Program Focuses on Company's Commitment to Dialogue, Transparency, Sharing, Benefits, Respect, Acting as Owners and Creating a Great Place to Work

Monsanto today announced recipients of the company's Excellence Awards, a program that recognizes employees whose efforts best exemplify the spirit of the seven elements of the Monsanto Pledge. The Monsanto Pledge was announced two years ago and encompasses:

     - Dialogue: We will listen carefully to diverse points of view and engage
       in thoughtful dialogue to broaden our understanding of issues in order
       to better address the needs and concerns of society and each other.
     - Transparency: We will ensure that information is available, accessible
       and understandable.
     - Sharing: We will share knowledge and technology to advance scientific
       understanding, to improve agriculture and the environment, to improve
       crops, and to help farmers in developing countries.
     - Benefits: We will deliver high-quality products that are beneficial to
       our customers and to the environment, with sound and innovative
       science, and thoughtful and effective stewardship.
     - Respect: We will respect the religious, cultural and ethical concerns
       of people throughout the world.  The safety of our employees the
       communities where we operate, our customers, consumers and the
       environment will be our highest priority.

     Internal elements of the Monsanto Pledge include:

     - Act as Owners: We will create clarity of direction, roles and
       accountability; build strong relationships with our customers and
       external partners; make wise decisions; steward our company resources;
       and take responsibility for achieving agreed upon results.
     - Create a Great Place to Work: We will ensure diversity of people and
       thought; foster innovation, creativity and learning; practice inclusive
       teamwork; and reward and recognize our people.

"The Excellence Awards are great examples of how Monsanto employees across the globe are carrying forward the Pledge commitments, acting as owners of this promise to achieve results in the communities where they live and work," said Hugh Grant, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Award recipients represent multiple Monsanto teams on four continents. The recognized programs, one in each of eight categories, range from a South African land care project and a pesticide exposure study to a seed purity initiative and an internal cost savings program. Recipients each receive a $15,000 prize to donate to the non-profit organization(s) of their choice.

                       MONSANTO 2003 EXCELLENCE AWARDS

     Category: Benefits and Sharing
     "The Mlondozi Conservation Agriculture Project"
     Mlondozi, South Africa

Most of the 5,000 farming families who live in the Mlondozi area in eastern South Africa (on the border of Swaziland) barely produce enough food to survive, and none have been able to produce enough to have a surplus to sell. Further, aggressive plowing has led to the erosion of topsoil and a breakdown of the soil structure.

The Mlondozi Land Care Project is starting to change this. Initiated in 1999, the project is a partnership between Monsanto South Africa, the Mlondozi Farming Community, Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) Institute for Soil, Climate and Water.

The program works to educate farmers about good farming practices through specialists who train extension officers and farmers. Several farmers within walking distance form a cluster and meet with the extension officer to discuss and evaluate farm technology as well as visit each farmer's plot. Farmers learn about hybrid seed, foliar and pre-emergent herbicides, pesticide safety, soil analyses and fertilizer, record keeping and post harvest technologies. Most importantly, they are learning about crop rotation and no-till. This emphasis on the importance of retaining organic matter on and in the soil to ensure soil-quality improvement and soil moisture conservation can help protect crops against drought.

The Mlondozi Land Care Project has greatly improved participating farmers' yields and income. Yields have increased from 1.31 tons per hectare in 1999 to 6 tons per hectare in 2001, while farmers' income rose 25 percent in 2000 and 71 percent in 2001.

Monsanto South Africa will donate its $15,000 Excellence Award prize to the Mlondozi Farmers' Union and the Dennilton Cotton Farmers.

     Category: Community
     "Building Partnerships through Community Relations"
     Bellary, India

Many schoolchildren in villages in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, India, drop out of school because they cannot afford to buy school supplies.

As a member of these communities, Monsanto India recognized the problem and in 1996, launched a program to provide educational tools for these children, beginning on a small scale by donating books, school bags and scholarships to students. The program expanded and since its inception, has donated 200,000 schoolbooks, 50,000 school bags and 2,500 student scholarships to local children.

In addition to the student program, Monsanto India established both human and animal heath camps, assisting more than 4,000 people and 3,000 animals, and developed public-vaccination programs, providing polio vaccination to hundreds of children.

