Edited sentence: "Don't eat your seed corn" is the oldest injunction in farming, passed from father to son and mother to daughter for hundreds of generations.For some time, Monsanto has been selling an herbicide named Roundup, which kills essentially any plant it is sprayed on.In 2004, Monsanto announced that it was abandoning efforts to develop a Roundup-Ready variety of wheat.It has recently introduced new, genetically-engineered varieties of corn and soybeans under the trademark ''Roundup Ready": these plants will grow  after being sprayed with Roundup.Its reasons were not specified.The prudent farmer of yore has became the gene-pirate of today.These plant varieties are sold under a restrictive agreement with novel features.This agreement is highly beneficial to Monsanto and grain traders, and it offers limited protection—if any—to the farmer.This prudent practice is actually illegal for Roundup-Ready farmers: They are required to buy all their seed from Monsanto and to sell all their produce to a trader—such as ADM— with accounting practices acceptable to Monsanto, to ensure that none is illicitly planted.Traditionally, grain farmers have carefully saved seed from their crop in sufficient quantity for the next season's planting