.

In a blog post on its Web site, Monsanto Company has clarified recent news items that have inaccurately reported that seed prices are increasing 42 percent for the 2010 growing season.

This conclusion was drawn by comparing 2010 seamless pricing on an acre of first-generation Asgrow Roundup Ready soybeans to an acre of second-generation Asgrow Genuity™ Roundup Ready 2 Yield® soybeans with Acceleron. A more accurate, apples-to-apples comparison would have been 2009 to 2010 seamless pricing for an acre of Asgrow Genuity™ Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans with Acceleron.

Blog post:

Looking Beyond the Headline

August 14, 2009
Source: http://blog.monsantoblog.com/2009/08/14/monsanto-raising-seed-prices/

Based on some of the internet chatter I have seen, people seem to have misinterpreted a wire service headline stating Monsanto was raising seed prices as much as 42% for 2010. There was more to the story beyond the headline.

Some misinterpreted the headline to read we were raising prices over the existing product line price. The reality is that the article compared 2010 pricing on an acre of Asgrow Roundup Ready soybeans to an acre of Asgrow Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans with Acceleron. This 42% reflects the wide range of product options we offer that will meet the needs of our farmer customers. For example, if farmers are interested in our most advanced technology, Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield is for them. If they are satisfied with our original Roundup Ready soybean, that is available as well.

There’s a big difference in first-generation and second-generation technologies. Something that makes our business unlike most others is that we have to earn our sale year after year.  The only way to do that is by offering farmers a wide range of products that deliver results.

Can’t we expect that the fifth generation Apple iPod will cost more than the fourth generation Apple iPod?  Even though it’s the same manufacturer, the newer version is a much more technologically-advanced product with years’ worth of improvements in production and other modernized options.  Understandably, the fourth-generation product will cost less than its fifth-generation sibling.  But you wouldn’t mix-match basic product features and claim that Apple is raising the prices with the newest product launch by 42%.

Despite what some may have taken away from this week’s news, prices for Asgrow soybeans with the Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield and Acceleron are increasing marginally for the 2010 growing season.  Increases may vary depending on channel, but the average price increase is 0-7%.

• Roundup Ready 2 Yield goes from a weighted avg. of $69-72 per acre in 2009 to $74 per acre (a 3 to 7 percent increase)

• Roundup Ready goes from a weighted avg. of $49-52 per acre in 2009 to $52 per acre (flat to a 6 percent increase)

For more information on our pricing philosophy, you can check out the For the Record section of Monsanto.com.

The news item on this page is copyright by the organization where it originated - Fair use notice

Other news from this source