the remaining jobs being eliminated at that time. The company plans to explore a possible sale of the site.

The move is part of an effort announced earlier this month to expand the company’s R&D headquarters in Missouri.

Monsanto, the world's largest seed maker, announced earlier this month that it will cut 2,600 jobs as part of a cost-savings plan. The cuts are the equivalent of 12 percent of its workforce.

Monsanto, like a number of companies, is feeling the effects of a commodity slump that signficantly reduced the incomes of farmers over the past two years.

The Triangle has become an agribusiness hub in recent years, with industry giants BASF, Bayer CropScience and Syngenta also having major operations here.

In August, Monsanto abandoned its effort to acquire Syngenta, the world's top maker of pesticides, after the Swiss company repeatedly rejected its offers.

This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Monsanto leaving RTP for St. Louis."