Memphis, Tennessee
May 19, 2003

Stoneville Pedigreed Seed Company is making cotton history. Again. For the 2004 season, Stoneville will change its seed package from a 50-pound bag to a 230K seed count. Bulk packages will contain 9.2 million seeds, or forty 230,000-seed units.

Don Threet, Vice President of Stoneville's US Business Operations, explains, "For several decades now, we have sold cotton seed in 50-pound bags. This bag size was established long ago by default when the industry decided that the 100-pound bags it had been using for commodity cotton seed were too heavy. But today, better quality planting seed and planting equipment advancements have enabled growers to reduce the amount of seed that they plant per acre considerably, resulting in a very precise planting density. Additionally, seeds per foot of row have replaced pounds per acre because of significant quality advances in today's cotton planting seeds, and the value of technology in each bag. Just 10 years ago, before transgenic cotton, growers would talk about planting 15 to 20 pounds per acre. Those same growers today will tell you that they plant seeds per foot of row or cotton plant population per acre.

"The end user for our product has already made the step that he is no longer planting pounds-he's planting seeds. So we no longer need to sell him pounds; we need to sell him seeds."

Stoneville's new 230,000-count cotton seed packaging offers several advantages to growers and distributors. Seed-count packaging will enhance growers' planning and management accuracy, eliminating the need to convert pounds to seeds. Knowing exactly how many seeds are in each bag, coupled with their desired seeding rates, will allow them to order exactly what they need, thereby assuring they do not buy too much or too little seed of the elite Stoneville varieties they want and need.

Knowing seed counts enables both retailers and growers to improve inventory management by ordering the exact number of bags they need. This helps minimize tied up cash flow resulting from excessive inventory. Fewer "extra" bags in inventory reduces the risk of damage and loss during loading and storage.

"We're really excited about our seed-count packaging innovation," says Threet, who is based in Memphis. "It reflects the cotton grower's sophistication and the precise science of his cotton planting operation. The corn industry long-ago implemented seed count packaging, and the cotton industry needs it. All Stoneville-branded seed in 2004 will be sold in bags containing 230,000 seeds, instead of 50 pounds, because it's more fair to growers, they understand the value, and they'll get what they pay for."

Moving to a standardized seed count bag simplifies pricing and inventory issues on varieties that contain technologies, according to Monsanto's David Rhylander, Director of Marketing. "Today, there are 11 different prices on Roundup Ready varieties because of seed size and 10 different prices on Bollgard/Roundup varieties due to seed size," explains Rhylander. "The standardized seed count bag would give one price for Roundup Ready varieties and one price for Bollgard/Roundup Ready varieties.

"Additionally, it addresses future issues in pricing cotton technology. As more traits are put in the cotton seed, such as Bollgard II or Roundup Ready Flex, the price of a single cotton seed will increase. Therefore, as seeds become more expensive, growers will need to be able to manage this input cost more effectively. Stoneville's new 230K standard seed count bag will allow them to do this."

Rich in cotton heritage, Stoneville Pedigreed Seed Co. is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, with research & development sites, and seed production facilities located across the United States and internationally. Breeding cotton since 1922, the company provides conventional and transgenic varieties that cotton growers need today to compete in the global cotton economy.