Print This PageQuestioning Acceleron
On August 26, at the 2008 Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, Monsanto introduced the world to Acceleron -- our brand seed treatment designed to help maximize crop performance potential beginning at planting. The product is being launched as a part of the seed treatment platform Monsanto announced earlier this year.
During the show, Monsanto held a press conference, allowing attendees to be the first to ask questions about Acceleron. And they didn’t hold back.
They wanted to know if Acceleron is a fungicide or a pesticide, if it contains hormones and whether Monsanto will manufacture the product itself.
Randy Barker, Monsanto’s seed treatment strategy lead, said there are no hormones in current or future treatments of Acceleron. “It is a master brand,” he said. “For 2009, RoundUp Ready 2 Yield soybeans will come with a fungicide, but Acceleron also represents insecticides, other plant health agents, other technologies, and we’re bringing those together as a system. The platform will continue to evolve as we find products and systems that maximize performance.”
Barker said Monsanto has a vested interest in producing Acceleron and being involved in the developmental work. “It’s more than just bringing things in,” he said. “We have the ownership, and we’re making sure we’re highly vested in the production of it.”
Then came the more challenging questions.
What’s the product’s impact per acre? What makes Acceleron stand out amongst existing seed treatments? And the million-dollar question--what’s the pricing value?
Per acre in 2009, Barker said growers should see one to two bushels as a general fungicide performance. He said with Acceleron we are seeing results on the higher end and above. He said one to two bushels is the benchmark and Monsanto wants to continue moving beyond that.
Matched against the competition, “this is not based on a single discovery portfolio, we are bringing things together, assuring they are new and performing beyond the current standards,” Barker said. “We can do that because of our seed and trait pipeline, technology and testing capabilities, as well as our legacy in chemistry.”
In regards to pricing, Barker said as we move into different crops and markets, we will look at the value delivered and make sure we are sharing the incremental value with the farmer.
“What we’re seeing with Acceleron is new plant health benefits and vigor,” Barker said. “This is a part of our commitment as an ag-only company to focus on bringing novel and new productive technologies to the marketplace.”
Acceleron will be available in RoundUp Ready 2 Yield soybeans in 2009, SmartStax in 2010, Deltapine cotton in 2011 and other crops in coming seasons.
