Mid-season survey highlights high satisfaction with Monsanto’s YieldGard Rootworm and YieldGard Plus Trait technologies

A mid-season, pre-harvest survey reports that U.S. corn growers who planted YieldGard^® Rootworm or YieldGard^® Plus Corn were satisfied with the biotech corn products and the performance these traits were demonstrating on their farming operations.

The independent study, which included interviews with more than 350 growers across the corn belt, was conducted by Marketing Horizons, Inc. of St. Louis, Missouri in August of 2004.  Survey participants included growers who planted YieldGard Rootworm corn and growers participating in a field demonstration program for YieldGard Plus this season. In both cases, nearly 9 out of 10 users underscored their satisfaction with the trait technologies.

“In survey results, corn growers utilizing Monsanto’s YieldGard Rootworm insect-protected trait technologies pointed out the performance, convenience, peace of mind and value that these trait technologies offer growers,” said David Rhylander, Monsanto’s U.S. Traits Director.

“The YieldGard Rootworm and YieldGard Plus insect-protected traits provide in-plant insect protection that enables roots to reach full potential and stalks to stay healthy and strong,” Rhylander said.

“We are thrilled to see the results of this survey which show that the majority of growers are clearly satisfied with the high performance of YieldGard Plus corn over traditionally applied insecticides,” Rhylander added.  

The survey also measured growers’ perceptions of the trait technologies as compared to other rootworm control methods. In all cases where growers conducted their own on-farm trial of YieldGard Plus or YieldGard Rootworm their satisfaction levels were at least 10 percentage points higher with YieldGard protected corn versus seed treatments or soil-applied insecticides.

 Some growers indicated that rootworm pressure levels were higher than previous years. Additionally in Illinois, 38 percent of surveyed growers reported higher rootworm pressure this year.

To protect against rootworm pressure, 43 percent of growers surveyed reported that they were using YieldGard Plus or YieldGard Rootworm on their corn-on-corn acres, while 63 percent said they were using soil or seed-applied treatments on their corn on corn acres. Growers who were not satisfied with soil-applied or seed treatments for rootworm control most often cited poor control and length of control.

“One of the advantages of YieldGard Rootworm corn is that the insect control is in the seed,” says Todd DeGooyer, Monsanto Trait Technical Manager. “This approach can provide growers with excellent protection and consistent performance under varying rootworm pressures and environmental conditions”.

Monsanto Company (NYSE:  MON) is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality.

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