St. Louis, Missrouri
December 14, 2007
Innovative crop insurance
product launches in time for 2008 planting season
Farmers in four pilot states who plant a majority of their corn
acres using hybrid seeds that feature YieldGard Plus® with
Roundup Ready® Corn 2 or YieldGard VT Triple™ technology from
Monsanto Company (NYSE:
MON) will be able to lower their crop insurance premiums in
2008.
The Risk Management Agency (RMA) of the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) yesterday announced the planned
implementation of the Biotech Yield Endorsement, or BYE, for the
2008 crop year. BYE is an innovative crop insurance feature that
will lower insurance premiums for non-irrigated corn producers
in the pilot states and is available to be offered by all
approved insurance providers.
The pilot will initially be available in four states: Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota with potential expansion to other
states depending on results from the pilot program. Today, only
Monsanto Company YieldGard triple-stack technologies are
approved for the BYE program.
"The BYE pilot program rewards corn growers for using
technologies that help them manage risk on their farms," said
Robb Fraley, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology
Officer for Monsanto Company. "Much like a 'safe-driver'
discount in auto-insurance, this program recognizes that our
technologies are able to consistently deliver higher yields year
after year."
The BYE is a new crop insurance feature that lowers premiums for
non-irrigated corn producers. The average cost of a total policy
premium will be reduced by approximately 14 percent on revenue
assurance policies, such as Actual Production History, Revenue
Assurance, and Crop Production Coverage.
On average, this discount will amount to more than $2 per acre
on the grower-paid portion of the premium.
"Producers are managing risk through crop insurance and by
utilizing biotechnology. Biotech traits clearly reduce the risks
for corn growers while increasing their yields. A crop insurance
premium discount is one more benefit to using the technology,"
said National Corn Growers Association President Rick Tolman.
To be eligible, farmers must plant at least 75 percent of their
corn acres on an insured unit basis to corn hybrids containing
YieldGard VT Triple or YieldGard Plus with Roundup Ready Corn 2
technologies. EPA-mandated refuge requirements must also be
respected.
The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) Board of Directors
approved the BYE pilot program on September 12, 2007. The BYE
was co-submitted to the FCIC by Monsanto Company and Western
Agricultural Insurance Company. Program details regarding BYE
will be released and available on the RMA website at
http://www.rma.usda.gov/,
in the near future. Producers interested in BYE should contact
their local crop insurance representative.
"The BYE crop insurance feature is a 'first-of-its-kind' in the
insurance industry," said Bruce Trost, Executive Vice President
of Western Agricultural Insurance Company. "We believe that
biotech innovations deliver real value to America's farmers, and
are critical to their future success. We're pleased to
co-sponsor this groundbreaking product and to make it available
to all farmer customers through their approved insurance
provider."
Monsanto Company spent more than two years gathering and
analyzing thousands of data points from 3 harvest years. Massive
amounts of this data set was derived from numerous field trials
spanning the 3-year period and was provided in the BYE
submission to USDA. This data clearly demonstrated that Monsanto
YieldGard triple-stack technologies deliver more consistent
yields, effectively lowering risk.
Harvest results from 2007 re-affirm the 2004-2006 data submitted
in support of the BYE. Extensive data from the recently
harvested crop showed that YieldGard VT Triple offered a double
digit yield advantage over competitive technologies. These
YieldGard triple-stack technologies are widely available to
farmers and can be purchased through more than 250 corn seed
companies that license the technologies.
In 2007, there were more than 90 million acres of corn planted
in the United States, the largest corn crop since 1944.
According to 2006 harvest statistics provided by the National
Corn Growers Association, the four BYE pilot states accounted
for more than 50 percent of the corn acres harvested for grain
in the United States.
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality. |
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