Monsanto and Syngenta joins hands on Roundup Ready II yield soybean 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. via Monsanto