As I was wondering who might want to buy Monsanto's milk-production hormone Posilac, I came across another, more pertinent, question: What if no one buys Posilac?

Monsanto is only publicly saying it wants to sell the FDA-approved, brand-name dairy cow hormone rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone), which is essentially a man-made copy of a hormone that is naturally produced in a cow's pituitary gland.

The company hasn't said how long it wants to shop it.

The company hasn't said what it will do if no one buys it.

That leaves a giant question mark over the Augusta facility on Lovers Lane where Posilac is made.

Monsanto corporate folks said if someone buys the rights to the hormone, it buys the Augusta plant that makes it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since no one is going to shell out millions to shut the place down. If you buy Land Rover from Ford Motor Co., then you're going to make Land Rovers and make money. Business sense dictates that anyone buying Posilac is going to want to keep making it and make money selling it to dairy farms.

The opponents to rBGH suggest the sale of Posilac has more to do with no one wanting to buy milk from cows that are on the growth hormone.

Hogwash. Er, cow wash!

Posilac is the latest part of Monsanto's plans to sell off its animal units. A year ago, Monsanto sold off its Choice Genetics unit, which mapped swine genes.

The company is getting back to what it does best, Roundup and soybean seeds. By the way, Monsanto genetically alters soybean seeds to make them resistant to disease (and Roundup) and yield more.

A thing that makes you go hmm: It isn't OK to make the cow yield more milk, yet it is acceptable to yield more soybean that feeds the cow.

So who can make it? There are a handful of veterinary medicine companies in the world, but most of them focus on cats and dogs.

In this credit crunch, the ultimate question might be who has the money to buy Posilac.

ROCK THIS TOWN: Martin Marietta is ahead on its plans to increase capacity. It is now saying its expanded Augusta plant will be ready to make rocks and gravel this winter instead of the winter of 2009.

The company is spending $20 million for new equipment out there. The project will allow Augusta plant to increase capacity from 2 million tons to 6 million tons per year.

Translation: 12 billion pounds of rocks.

The company says this lets them "engage" in marketing talks with its major customers and should result in market share growth in fast-growing areas in Georgia and Florida.

Translation: People are still building more stuff out there and we're going to sell it to them.

With the greater output comes greater shipping. Expect to see even more trains and heavy trucks trying to navigate that area of River Watch Parkway.

ATTENTION STAT GEEKS: The Bureau of Economic Analysis in the U.S. Department of Commerce released personal income figures for metro areas.

At $30,533 per person income per year, the Augusta-Aiken area ranks 259th out of the 363 metro areas on the list.

The silver lining: Income here grew faster than Atlanta and Athens from 2006 to 2007 -- 4.1 percent.

Per capita personal income in Atlanta was $37,294 in 2007, 3.4 percent over the previous year.

MR. BUBBLE IS BANKRUPT: It is a little disheartening that the New Jersey company that makes Mr. Bubble filed for bankruptcy protection this month. They also make Baby Magic and Calgon bath soap.

Ascendia Brands also lost its president the same day it plunked down its stack of papers in bankruptcy court. Hmmm. Something isn't going right when the company head "resigns" close to bankruptcy.

The title they gave his replacement is chief restructuring officer.

Ascendia picked up Mr. Bubble during a 2005 acquisition from Playtex. It picked up a few more things, including large amounts of debt.

Ascendia is now seeking buyers.

Calgon, take me away.

Reach Tim Rausch at (706) 823-3352 or timothy.rausch@augustachronicle.com.