As food company and processor demand for better oils for healthier foods continues to grow, Monsanto next season will offer soybean farmers an expanded portfolio of high-performing Vistive™ low-linolenic soybeans, which can reduce or eliminate trans fats in processed soybean oil.

Introduced on just 100,000 acres in 2005, Vistive low-lin beans were planted on approximately 1.5 million acres in 2007. More than 100 food companies, including KFC and Kellogg’s, are now using Vistive low-lin oil in their products. In addition, numerous cities, counties and states have either enacted or are considering bans on trans fats in school cafeterias and restaurants. …more

ST. LOUIS, Mo., April 17, 2007 – Roundup Ready^® Corn 2 is on track to reach a new milestone. The technology is expected to be planted on approximately 50 million acres this season, or over 55 percent of the projected 90 million U.S. corn acres. That is a substantial increase over the to-date record 35 million acres in 2006. …more

ST. LOUIS, Mo., (June 14, 2007) – Use of residual herbicides in Roundup Ready® cropping systems not only greatly improves control of tough weeds such as lambsquarters, pigweed and wild buckwheat, but also reduces the potential for development of weed resistance.

These are two clear findings from an extensive, decade-long weed-resistance study conducted at multiple irrigated and non-irrigated sites across four states: Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming. This research encompassed a continual rotation of Roundup Ready crop technologies in corn, soybeans, sugarbeets and spring wheat*. …more

ST. LOUIS, July 16, 2007 – Since its launch in late March 2007, farmers from across the Corn Belt are visiting www.weedtool.com to take a closer look at their weed-management practices. Created to help farmers gauge the risk of developing glyphosate-resistant weeds, the one-of-a-kind online weed-resistance risk-assessment tool offers best farming practices to manage those risks without limiting yield potential. …more

Philadelphia, SEPTEMBER 10, 2007 — Soybean growers now have an effective option for residual control of key broadleaf weeds in both the fall and spring. Authority MTZ herbicide from FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) is a preplant treatment that controls problem weeds, resulting in a clean start for earlier planting next spring.

In addition, FMC representatives point to what they call the Flexi-Crop Advantage that Authority MTZ provides. The Flexi-Crop Advantage means that the recropping interval is only four months for corn and small grains (where Authority MTZ has been applied up to 14 oz/A). This allows producers the flexibility to adapt planting options to changing market demands, weather conditions, etc., making it easier to get the most profitability out of every acre.

Authority MTZ controls a variety of broadleaves that have exhibited resistance to glyphosate and/or ALS herbicides. In addition, when used as part of a fall burndown program, it provides unmatched residual control of a number of small seeded broadleaves and winter annual weeds including henbit, chickweed, pigweed, marestail, lambsquarters and waterhemp.

Field trials show that Authority MTZ provides excellent fall weed control and superior residual control of key weeds into the following spring. This will help growers spread out their spring workload while adding additional yield by eliminating early-season weed competition (see Figure 1 for details.)

“Flexible applications for weed control are an increasing trend as growers re-evaluate their weed management programs to minimize time and crop constraints in the spring, and achieve cleaner fields at planting time,” says Aaron Locker, product manager for FMC. “The unique Flexi-Crop Advantage of Authority MTZ allows growers to control their weeds early in the fall and still have the flexibility to change cropping decisions next spring based on commodity market trends.”

When applied as part of a fall weed management program, Authority MTZ will control early- season weeds in no-till or conservation-till fields through the next planting season. It should be applied at a rate of 10 to 14 oz/A in soil temperatures below 55 degrees. For maximum control of emerged weeds, apply Authority MTZ as a tank mix with other herbicides such as Rage D-Tech, a new burndown herbicide from FMC.

When used in spring applications, Authority MTZ controls key weeds to reduce competition and allow for more timely glyphosate application. For early preplant treatments, apply Authority MTZ 30 to 45 days before planting. For later applications (such as preplant and preemergence), Authority MTZ can be applied as late as three days after planting. For maximum results, apply Authority MTZ as a tank mix with glyphosate and/or Rage D-Tech for extra burndown punch.

For more information about products in the corn and soybean portfolio from FMC, please visit cropsolutions.fmc.com.

New brochure gives farmers the edge on giant ragweed

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (September 24, 2007)-With the development of herbicide resistant giant ragweed on the horizon, Midwest corn and soybean farmers have a new education resource thanks to the efforts of a group of university weed scientists led by Bill Johnson with Purdue University. The result of this collaboration is Biology and Management of Giant Ragweed, a brochure created to help farmers minimize yield losses from giant ragweed and manage the development of herbicide resistance.

In addition to Johnson, the group of weed scientists included Mark Loux and Jeff Stachler with Ohio State University, Glenn Nice and Andy Westhoven with Purdue University, Dawn Nordby with University of Illinois and Christy Sprague with Michigan State University.