Through Monsanto's efforts, hundreds of trees have been planted, promoting nature and environmental conservation. Monsanto India also contributed $5,000 to "The Village Clean-up Program," which has led to better hygiene, sanitation and social infrastructure.

Monsanto India will donate its $15,000 Excellence Award prize to the Mahatma Gandhi Sikshana Samithi Trust and the Zilla Praja Parishat Unnatha Patashala Trust.

     Category: Creating a Winning Environment
     "Capturing the Power of Diversity"
     Camacari, Brazil

When Monsanto developed plans for a new Roundup facility in Camacari, Brazil, the company also established the benchmark for multicultural working environments. When the plant opened in October 2001, Monsanto had "built in" an appreciation of diversity in an effort to unleash the human potential that comes from an organization where the working environment is founded on diversity.

Management objectives included breaking through mythical barriers to creating a diversified workforce. Management's efforts facilitated cultural integration as well as integration of the work environment through task forces and networking, the seamless transferal of technology, the support of creativity and the promotion of friendship, ownership, employee motivation and pride.

The site achieved its diversity objectives, established when the plant opened:

     - Employees' ages vary from 20 to 56 years; 60 percent of technical
       workforce consists of new graduates, while 40 percent is made up of
       experienced professionals.
     - Twenty-five percent of shift operators and 40 percent of plant
       engineers are female.
     - An all female team from the site placed second in a state fire-brigade
       contest, breaking the gender paradigm.
     - The plant implemented an African/Brazilian program to assist
       engineering students with financial needs complete their education.
     - The plant created a women's network to create a feeling of respect,
       sharing and pride.

The plant contributes its record-time start-up (three months) and quality operation to its workforce -- diverse in experience, gender and culture.

Monsanto will donate its $15,000 Excellence Award prize to the Carmem Mirim Community School and Kindergarten and the Parafuso Community School.

     Category: Dialogue/Transparency/Respect
     "Farm Family Exposure Study"
     North America

Until Monsanto launched the Farm Family Exposure Study (FFES) in 1998, there was virtually no scientific research addressing pesticide exposure of farm children or how pesticide users could minimize exposure to their families.

The FFES is the most comprehensive study to date of real world pesticide exposure for farmers and their families. Monsanto's regulatory scientists conceived the FFES to complement ongoing academic and government human health research related to pesticides. Despite a difficult business environment, the Monsanto team was able to recruit seven major agrochemical companies to co- sponsor this $2 million study and to help provide technical expertise for its development and conduct.

The sponsoring companies provided a grant to researchers at the University of Minnesota (UM) to develop and conduct the FFES. The study protocol was given ethical approval by the UM Institutional Review Board and benefited from the advice of a distinguished panel of academic and government experts. From conception, the team made information about the study goals, progress, and results available to the regulatory and scientific communities.

Ninety-five families were randomly selected to participate in the study from among Minnesota and South Carolina families planning to apply a number of different pesticides on their farms. Key findings from the study included:

• With very few exceptions, farm spouses and children showed no indication of increased pesticides in their urine after a pesticide application;
• The exceptions possibly could have been prevented by rudimentary precautions such as wearing gloves when assisting on the farm or avoiding the area where pesticides were being poured into the spray tank; and
• Farmers' failure to wear gloves while handling pesticides or equipment was directly correlated to their urinary pesticide level.

The FFES findings and important data relative to the safe use of glyphosate and other pesticides were presented at more than 20 domestic and international scientific and farm group meetings. In addition, the research team is collaborating with researchers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control to extend the utility of the study.

Monsanto will donate its $15,000 Excellence Award prize to the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service to further education about pesticide safety on farms.

     Category: Safety
     "Monsanto Choice Genetics: Focus on Safety"
     North America

Over the past year, the health and safety of Monsanto Choice Genetics employees has been the focus of several initiatives, resulting in fewer injuries, less time lost to health and injury issues, and a dramatic drop in workman's compensation costs.

