New Orleans, Louisiana
January 10, 2007
Monsanto (NYSE: MON) announced today at the Beltwide Cotton
Conferences that it is undertaking several initiatives in 2007
to build on its commitment to U.S. cotton producers. Monsanto
Cotton Business Lead Kevin Eblen made the announcement detailing
a series of actions to support the near-term and long-term
sustainability of the U.S. cotton industry.
"U.S. cotton producers are very progressive and have
overwhelmingly adopted new seed and trait technologies that make
them more competitive," Eblen said. "Monsanto invests heavily in
the development of better cotton varieties and new technologies
because we believe it is critical for the long- term viability
of the U.S. cotton industry. To build on this commitment, we
wanted to determine what else we could do to help U.S. cotton
producers secure their future, and a future for the next
generation of cotton producers."
"We asked the Honorable Larry Combest to host a series of
listening sessions across the Cotton Belt to help us better
understand the concerns of U.S. cotton producers," Eblen said.
"For more than 20 years, Combest has served cotton producers as
an elected official and his leadership in the development of the
2002 Farm Bill demonstrated his dedication to agriculture across
the Cotton Belt. That's why we asked him to work with cotton
producers to help us assess how we can grow our commitment to
U.S. cotton."
Combest said that cotton producers identified a few areas of
concern during the listening sessions. "U.S. cotton producers
are concerned about managing risks, how technology pricing
works, fair access to new technology and the long-term
sustainability of U.S. cotton production. As a result, I have
recommended that Monsanto strengthen its efforts to help cotton
producers in these areas," Combest said.
For 2007, Monsanto will move forward with several initiatives
based on continuous dialogue with U.S. cotton producers as well
as the listening sessions hosted by Combest.
"Today we will outline four ways we plan to work with U.S.
cotton producers in 2007 and in the future," Eblen said. "We
will continue to listen to cotton producers and evaluate other
initiatives to help them succeed."
The four areas of focus are:
1. Risk
management
Since Bollgard cotton was introduced in 1996, U.S. cotton
producers have rapidly adopted Monsanto technologies that
reduce production risks. Monsanto continues to invest in new
technologies with agronomic benefits for U.S. cotton
producers. Future technologies include new traits to control
insects and weeds as well as drought tolerance. In 2007,
Monsanto will have two initiatives designed to help cotton
producers address the agronomic risks of drought and
glyphosate-resistant weeds.
Drought
For the 2007 growing season, Monsanto will continue to offer
a pilot drought relief program for cotton grown in West
Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico-a region where
farmers frequently face severe drought. This offer will help
support producers' decisions to plant high quality cotton
seed containing advanced technologies that can help
producers achieve the best yields possible. The program will
help producers reduce financial risk from crop loss due to
drought when choosing Monsanto cotton traits. Full details
are available from seed retailers.
Glyphosate-resistant weeds
Cotton producers place a high value on Roundup Ready
technology. To reduce the risk of glyphosate-resistant weeds
developing in cotton producers' fields, Monsanto continues
to recommend the use of a residual herbicide as part of the
Roundup Ready and Roundup Ready Flex weed control systems.
Consistent with this recommendation and as part of an effort
to promote good stewardship practices, Monsanto will offer
cotton producers PARRLAY herbicide as a branded residual
herbicide option for the 2007 growing season. PARRLAY is a
metolachlor herbicide that Monsanto will price at a level
that minimizes the cost of applying a residual herbicide in
a Roundup Ready cotton system. Price and program details
will be available in March 2007.
2. Technology pricing
Monsanto will continue its commitment to price its
technology in a way that shares the benefits with farmers.
Additional efforts will be made to communicate how products
are priced.
"Producers say that many of our biotechnology products have
positively changed the way they farm and plan for the
future," Eblen said. "Because of this impact on their
operations, they want a better understanding of our
long-term pricing philosophy and clarity as to how they can
profit from using these products."
"We strongly believe that Monsanto and U.S. producers'
success and viability are mutually linked," Eblen said. "We
are committed to being more transparent about how we price
our trait technology."
Monsanto's technology pricing and other business decisions
will be based on:
-
Sharing
the profit created by products in a way that provides
all producers the opportunity to benefit. This includes
regionally specific prices when the value created varies
by geography.
-
Sustaining
investment in research and development, which is
essential to the competitiveness of U.S. producers.
-
Delivering
a sustainable profit to producers, and Monsanto
shareowners.
"We also
commit that when we introduce a second-generation trait that
it will be more profitable for producers to use than the
first- generation trait and that producers who choose to use
Monsanto's products should realize more profit than with
other conventional or biotech alternatives," Eblen said.
3. Global availability of new technology
As a global agriculture company that does business in
more than 100 countries, Monsanto's objective is to develop
seed and trait products that provide producers greater value
than any other alternative. Access to new technologies is
important for U.S. producers as well as farmers in other
countries.
"We will not introduce any new trait technology into a
country unless we are confident we can be compensated for
the use of the technology when it is used," Eblen said.
"When making decisions to place products on the path for a
commercial launch, we will consider additional factors such
as the respect for intellectual property and the presence of
a functioning, science-based regulatory system in that
country."
4. Long-term sustainability
Changes in U.S. farm policy, international competition
and other fundamental forces are expected to have a
long-term impact on U.S. cotton producers. To help the
industry plan for these changes, Monsanto will provide
initial funding and support to the Cotton Foundation for a
special project to look at the constraints, challenges and
opportunities facing U.S. cotton production and marketing.
To help the industry plan for the future, Monsanto has
agreed to provide initial funding of up to $1 million to
support this project.
"We applaud the Cotton Incorporated and National Cotton
Council for taking a forward look through this Cotton
Foundation project at what it will take for U.S. cotton to
prosper in the future," Eblen said. "As a company with a
long-term vested interest in the success of U.S. cotton
producers, we are happy to support this project and
encourage others to do likewise."
Details of the project are still being determined. More
information will be available from the Cotton Foundation as
it becomes available.
"In addition to the commitments we
have made in these four areas, Monsanto will continue to seek
out new opportunities and develop programs that will positively
impact the future of U.S. cotton production," Eblen said.
Monsanto Company is a leading provider of technology-based
solutions and agricultural products that improve farm
productivity and food quality. For more information on Monsanto,
see http://www.monsanto.com |