New York, New York
February 20, 2008
Monsanto Company's technologies have placed it in a unique
position to help farmers meet the changing supply-demand
patterns of global agriculture, Monsanto's Executive Vice
President of Strategy and Operations, Carl Casale, will tell
investors tomorrow. Casale will deliver his remarks as part of a
presentation at the Morgan Stanley Basic Materials Conference
2008 on Thursday in New York.
Casale's presentation will discuss how there has been a
fundamental shift in the agricultural landscape creating a new
demand-driven agriculture market fueled by three main factors.
These factors include increased protein demand from rising
incomes, demand for grain from China and biofuels.
"The real demand pull comes from China," Casale said. "To meet
the protein demands of this growing population, China will look
outside of its agricultural sector, providing an enormous demand
pull for grain over the next decade."
"The solution to meeting these demands is yield," Casale said.
"In a demand-driven environment opportunity is defined by
scarcity or innovation,"
he said. "Monsanto's strategy is targeted on innovation --
discovering and developing technology that is game changing."
Casale believes the company's innovation focus sets it apart,
both in the value created for farmers and the company's
strategic opportunity. "We will grow because of what we do, how
we invest and what we deliver -- not because of what the
commodity cycles do," he said.
Casale believes that the company's ability to provide technology
to boost per-acre productivity will be key to helping farmers
meet the needs of a demand-driven market. These potential
technologies, like Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans, SmartStax
corn and nitrogen-utilization corn are being developed to drive
yields to meet these demands, he said.
Monsanto establishes global seed treatment platform
As a technology company with strong cash generation, Monsanto
has the opportunity to invest in growth areas for agriculture,
Casale said.
As part of his presentation, Casale will announce that Monsanto
is establishing a global seed treatment platform. The company
has entered into separate agreements with
Becker Underwood
and Plant Health Care
Inc., as novel components of the platform for delivering
proprietary seed treatments for corn, soybeans and cotton.
The global platform is a natural complement to the company's
seed strategy and yield-enhancing technology pioneered by
Monsanto through biotechnology and breeding, as well as its
collaborative approach to new technologies, Casale said.
"As we develop our seed-treatment platform, we're planning to
stake a leading position in an underserved, but emerging
category and to enter into a variety of licensing and supply
agreements," Casale said. "Seed treatments are the next step in
yield protection and delivery, and represent a high-margin
global opportunity."
The global seed treatment industry generates annual sales of
greater than
$1.5 billion, with almost $900 million in the crops key to
Monsanto's business. Currently, Monsanto treats more than 1
billion pounds of seed each year and sees the potential to
expand treatment to new crops and new geographies, Casale said.
"The realizable yield in seeds is so valuable to farmers that
seed treatments are the next logical complement to further
protect yield created by advanced breeding and biotech traits,"
said Casale.
Monsanto plans to begin offering seed treatments as early as the
2009 season.
In 2009, Monsanto plans to treat all Roundup Ready 2 Yield
soybeans with a proprietary treatment, aimed at incremental
yield boost in soybeans.
Similarly in 2010, Monsanto plans to have a proprietary seed
treatment for the launch of its SmartStax corn product, and the
company is also working to have a seed treatment solution for
its Deltapine cotton varieties by 2011.
The agreement between Monsanto and Becker Underwood is focused
on evaluating a biological seed treatment aimed at helping
soybeans improve both their nitrogen fixation ability and
overall plant performance. Monsanto is also working with Plant
Health Care Inc. to develop and commercialize a novel seed-based
solution for nematodes, a plant parasite that can severely limit
crop yields around the world in crops such as corn, soybeans,
cotton and vegetables.
Casale'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.
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality.
Deltapine, Roundup Ready 2 Yield and SmartStax are trademarks of
Monsanto Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries.
Other news
from Becker
Underwood /
from
Plant Health Care Inc. |
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