St. Louis, Missouri, USA
October 15, 2010

As farmers begin to make their 2011 seed purchase decisions, early harvest results collected by Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) from three of the nation's leading soybean producing states indicate that Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans are exhibiting an average of more than three bushels per acre yield advantage, with a greater than 70 percent win rate, when compared with competitive Roundup Ready soybean varieties in those states.

The results highlight the performance profile of the top 134 varieties of Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans across a three-state geography including Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota, states where projectable data is now available. These preliminary data are based on more than 6,000 head-to-head comparisons in on-farm commercial and breeding trials. The company noted that it will complete the 2010 data set and use these findings to select and deploy the best products for the 2011 season.

"This first look at our data suggests yield results that are consistent with what many of our farmer customers have been telling us; Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield technology is setting the bar higher for soybean performance," said Dr. Ted Crosbie, Monsanto's vice president of global plant breeding. "Our trial data further indicate that farmers realize additional value with each bushel produced over first-generation soybean offerings and further supports the performance advantages of our future product offerings."

Broad variety testing is an important annual process. Each year, Monsanto tests hundreds of soybean varieties across thousands of research plots throughout the United States. These tests result in tens of thousands of comparisons with the leading competitive soybean products. Analysis of these data enables Monsanto to identify and narrow the pool of varieties to be sold commercially in a given geography the following year.

This update is part of an ongoing series of Monsanto reports throughout the harvest season. Today's report is based on preliminary harvest data collected from three states. Soybean harvest continues to progress nationwide and the collection of performance data is ongoing. Monsanto will continue to report on representative data, and will report its complete harvest results in November. For additional information, please visit the following website at: www.monsanto.com/productperformance. Farmers can also follow product news and performance online at: www.asgrowanddekalb.com and www.genuity.com. 
 

Website: http://www.monsanto.com

Published: October 15, 2010