St. Louis, Missouri
May 23, 2008
Global business agreement
provides broader farmer access and expands the market
opportunity for Monsanto's second-generation herbicide-tolerant
technology
Monsanto today expanded
the potential commercial availability of its breakthrough
Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ soybean technology by granting a global
royalty-bearing license to
Syngenta for use across its soybean seed brands. Monsanto's
Asgrow® brand and American Seeds Inc. companies' brands are
preparing for the introduction of this higher-yielding soybean
technology, and the company is also broadly offering the
technology to its Corn States customers to further expand the
reach at the time of introductory launch in 2009.
With Syngenta's agreement to terms for a Roundup Ready 2 Yield
license, Monsanto now estimates a potential available acreage
for the product of 45 million to 55 million acres in the United
States, or an increase of more than 10 percent over its original
projection of 40 million to 50 million acres.
Monsanto believes that Roundup Ready 2 Yield ultimately could be
used on approximately seventy-five percent of an average of 60
million to 70 million soybean acres in the United States. Sales
of Syngenta's brands represented approximately 12 percent of
total U.S. soybean sales in 2007. Monsanto's Asgrow and American
Seeds Inc. brands collectively represented approximately
27 percent of total U.S. soybean sales in 2007.
Monsanto's Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans will be introduced on
1 million to 2 million acres for the 2009 season as part of a
controlled commercial release, followed by a large-scale product
launch of 5 million to 6 million acres scheduled for 2010.
"Roundup Ready 2 Yield will be the first of four game-changing
technologies that Monsanto plans to bring to farmers between now
and the middle of the next decade," said Brett Begemann,
executive vice president of Monsanto's global commercial
business.
"Roundup Ready 2 Yield will be the new platform in soybeans, and
can provide farmers with yield gains that have never been seen
before in this crop," said Begemann. "In the future, this
product will also serve as Monsanto's base technology for the
next wave of soybean traits that enhance oil content or take
yields to higher levels."
Monsanto's second-generation soybean technology is poised to
increase soybean yields for farmers allowing them to use the
additive yield to support the world's growing food, feed and
fuel needs. Four years of Monsanto research trials demonstrate
that Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans provide a consistent yield
advantage of 7 percent to 11 percent when compared with its
predecessor, Roundup Ready® soybeans. The four-year average
yield increase of Roundup Ready 2 Yield over its
first-generation counterpart was 9 percent.
As part of today's announcement, Monsanto said that it has also
reached a global business agreement with Syngenta that
establishes cooperative arrangements that are expected to result
in new technology options for farmers.
Under the agreement:
- Monsanto receives a
royalty-bearing license to Syngenta's enabling technology
related to Monsanto's third-generation herbicide-tolerant
technology, Dicamba tolerance.
- Monsanto grants Syngenta a
royalty-free license to its rights around specific
herbicide-tolerant corn technology (GA21 event) and to its
rights around specific insect-protected corn borer
technology (Bt11).
- Monsanto and Syngenta
agreed to settle all patent, antitrust and commercial
litigation between them and their subsidiaries. Some of
these disputes include Syngenta's antitrust suit, Monsanto's
patent infringement suit on herbicide-tolerant corn
technologies, and a dispute between the parties on
herbicide-tolerant soybean technology.
- Monsanto and Syngenta
agreed to cross-enable each other to develop and deliver
innovative new herbicide-tolerant and Bt insect-protection
products in corn, cotton and soybeans to compete for the
business of farmers around the world.
"We're pleased that we were able
to work with Syngenta to put farmer customers first and reach an
agreement that offers them tremendous benefits and choice in the
seasons ahead," said Begemann. "Our goal is to be the technology
collaborator of choice within the agricultural industry."
Additional specific details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) is a leading global provider of
technology- based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality.
BACKGROUND
Monsanto Company does not sell and has not authorized the
commercial sale or use of Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans. Any
product produced from a Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean crop or
seed may only be used, exported to, processed or sold in
countries where regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a
violation of national and international law to move material
containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where
import is not permitted.
Roundup Ready, Roundup Ready 2 Yield and Asgrow are trademarks
of Monsanto Technology LLC. |
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