Taking Safety to a New Level

The first program involved intensive safety reviews of the facility, coupled with training to keep safety at the forefront in the minds of all employees. In addition to physical updates to the facilities, programs were initiated to instill the belief that safety should be uppermost in people's minds as they do their jobs. Daily discussions and voicemail messages regarding safety, in both English and Spanish, reinforced printed materials. The program also included classroom lessons, videos, presentations by trainees, and on-the-farm training for all new and existing employees. Topics included OSHA required training, heat stress, hand and finger safety, hantavirus prevention, and safe practices for animal movement, power washing buildings, and tractor and ATV safety.

The program proved to be very effective. In 1998, the group had a Total Recordable Rate (TRR) of injuries of 11.4. The group's TRR dropped to 3.69 in 2002, while worker's compensation costs decreased 81 percent from 1999 to 2002.

Case Management: Work Injury and Illness

The second program was designed to help the company work closely with employees who are injured or become sick on the job. Monsanto Choice Genetics implemented a program to facilitate quick reporting and tracking of cases from the moment of injury to visits to doctors, from follow up and return to work to full recovery. The program enabled the group to offer employee assistance and find appropriate work during employee recovery.

Boar Movement Safety

In addition to the safety programs, Monsanto Choice Genetics employees in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, developed equipment, which allows husbandry workers to move mature Artificial Insemination (AI) boars, eliminating both the danger of attack from the boar and strain to the worker from attempts to physically control the direction and movement of the boars, and which is less stressful to the boar. The team developed an oversized, hinged set of boards (sort board), with which two husbandry workers can easily create a portable three- sided pen that moves with the boar.

Monsanto Choice Genetics will donate its $15,000 Excellence Award prize to the Community Foundation of Southwest Kansas and Emergency Management Services organizations in Canada.

     Category: Serving Monsanto's Customers
     "Ensuring Genetic Consistency and Pure Seed Supplies"
     North America

Many stakeholders, ranging from government regulators, growers, farm suppliers, and food processors to the general public, have an interest in the purity of seeds Monsanto markets. They expect and demand Monsanto seed product labels to be accurate and the seed products themselves to be used in accordance with regulatory directives. Confidence in the purity of Monsanto seeds is necessary to realize the potential environmental, yield and economic benefits they offer.

Monsanto began work several years ago to achieve unprecedented seed purity and has met three key objectives of its plan:

     - To develop product trait purity testing strategies;
     - To achieve and implement essential technology to enable identification
       and tracking of all transgenic events from discovery through commerce,
       while broadly working with the seed-handling chain to ensure purity of
       Monsanto seed products; and
     - To more quickly identify adventitious presence of genetically modified
       material in oilseed rape.

Several Monsanto teams worked to achieve these objectives:

Product Purity Testing Matrices -- The Production Technology team combined purity tests for transgenes to create a testing matrix, which greatly improved the accuracy of the testing and has resulted in an $840,000 benefit to date.

Identification and Tracking Transgenic Events -- The Seed Quality Technology team placed a high priority on development of a fast, low-cost, accurate DNA testing technology within Monsanto to comprehensively, accurately and cost-effectively identify and track minute differences in molecular signatures in the germplasm of biotech crops throughout the entire seed research, development, production and commerce chain. As of November 2002, the group achieved much of that goal, increasing transgenic screening productivity five-fold.

Identification of Adventitious Presence in Oilseed Rape -- Conventional winter oilseed rape is an important crop for Europe. Each year, accurate testing of seed stock for adventitious presence is mandatory to prevent unapproved genetic material from appearing in the rapeseed crop. The testing process was slow, due in part to the poor quality of the DNA extraction methods used. To resolve the problem, the Monsanto European Genetic Purity lab compared five DNA extraction methods for yield, quality, throughput capacity, technical convenience and required investment. The team then developed an accurate, high throughput testing procedure. The new process delivered 98 percent of test results to the customer within 10 days, saving Monsanto $140,000 from 2001 to 2002 and generating a future cost savings of $35,000 per year.

Monsanto will donate its $15,000 Excellence Award prize to the UFB, a European charity for children with physical and mental challenges, St. Jude Children's Hospital and the American Cancer Society.

