| Dow, Monsanto partner traits for new corn seed by 2010 |
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| By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. —
Pending regulatory approval, by the end of this decade U.S. farmers should have access to combined corn seed trait technology from Dow AgroSciences (a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Co.) and Monsanto. The single product, to be marketed as SmartStax, has been developed by both companies and will be cross-licensed between them. Each may market the product directly to farmers, though Monsanto will represent SmartStax for third-party licensing and to independent seed companies.
In addition, the new corn variety will be available in other countries where Dow and Monsanto obtain the proper regulatory approval for local sale. It will contain eight of what the companies believe are the best traits they and their subsidiaries can each offer, including Roundup Ready; Liberty Link; Herculex I and RW; and YieldGard VT PRO and VT Rootworm/RR2.
“(SmartStax) is a package, and it is composed of four traits from Monsanto and four traits from Dow,” said Jerome Peribere, president and CEO of Dow AgroSciences. “It’s not a pick-and-choose.”
“As we’ve seen, better protection equals better yields and better technologies for our farmers,” added Ernesto Fajardo, U.S. crop production leader for Monsanto.
Peribere explained the companies believe SmartStax usage will “dramatically increase” farmers’ productivity, though Fajardo said researchers have not yet determined what kind of yield numbers growers can expect.
As for the companies’ competition thus far in marketing proprietary traits touted to serve similar functions – insecticides, for example – Tom Wiltrout, global business director of corn for Dow AgroSciences, said individual Bt traits work differently on pests because they offer different receptor sites for the bugs.
“Even though they’re (both) Bts, they do act differently on the insect itself,” he explained.
Of each company’s prior marketing efforts, Peribere admitted, “Some can be taken as politics, some can be taken as university data, but … the farmer needs to choose for himself” what he or she wishes to purchase and grow.
“Neither company could do this on its own,” he added.
Each company has the option to add its own new, proprietary traits to SmartStax in the future without the other company’s permission. Fajardo and Peribere would not define specific pricing but they hinted SmartStax would likely carry a higher price tag than other seed varieties for its “higher value,” and said that each company is free to price it independently.
Peribere added, “We have the customers in mind, and we have our shareholders in mind, and we think this will be great for both of them.”
SmartStax seed licensing and sales is expected to generate new royalty revenue for both companies, though representatives for both would not comment on specific revenue sharing or pricing.
As for whether the companies will partner on similar endeavors for other crops, such as soybeans or wheat, Peribere said, “We do not announce them before they’re ready to be announced.” Wiltrout added Dow is always open to collaboration and partnerships if they are a “win-win” for both parties.
This farm news was published in the Sept. 19, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
| 9/19/2007 |
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