The brochure provides a detailed description of giant ragweed anatomy from seedlings to pollination patterns and offers recommendations for identification and management strategies. By being able to identify giant ragweed and understand how a population can become resistant, the researchers hope to see farmers modify their herbicide application practices and better manage current technology.

“Glyphosate and Roundup Ready® products are a once-in-a-lifetime resource but if we’re not careful about how we use this technology we will greatly reduce its effectiveness and simplicity,” Bill Johnson said. “We hope this information will help farmers recognize the worst weed problems in their fields and change their treatment methods by increasing the diversity in their herbicide rotations.”

Farmers are facing staggering yield losses from giant ragweed. “We believe giant ragweed is the most competitive broadleaf weed in soybeans in the eastern cornbelt and can cause significant yield loss as soybeans compete for light, water and nutrients,” Johnson said. “Soybean crops stand to suffer yield losses of up to 80 percent and corn up to 70 percent. By increasing herbicide diversity we can control giant ragweed and other weeds more effectively and also slow the inevitable development of glyphosate-resistant weed populations.”

The brochure offers detailed management guidelines for both corn and soybean crops and reinforces the importance of combining a pre and post herbicide treatment with multiple modes of action as the most effective herbicide program.

Biology and Management of Giant Ragweed is one of many publications in The Glyphosate, Weeds and Crops Series. The series will be comprised of 10 publications, each focusing on a particular aspect of glyphosate stewardship, including individual weeds which have become more problematic to control in Roundup Ready cropping systems. The goal of the series is to create an easy-to-use tool for farmers, retailers and crop advisors that will help them manage weeds and preserve the benefits of the Roundup Ready cropping system technology. Other publications in print in the series include Biology and Management of Horseweed, Biology and Management of Wild Buckwheat, Facts about Glyphosate-Resistant Weeds and Understanding Glyphosate to Increase Performance.

Farmers can attain a copy of these publications through the Glyphosate Stewardship Working Group’s Web site at www.glyphosateweedscrops.org or by contacting their state extension weed scientist.

Valent U.S.A. Corporation, BASF Corporation, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroScience LLC, Dupont, Monsanto Company, Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., the Indiana Soybean Alliance, the Illinois Soybean Program Operating Board, and USDA North Central IPM Competitive Grants Program have all provided the financial support to make communicating this message possible.

Risk Premiums Could Be Up to 24 Percent Lower for Farmers in Four-State Pilot

ST. LOUIS (September 26, 2007) A new pilot program recently approved by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) will provide farmers an opportunity to pay lower premiums if they plant a majority of their corn acres using hybrid seeds that feature YieldGard Plus® with Roundup Ready® Corn 2 or YieldGard VT Triple(tm) technology from Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON).

The insurance product will be offered as a pilot program in cooperation with Western Agriculture Insurance Company and will be called the Biotech Yield Endorsement (BYE). Western Agriculture Insurance will make the program available to all other approved insurance providers to offer to their farmer customers. …more

Proprietary innovation increases yields up to 12 percent

DES MOINES, Iowa, Sept. 26, 2007 - Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, announces it is commercializing soybean varieties developed using a technology that increases yields by as much as 12 percent per acre. Pioneer is introducing five varieties with the technology for 2008 planting, pending wide-area product advancement trial results.

This announcement officially launches one of the company’s three soybean yield traits from its pipeline to commercial status. It will be commercially known as Accelerated Yield TechnologyTM (AYTTM). AYTTM uses proprietary molecular breeding techniques to rapidly scan and identify genes that increase yield then incorporate them into elite soybean genetics. …more

Insect hits cornfields in two new states as it continues to expand its movement into the Eastern Corn Belt

INDIANAPOLIS — September 19, 2007 — When Larry Lathwell decided to take a look at the progress of his drought-stressed corn in early August, the Frankfort, Mich., farmer discovered he wasn’t the only one in his cornfield that day. As he pulled back on the husks, ground kernels fell out until a shredded ear of corn was revealed with several worms feeding on it. Each ear of corn he inspected looked the same. …more

Patented Manufacturing Process Delivers the Right Ratio of Nutrients at the Right Time

Plymouth, Minn. — Sept. 17, 2007 — A unique three-in-one crop nutrient designed to make every single plant perform better is now available from The Mosaic Company.

Called MicroEssentials^TM, the new product uses a patented manufacturing process to combine the correct ratios of different vital nutrients into uniform granules, with each granule formed much like the partial layers on an onion’s skin. Every MicroEssentials granule contains three critical nutrients — nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur — in a proper ratio, giving every single plant a better shot at getting essential nutrients it needs to produce the best results. …more