     Category: Taking Ownership
     "Administrative Professionals: Cost Savings and Communications"
     North America

In May 2000, the concept of a corporate administrative professional's team to save money and eliminate internal red tape was born. Monsanto's administrative professionals were frustrated, forced to manage constantly changing office systems -- brought on by the elimination and consolidation of many corporate service groups. Several administrative professionals took the initiative and established the Cost Savings/Communications team. The group formed sub-teams to address various issues throughout the company. Three sub- teams delivered significant results within the first year.

Surplus Supply

The Surplus Supply Team collected unwanted supplies -- the result of internal office moves -- that otherwise would have been thrown away. The team stored and inventoried the supplies and developed a system for retrieval and delivery. As the program became more successful, the supplies were moved to a larger storage facility and a new inventory system was developed. The first year of the program resulted in a cost savings of $12,000 and a total of $56,000 to date.

Admin Central

The IT Web Page Team developed a Web site, called Admin Central, to help ease e-mail traffic and save time and frustration. The team identified information housed on the company intranet that was used on a daily basis and listed the appropriate links on a single Web page. The Web master updates the site regularly, which is used by administrative professionals, both domestic and global, as well as other employees. Because the site is managed internally, the team saved the company over $5,000 in development costs.

Professional Development

In 2003, the Cost Savings/Communications team began exploring ways to provide professional development opportunities to administrative assistants. After meeting with senior managers and the Human Resources department, the team organized a panel discussion with five company leaders to identify the skills and attributes the leaders considered most important in an administrative assistant. The event was attended by half of the St. Louis administrative assistants and broadcasted to three remote sites. Additional sessions are being planned.

The group continues to meet bi-monthly and helped launch similar teams in Bangalore, India, and Brussels, Belgium.

The Monsanto Cost Savings/Communications team will donate its $15,000 Excellence Award prize to Connections to Success; the Center for Women in Transition, which provides support services and safe transitional housing to homeless women and their children to foster and sustain their self- sufficiency; and Woman's Place.

     Category: Technological Innovation
     "Double-Duty Gene:  From Vitamin A Rich Oil to High-Tech Lab Tool"
     North America

Rarely do plant researchers working with a single gene simultaneously find two significant and highly useful outcomes. However, teams of Monsanto researchers in St. Louis, Mo; Davis, Calif.; and Bangalore, India; did just that. Working with a gene known as phytoene synthase, the teams uncovered two vastly different, but extremely important uses for the gene.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A deficiency has tragic consequences in many developing parts of the world, including improper development in children, permanent night blindness, and fatal immune-system deficiencies. The development of genetically modified seeds that supply oil high in beta-carotene (the most important pro-vitamin A) could provide a very promising way to address vitamin A deficiency.

Monsanto researchers used the phytoene synthase gene as a way to insert beta-carotene into seeds. Working with canola seeds, Monsanto researchers caused the seeds to over-express a bacterial phytoene gene known as the carotenoid biosynthetic gene (crtB), and experienced a sixty-fold increase in carotenoids (plant pigments that function as antioxidants), including beta- carotene. In India, a major source of food oil is Indian rapeseed (or mustard) and one of the advantages of providing beta-carotene in an oil matrix is improved carotenoid absorption. Since Indian mustard (B. juncea) is a close relative of canola (B. napus), researchers designed a similar transformation system.

As part of its research, Monsanto applied for and received a patent for the carotenoid biosynthetic gene in the seeds of plants, which enables the company to provide this beneficial technology to the developing world.

High-Tech Lab Tool

The second important application is the use of the phytoene synthase gene to speed up the development of biotechnology-enhanced plants, enabling researchers to eliminate non-usable versions of modified plants within weeks, instead of years.

Traditionally, plant scientists have used a bacterium (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) as a natural genetic engineer to produce transgenic plants. Unfortunately, using it often results in the unwanted introduction of a piece of DNA, known as the backbone, into the target cell. Therefore, these plants must be discarded, but it could take years to determine which plants contain the unwanted DNA. The new method uses the phytoene synthase gene as a visual indicator. Within weeks, it is possible to determine which cells have an orange pigment, an indicator that the cell contains the backbone DNA. This method has reduced the resources currently used on transgenic plants containing the unwanted DNA by nearly 50 percent.