Thursday, September 16, 2010

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Says Corn Data Shows Higher Yield than Competitors

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) claims early harvest data from corn seed products reveal their products are outproducing their competitors' products.

While data is incomplete at this time, one of note that does seem to be doing well is its Genuity VT Triple PRO Corn, which is used to control earworms.

That product has produced and average yield of 8.5 more bushels of corn an acre than their competitors in 1,400 comparisons.

At a Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) chemical and agriculture conference, Brett Begemann, Monsanto's executive vice president of seeds and traits said,"Eight and a half bushels is pretty significant... a really positive outcome."

Monsanto made the announcement a day after chief rival DuPont (NYSE:DD) said they are gaining in market share in the soybean and corn seed markets.

DuPont has been branding itself as a lower cost competitor with less traits in a seed, but which does the job needed. They present the question to farmers of whether they really need the extra traits included with Monsanto seeds.

If there aren't higher yields at similar costs, the answer is of course no, and some farmers, especially with its Roundup Ready soybeans, aren't convinced they're getting better results, even with the higher cost seeds.

Monsanto has responded by lowering costs, while interestingly, DuPont has recently upped the cost of its seeds, although they're still lower in price than Monsanto's

Yields reportedly need to be at least a bushel or more an acre to justify the higher price.

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