U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, DC 20549 FORM 3 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 ________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* Needleman Philip -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Last) (First) (Middle) 700 Chesterfield Parkway North -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Street) Chesterfield MO 63198 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (City) (State) (Zip) ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year) February 21, 2002 ________________________________________________________________________________ 3. IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary) ________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol Monsanto Company MON ________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer (Check all applicable) [X] Director [_] 10% Owner [_] Officer (give title below) [_] Other (specify below) ________________________________________________________________________________ 6. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year) ________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check applicable line) [X] Form Filed by One Reporting Person [_] Form Filed by More than One Reporting Person ================================================================================ Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ================================================================================ 3. Ownership Form: 2. Amount of Securities Direct (D) or 1. Title of Security Beneficially Owned Indirect (I) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4) (Instr. 4) (Instr. 5) (Instr. 4) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Common Stock 2,000 D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ==================================================================================================================================== * If the Form is filed by more than one Reporting Person, see Instruction 5(b)(v). Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. (Print of Type Responses) (Over) FORM 3 (continued) Table II -- Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) ================================================================================ 5. Owner- 3. Title and Amount of Securities ship Underlying Derivative Security Form of 2. Date Exercisable (Instr. 4) Derivative and Expiration Date --------------------------------- 4. Conver- Security: (Month/Day/Year) Amount sion or Direct 6. Nature of ---------------------- or Exercise (D) or Indirect Date Expira- Number Price of Indirect Beneficial 1. Title of Derivative Exer- tion of Derivative (I) Ownership Security (Instr. 4) cisable Date Title Shares Security (Instr. 5) (Instr. 5) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ==================================================================================================================================== Explanation of Responses: /s/ Michael L. DeCamp 3/4/02 --------------------------------------------- ----------------------- **Signature of Reporting Person Date * Michael L. DeCamp, attorney-in-fact for Philip Needleman * Executed pursuant to a Power of Attorney filed herewith ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this form, one of which must be manually signed. If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure. (Print of Type Responses) Page 2