Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) today announced that Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Hugh Grant has established a stock trading plan in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Act of 1934.

Under this plan, Grant has directed a broker to exercise stock options in order to diversify his personal financial portfolio. Grant previously satisfied his requirements to own Monsanto stock in an amount equal to five times his annual base salary. Roughly 40 Monsanto executives have stock ownership requirements of varying levels. Monsanto established a stock ownership requirement in 2000 in connection with the company's initial public offering of stock. These guidelines were amended in April 2005 to keep the dollar value requirements of stock ownership commensurate with base pay multiples while reducing the number of required shares to reflect the increased fair market value of the company's stock at that time.

Several other Monsanto executive officers - Carl M. Casale, Robert T. Fraley, Janet M. Holloway, Mark J. Leidy, Steven C. Mizell, and Gerald A. Steiner - are also establishing 10b5-1 plans at this time. Other executive officers may choose to establish 10b5-1 plans in the future.

In accordance with Rule 10b5-1, officers and directors of public companies may adopt plans for purchasing or selling securities in which the amount, price and date of the transactions are specified. These plans may only be entered into when the officer or director is not in possession of material, nonpublic information.

Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality.