Exhibit 24.1
                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS:

That each person  whose  signature  appears  below,  as a Director or Officer of
Monsanto  Company  (the  "Company"),  a Delaware  corporation,  with its general
offices in the County of St. Louis,  Missouri,  does hereby make, constitute and
appoint  CHARLES  W.  BURSON,  MICHAEL  D.  BRYAN,  SONYA M. DAVIS or MICHAEL L.
DECAMP,  or any one of them acting alone, his or her true and lawful  attorneys,
with full power of substitution  and  resubstitution,  in his or her name, place
and  stead,  in any and all  capacities,  to  execute  and  sign a  registration
statement on Form S-8 covering the  registration of securities of the Company to
be issued under the Monsanto  Company ERISA Parity Savings and Investment  Plan,
and any amendments or post-effective  amendments to such registration  statement
and  documents in  connection  therewith,  to be filed with the  Securities  and
Exchange  Commission  under the Securities  Act of 1933, as amended,  giving and
granting  unto said  attorneys  full power and  authority to do and perform such
actions as fully as they might have done or could do if  personally  present and
executing any of said documents.

Dated and effective as of the 20th of June, 2001.


         /s/ Hendrik A. Verfaillie                  /s/ Frank V. AtLee III
- ------------------------------------------   -----------------------------------
Hendrik A. Verfaillie, Chief Executive         Frank V. AtLee III, Director
Officer and Director (Principal Executive
Officer)


         /s/ Hakan Astrom                         /s/ Christopher J. Coughlin
- ------------------------------------------  ------------------------------------
Hakan Astrom, Director                        Christopher J. Coughlin, Director


         /s/ Michael Kantor                       /s/ Gwendolyn S. King
- ------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------
Michael Kantor, Director                         Gwendolyn S. King, Director


         /s/ C. Steven McMillan                  /s/ William U, Parfet
- -----------------------------------------  -------------------------------------
C. Steven McMillan, Director                    William U. Parfet, Director


         /s/ John S. Reed                       /s/ Terrell K. Crews
- -----------------------------------------  -------------------------------------
John S. Reed, Director                     Terrell K. Crews, Executive Vice
                                           President and Chief Financial Officer
                                           (Principal Financial Officer)
         /s/ Curt Tomlin
- -----------------------------------------
Curt Tomlin, Vice President and
Controller, (Principal Accounting
Officer)