Genuity(TM) SmartStax(TM) Corn, Genuity(TM) Roundup Ready 2 Yield(R) Lead Robust R&D Pipeline

GRINNELL, Iowa, Aug. 13, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Monsanto Company's (NYSE: MON) R&D pipeline is on the verge of a technology explosion that is expected to deliver value-added products with improved yield for growers and has the company poised to meet its goals for 2012 and beyond, Hugh Grant, Monsanto's chairman, chief executive officer and president, will tell investors today.

Grant's comments will kick off the company's fourth annual summer field event for investors which starts today at Monsanto's manufacturing facility in Grinnell, Iowa. At Grinnell, investors will see firsthand some of the state-of-the-art technology used to create the highest-quality seed available. The group also will visit Ames, Iowa to view large-acre trials of Genuity(TM) Roundup Ready 2 Yield(R) soybeans and Genuity(TM) SmartStax(TM) corn and Monsanto's BioFuture site in Huxley, Iowa.

"We see substantially increased demand from agriculture, and the most sustainable way to meet that demand is to create more yield on existing acreage," Grant said. "We have committed to using our technology to double yields in our three core crops - corn, soybeans and cotton - by 2030, while reducing our use of key resources by one-third per unit produced. Innovation has us well on our way to achieving this, with our most robust pipeline ever. We're on the verge of an unprecedented technology explosion that will deliver the types of products growers want most - those that offer greater yield and value."

Grant said the company is on track to expand the seeds and traits side of the business at a 20 percent compound annual growth rate from 2007 to 2012. He also reaffirmed the company's commitment to double 2007 gross profit by 2012. By 2012, Grant said seeds and traits are expected to reach $7.3 to $7.5 billion of gross profit, approximately 2.5 times its 2007 level, and the Roundup(R) division is expected to provide approximately 10 percent of total gross profit at approximately $1 billion.

Reinforcing Monsanto's commitment to deliver seven new high impact technologies (HIT), on average one a year, Grant said the projects have the potential to deliver an incremental $3 billion in gross revenues by 2020 in the first countries of launch. The company's HIT projects include traits from the drought-tolerant corn family; the broad-acre, higher-yielding corn and soybean families; and the nitrogen-utilization corn family, all of which are part of Monsanto's yield and stress collaboration with BASF; as well as insect-protected soybean technology for Brazilian farmers.

"These projects came to be through a disciplined investment in seed and biotech that is unmatched in the industry," Grant said. "We consistently invest 14 to 15 percent of our total net sales for seeds and genomics in research and development for breeding and biotechnology. This investment underlines our commitment to continued innovation and growth."

Genuity(TM) SmartStax(TM) Corn

Grant also will announce that Monsanto-branded Genuity(TM) SmartStax(TM) is expected to be offered to farmers on 3 to 4 million acres in 2010, the largest corn biotech launch to date.