New York, New York
December 2, 2008
Monsanto CEO to tell investors
about company's growth drivers for reaching its 2012 profit
goals
As farmers in the U.S. are making
their initial seed purchase decisions for the 2009 growing
season,
Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) plans to discuss the reasons
behind its confidence that it can make good on its commitment to
more than double its fiscal 2007 gross profit by 2012 through
the execution of a strategy that delivers increased yield and
economic value for farmers. That is the message Monsanto
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Hugh Grant will
tell investors today as part of a presentation at the Citi 19th
Annual Chemicals Conference in New York.
Grant's presentation will explain how Monsanto's strategy is
based on innovative technologies that deliver increased yields,
better pest protection and lower input costs, which in turn
create superior economic value compared to competitors. "More
yield drives the need for more innovation, and farmers have
seconded that belief by their continued investment in
technologies across the agricultural system," Grant will say. To
address farmers' needs, Grant will describe Monsanto's plans to
launch three new game-changing technology platforms through
2012. Among these game-changing platforms are the company's
Roundup Ready 2 Yield second-generation soybean trait platform,
its SmartStax all-in-one corn trait platform and its
drought-tolerant corn platform.
Grant also will emphasize how boosting yield per acre can make a
meaningful difference in today's agricultural environment, which
has ever-increasing global demands for food, feed, fuel and
fiber.
"To meet this need, we do not have to tear down rainforests to
put more acres into production," Grant will say, adding that if
Brazil, India and Mexico corn yields could be brought to 100
bushels per acre -- two-thirds the level of U.S. corn yields --
"we could produce another 4 billion bushels of corn annually,
the equivalent of the world's total corn exports in 2007. Our
focus as a company is to reduce the complexity of technology
into the simple delivery mechanism of the seed."
Webcast Information
Grant's presentation slides and simultaneous audio webcast of
the presentation may be accessed by visiting the company's Web
site at
http://www.monsanto.com/investors. Following today's live
broadcast set for
12:55 p.m. ET, a replay of the webcast will be available for two
weeks.
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality.
Monsanto remains focused on enabling both small-holder and
large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while
conserving more of our world's natural resources such as water
and energy.
Roundup Ready 2 Yield and SmartStax are trademarks of
Monsanto Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. |
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