In separate presentations to investors over the next two weeks, Monsanto executives will outline growth opportunities for the seed and trait industry, as well as the path forward for Monsanto's growth. Monsanto's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hugh Grant, will deliver presentations at two investor conferences. Grant will present on Monsanto's business performance, the adoption of its current commercial offerings, as well as discussing the company's near- and long-term growth opportunities. Grant's presentations will be part of the BIO CEO & Investor Conference in New York today; and part of the Morgan Stanley Basic Materials Conference 2006 in New York on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

In a separate presentation today, Monsanto's Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President, Robb Fraley, will highlight developments within the company's research-and-development (R&D) pipeline, the contribution of this research to the company's long-term growth objectives, and its current progress in advancing research toward commercial development. Fraley's presentation will be part of the Goldman Sachs' Tenth Annual Agricultural Forum 2006 in New York.

Traits Business Delivers Value to the Farm, Expected To Drive Near-Term Growth

During his remarks at the conferences, Grant will address the continued opportunity of trait expansion within the U.S. corn market. The company's trait technologies - including the YieldGard family of insect-protected corn traits and Roundup Ready Corn 2 - are expected to remain a core growth opportunity in the near-term. Monsanto's YieldGard Rootworm corn is likely to be planted on between 8 million and 10 million acres in 2006, and up to 25-to-30 million acres through 2010, Grant noted.

"Corn farmers in the United States recognize the tremendous value and performance that Monsanto's insect-protected and herbicide-tolerant traits are providing to their farms," Grant said. "This season, we are seeing strong order patterns in our corn traits business, and early indications also reinforce that the company's value-pricing model is expected to drive penetration of our corn traits."

In addition to growth within its corn trait business, Monsanto also expects its U.S. corn seeds business to increase its market share for a fifth consecutive season. The company also expects continued adoption of its seed and trait offerings in other world markets, like Brazil and Australia.

R&D Advancements Drive Long-Term Opportunities, Led by Next Generation Trait Families

Monsanto's Fraley will discuss developments within the company's R&D program and outline the company's focus on agronomic and consumer-oriented products, like drought tolerance and Omega 3 soybeans, respectively.

"This past season was a blockbuster year for Monsanto's R&D program," said Fraley. "We have more pipeline prospects being tested than ever before, and we're seeing our initial research advance from scientific concepts toward commercial offerings."

The company noted that its research discovery program is also rich with next-generation technologies. Fraley noted that the company's R&D focus is now delivering "families" of technologies, like Roundup RReady2Yield soybeans and drought-tolerant corn, which are expected to offer a wider set of benefits to farmers and consumers, as compared with the company's commercial first- and second-generation product offerings. Fraley noted that he expects Monsanto to have transitioned or be in the process of transitioning every one of its first-generation products to enhanced second- and even third-generation products, by the next decade.

Outlook

In the presentations, Monsanto executives will confirm that its full-year 2006 EPS guidance will be toward the upper end of its range of $2.35 to $2.50, on a reported and ongoing basis. The company also confirmed that it expects EPS will be in the range of $2.82 to $3.00 on a reported and an ongoing basis for fiscal year 2007, which reflects a 20 percent growth rate from the fiscal year 2006 EPS guidance. (For a reconciliation of EPS on an ongoing basis, see note 1.)

The company will also confirm that its guidance for free cash flow in fiscal year 2006 remains in the range of $825 million to $900 million. The company will also confirm that it expects free cash flow for fiscal year 2007 to be in the range of $875 million to $950 million, excluding cash that may be used for a rights offering in the bankruptcy proceedings of Solutia, Inc. (For a reconciliation of free cash flow, see note 2.)