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Roundup Ready soybeans outyield national average
St. Louis, Missouri
Jan. 22, 1999

Roundup Ready soybeans out yielded the national soybean yield average by more than four bushels in 1998, Monsanto reported today.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated in December that soybean yields averaged 38.6
bushels per acre across U.S. soy-producing states in 1998. Monsanto grower research indicates
that Roundup Ready soybean growers averaged 43.1 bushels per acre.

"Roundup Ready soybean yields have improved each year as more and more soybean varieties
across most maturity groups have been available to U.S. growers," said Dr. Jerry Flint, soybean
technical manager for Monsanto. "While the average yield of soybeans generally has dropped
slightly, Roundup Ready yield averages have continued to climb, from a 3.4 advantage in 1997 to
a 4.5 advantage in 1998.

"There is additional good news for growers in 1999, said Flint, "as the number of varieties
available this year will increase significantly, to well over 1,000 varieties with a broad range of the
defensive packages that growers want and need, beyond excellent weed control and crop safety."

"This helps explain why grower satisfaction with Roundup Ready soybeans continues to be
extremely high," said Steve Rosenbloom, Monsanto’s soybean product manager. "For the third
year in a row, nine out of 10 Roundup Ready soybean growers are more satisfied with the
Roundup Ready system (Roundup Ready soybeans with Roundup UltraŅ herbicide) than they
are with regular soybeans and traditional herbicide programs."

The regional yield data also is very encouraging. The USDA estimated a soybean yield average of
41.2 bushels per acre in the Midwest and Plains states while Monsanto grower research indicates that the average Roundup Ready soybean yield was 46.5 bushels per acre for that area. Although average soybean yield was lower in the South, Roundup Ready soybeans beat the USDA soybean yield average there by 4 bushels per acre.

"Soybean growers in the South faced many challenges in 1998 which was reflected in the USDA
soybean yield data," Flint said. "However, growers reported that Roundup Ready soybeans
produced an average yield of 28.4 bushels per acres, compared with 24.4 bushels for the USDA
soybean average in the same region."

Post-harvest research with Roundup Ready soybean growers showed that nearly nine of 10 plan
to plant Roundup Ready soybeans again in 1999. Overall, with greater availability of Roundup
Ready soybean seed and hundreds of new varieties, Roundup Ready soybean acres are expected to increase again this year, Rosenbloom said.

The grower research also indicated that more than four out of five Roundup Ready growers
believe that Roundup Ready soybeans represent good or very good value. Growers identified
excellent weed control and lower weed control costs as their primary reasons for finding Roundup
Ready soybeans a good value, but ease of weed control and good yields also were factors,
according to the research.

Roundup Ready soybeans were planted on more than 25 million U.S. acres in 1998.

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