Monsanto Sees Growing Opportunity for Biotech Traits Globally

The opportunity for Monsanto is global and exists not just with the technologies in hand, but with what is yet to come in its R&D pipeline, Padgette will state.

12/09/08 Monsanto Company sees a significant growth opportunity in continuing to create more yield for farmers worldwide through its investment in plant biotechnology and breeding, leading to more than doubling the company's 2007's gross profit in 2012, Steve Padgette, Monsanto's Vice President of biotechnology, will tell investors. Padgette will deliver his remarks as part of the UBS Best of Americas Conference on Friday in London. The opportunity for Monsanto is global and exists not just with the technologies in hand, but with what is yet to come in its R&D pipeline, Padgette will state.

"After more than 10 years of farmers planting biotech traits, the prospects for growth are substantial," Padgette said. "The opportunity for existing biotech traits outside the United States is nearly 275 million acres and a little more than a third of those acres carry Monsanto's trait technology currently."

The opportunity for international growth is most imminent and substantial in Brazil and Argentina where Monsanto is launching new trait packages. In Argentina, Monsanto has received approval for a double-stack trait combination, YieldGard Corn Borer with Roundup Ready Corn 2, and plans to offer the combination on more than 1 million acres in its first year of introduction. In Brazil, Monsanto received planting approval for the YieldGard Corn Borer trait and is planning for a 1 million to 2 million acre launch for the upcoming 2008-2009 season.

Padgette will also discuss the progress and momentum behind a number of projects in Monsanto's R&D pipeline, highlighting key soybean and corn projects.

"Yield is a priority for farmers," Padgette said. "When we ask farmers what they want from us in terms of new soybean products, they universally say that they want us to bring the yield improvements they've seen in corn to soybeans."

Padgette will announce that Monsanto's high-yielding soybeans, the first biotech product in soybeans focused solely on improving yield, delivered a 6 to 10 percent yield advantage in the company's recent Latin American trials. The higher-yielding trait, which is part of the yield and stress collaboration with BASF, will be stacked on top of Monsanto's Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean platform. Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans, which deliver a 7 to 11 percent yield advantage over the popular first generation Roundup Ready technology, recently received regulatory approval in China for importation, placing them one step closer to the expected controlled commercial release on 1 to 2 million acres in 2009.

BASF Collaboration

Next week, Padgette will be speaking at a joint BASF and Monsanto investor event held in Ghent, Belgium. Monsanto's collaboration with BASF works to identify and commercialize novel yield and stress trait technologies for farmers.

"We are extremely pleased with the progress in our yield and stress collaboration with BASF," he said. "Since the start of the collaboration, we have been able to increase the size of our yield and stress transformation pipeline by one-third and have almost 175 field trial locations. Over 90 percent of the genes nominated by BASF have been unique, providing a nice complement to Monsanto's lead genes."