Monsanto Company is expanding its strong seeds and traits portfolio to include wheat.

The company has acquired the assets of WestBred, a Montana-based company that specializes in wheat germplasm. The investment will bolster the future growth of Monsanto's seeds and traits platform and allow farmers to benefit from the company's experience in drought-, disease- and pest-tolerance innovations.

"The U.S. wheat industry has come together to call for new technology investment, and we believe we have game-changing technologies – like our drought-tolerance and improved-yield traits – that can meaningfully address major challenges wheat growers face every season," explains Carl Casale, executive vice president of global strategy and operations for Monsanto.

WestBred, owned indirectly by Barkley Seed, is a premier private wheat germplasm company in the U.S., with germplasm assets in all classes of wheat. WestBred's existing breeding capabilities and commercial operations will become the centerpiece of Monsanto's wheat platform. In addition, Monsanto will seek public and private partnerships that can help deliver on the promise of technology improvements in wheat for farmers. 

Because the $45 million acquisition represents a long-term investment in research and development and breeding, the company does not expect the acquisition to be accretive to earnings until the middle to latter part of the next decade.