St. Louis, Missouri
April 8, 2008
Bayer CropScience LP
and Monsanto Company
(NYSE: MON) today entered into an exclusive agreement on a new
cutting-edge fungicide seed treatment for corn. The treatment,
which is expected to be commercialized in conjunction with the
planned launch of Monsanto's SmartStax™ seed offering in 2010,
will provide corn farmers with a significant improvement in
early-season protection against seedling diseases and insects.
"We're pleased to be partnering with Bayer CropScience to
deliver new seed-based technology to corn farmers," said Carl
Casale, executive vice president for Monsanto. "We feel the
product will be the best seed treatment package available to
match with our corn trait offerings, like SmartStax."
"We look forward to this opportunity to provide growers with
advanced technology that combines Bayer CropScience innovation
in seed treatment with Monsanto innovation in seed," said Bill
Buckner, president and chief executive officer of Bayer
CropScience LP. "This combination will help ensure that corn
growers have access to the increased options they seek to best
control pests, weeds and disease and maximize yields."
The new seed treatment will be based on the Bayer CropScience
product Vortex®, a new fungicide providing enhanced broad
spectrum disease control and seed safety for corn seed.
SmartStax combines eight different herbicide tolerance and
insect- protection genes into top-performing hybrids for the
most complete control ever available to farmers. The improved
disease control provided by the new fungicide technology from
Bayer CropScience further expands the benefits of the Monsanto
hybrids for corn growers.
Under the agreement, Monsanto will have exclusive rights to
commercialize the new seed treatment offering under its
industry-leading corn brand DEKALB® and the regional brands of
American Seeds Inc, as well as to license the product through
its licensing business which serves more than 180 corn seed
companies throughout the United States and Canada.
Vortex will be used in conjunction with Bayer CropScience's seed
treatment insecticide Poncho®, as well as other novel fungicide
formulations, to deliver breakthrough seed treatment solutions.
Additional details of today's agreement were not disclosed.
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the
fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer
CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of
about EUR 5.8 billion (2007), is one of the world's leading
innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop
protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant
biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of
products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable
agriculture and for non-agricultural applications.
Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 17,800 and is
represented in more than 120 countries.
Monsanto Company is a leading provider of technology-based
solutions and agricultural products that improve farm
productivity and food quality.
SmartStax is a
trademark of Monsanto Technology, LLC. DEKALB is registered
trademark of DeKalb Genetics Corporation. Herculex is a
registered trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Vortex and Poncho
are registered trademarks of Bayer.
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