St. Louis, Missouri
September 26, 2007
Risk premiums could be up to 24 percent lower for farmers in
four-state pilot
A new pilot program recently approved by the
Federal Crop Insurance
Corporation (FCIC) will provide farmers an opportunity to
pay lower premiums if they 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).
The insurance product will be offered as a pilot program in
cooperation with Western Agriculture Insurance Company and will
be called the Biotech Yield Endorsement (BYE). Western
Agriculture Insurance will make the program available to all
other approved insurance providers to offer to their farmer
customers.
The pilot program will initially be available in four states:
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota. Implementation of BYE has
yet to be determined pending available resources and priorities
for the deployment and administration of the program by the Risk
Management Agency (RMA).
To be eligible for the program, a farmer must plant 75 to 80
percent of their corn acres with seeds featuring YieldGard Plus
with Roundup Ready Corn 2 or YieldGard VT Triple technology.
Refuge requirements must also be respected. Depending on the
grower’s production history, amount of coverage purchased and
other criteria, the farmer may be able to reduce the yield
component of their premium up to 24 percent.
“As a technology provider, our goal is to create technologies
that help farmers consistently deliver better yields, manage
their production risk and capture more value from their corn
fields,” said Robb Fraley, Executive Vice President and Chief
Technology Officer for Monsanto Company. “This program
recognizes the consistently high yields that farmers using our
technologies are able to deliver. We’re pleased farmers will be
able to take advantage of this new insurance product.”
Under adverse conditions, Monsanto “triple stack” technologies,
or seeds that feature three biotechnology genes, have exhibited
higher yields and lower yield risk than conventional hybrids
without the technology. These triple stack technologies are
widely available to farmers and can be purchased through more
than 250 corn seed companies that license the technologies.
According to 2006 harvest figures from the National Corn Growers
Association, the four pilot states accounted for more than 50
percent of the corn acres harvested for grain in the United
States. In 2007 there were more than 90 million acres of corn
planted overall, representing the largest crop since 1944.
Monsanto Company is a leading global 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.
YieldGard Plus with Roundup Ready Corn 2 and YieldGard VT Triple
are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC. |
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