St. Louis, Missouri
August 19, 2008
Innovative crop insurance
program launched as the Biotech Yield Endorsement(SM) pilot
expands to 11 states under revised Risk Management Biotechnology
Endorsement
Farmers in 11 states who plant a majority of their corn acres
using hybrid seeds featuring YieldGard® Plus with Roundup Ready®
Corn 2, YieldGard VT Triple® and YieldGard VT Triple PRO™
technology from Monsanto
Company (NYSE: MON) will have an opportunity to lower their
crop insurance premiums in 2009.
The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) Board of Directors
of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently
approved the expansion of a Risk Management Biotechnology
Endorsement for the 2009 crop year.
The program is an expansion of the 2008 pilot originally
approved as the Biotech Yield Endorsement(SM) Program, or
BYE(SM) Program. The BYE(SM) Program, which includes Monsanto
triple stack technologies, will continue to be offered as part
of the Risk Management Yield Endorsement or Yield Endorsement.
In 2009 the program will be available in the following
additional states: Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio,
South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
These expansion states join the original four pilot states of
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota.
The program lowers premiums for non-irrigated corn producers who
plant qualifying hybrids in the approved states and also
includes irrigated acres in Kansas and Nebraska. The cost of a
total policy premium during the 2008 BYE(SM) pilot program was
reduced on average by more than $3 per acre on policies such as
Actual Production History, Revenue Assurance, and Crop
Production Coverage. Savings with the 2009 pilot are expected to
be similar.
"Seed selection is one of the most important investments a corn
grower can make," said Tim Hennessy for Monsanto Company. "This
program recognizes the reduced annual production risk that comes
from using advanced seeds and technologies that have the
possibility to increase yields and places that value back in the
hands of growers."
To be eligible for the premium discount, farmers must plant at
least 75 percent of their corn acres on an insured unit basis
including replanted acres to corn hybrids containing YieldGard
VT Triple, YieldGard VT Triple PRO, or YieldGard Plus with
Roundup Ready Corn 2 technologies. Participation in this program
does not replace the importance of growers respecting the
EPA-mandated refuge requirements.
BYE(SM) is an innovative crop insurance program originally
piloted in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota in 2008. Total
savings for participating growers is estimated to be nearly $25
million within the pilot geography in 2008.
The FCIC Board of Directors approved the original BYE(SM) pilot
program on Sept. 12, 2007. The BYE(SM) program was co-submitted
to the FCIC by Monsanto Company and Western Agricultural
Insurance Company - Crop 1.
Additional program details regarding the Risk Management
Biotechnology Endorsement are available on the RMA website at
http://www.rma.usda.gov/.
As one of the originators of the BYE(SM) program, Monsanto
Company spent more than two years gathering and analyzing
thousands of data points from more than three harvest years for
the original pilot states. Substantial data was derived from
numerous field trials spanning the corn production period and
was provided in the original BYE(SM) program submission to USDA.
This data demonstrated that Monsanto YieldGard triple stack
technologies deliver more consistent yields, effectively
lowering risk.
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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