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Monsanto says corn outyielding competition in early results

Dow Jones Newswires 10/05/2011 @ 9:00am

Monsanto said preliminary results show key corn seed products outperforming competitors, particularly in areas hit by hot summer temperatures, though it cautioned the U.S. harvest is still in its early stages.

The St. Louis-based seed company said its top seed brand, DeKalb, is showing "better than average performance relative to competitors" in areas hit by heat and stress this year. That would include much of the corn belt, as Illinois and Iowa both recorded their hottest summers in decades.

The company said in a slide presentation released Wednesday that preliminary results "support the expectation" that Monsanto's premium SmartStax corn seed outyielded an earlier generation seed. The company cautioned, however, that it is too early in the harvest season for "significant data analysis."

Monsanto's SmartStax seed produced what some analysts saw as disappointing yields in its first year of widespread use in 2010, underperforming legacy products despite having a higher price. The company said last year that improved hybrids would lead to improved performance over time, and emphasized that it is best-suited for areas of the northern U.S. corn belt.

The company announced fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday, and released the slides ahead of an investor conference call scheduled for 9:30 a.m. EDT.

Monsanto shares were recently up 3.1% to $64.90 pre-market. The stock is down 9.6% this year.

-By Ian Berry, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4072; ian.berry@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 05, 2011 09:23 ET (13:23 GMT)

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Not going to make many sales around here JAMES WULF 10/06/2011 @ 4:19pm Dekalb came in 5th in one of its own plots around here. Competitors varieties took 1st through 4th. Maybe it was too cold and wet for them to do well.... about 10 inches of rain since Jan 1, 2011 and 53 days over 100 degrees. :-) http://blogs.kansas.com/weather/category/heat/ Needless to say, very few varieties did well.

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monsanto chad borman 10/06/2011 @ 11:07am and as a special thank you they are gonna raise their prices next year.

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monsanto chad borman 10/06/2011 @ 11:07am and as a special thank you they are gonna raise their prices next year.

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embarrassing Richard James 10/05/2011 @ 5:20pm seed thugs

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Blatant advertisement. MIKE HOFER 10/05/2011 @ 10:14am This is news?