Fraley Tours with Farmers in Mississippi
On Aug. 27, Robb Fraley, Monsanto chief technology officer, led farmers through Monsanto’s technology pipeline during the Scott, Mississippi Genuity Showcase. The event took place at Monsanto’s Scott Learning Center, and welcomed more than 50 farmers from the Dothan, Alabama area.
Fraley accompanied some of the farmers as they toured plots at the learning center. The plots highlighted seed treatments, and cotton, soybean and corn traits, including Genuity™ SmartStax™ and drought-tolerant corn. Farmers also viewed some of the candidates for Deltapine’s Class of 2010.
Following the tour, the group spoke with Fraley and Dave Rhylander, Deltapine® brand lead, about cotton variety performance in their area. While some growers expressed concern about losing DP 555 BGRR as an option beyond 2010, many were excited about the performance of the Class of 09’ varieties and candidates for the Class of 2010—which have demonstrated increased yield potential in field tests.
Fraley also gave a presentation outlining our commitment to sustainable yield and products in the R&D pipeline that weren’t covered during the tour.
“Monsanto has made a commitment to double yields in corn, cotton and soybeans by the year 2030, going off the year 2000 as a base,” he said. “But in order to get there, it will take a combination of advances in breeding, biotech and agronomic practice improvements."
Before closing, Fraley gave farmers an idea of what’s to come.
“In addition to dicamba- and glufosinate-tolerant cotton, we are working on new dicamba formulations to provide farmers with another effective herbicide that provides improved weed control when mixed with Roundup agricultural herbicides,” Fraley said.
“Monsanto is the leader in developing and commercializing herbicide-tolerant row crops,” he continued. “And this third-generation product would represent Monsanto’s first three-way stack of herbicide-tolerant technologies including Roundup Ready Flex, dicamba-tolerance and glufosinate-tolerance. The reason for the rapid adoption of Monsanto’s biotech products is that they work and meet the needs of farmers. Not only today’s needs, but needs that are 10 and 20 years down the road, as well.”
Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. This product has been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Biotechnology Industry Organization.
IMPORTANT: Grain Marketing and Seed Availability: Genuity™ SmartStax™ has received the necessary approvals in the United States, however, as of 9/28/2009, approvals have not been received in certain major corn export markets. Genuity™ SmartStax™ will not be launched and seed will not be available until after import approvals are received in appropriate major corn export markets. B.t. products, including Genuity™ SmartStax™ may not yet be registered in all states. Check with your Monsanto representative for the registration status in your state.
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides. Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Genuity™, Roundup®, Roundup Ready®, SmartStax™, and SmartStax and Design™ are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC. Deltapine® is a registered trademark of D&PL Technology Holding Company, LLC. LibertyLink and the Water Droplet Design® is a registered trademark of Bayer. Herculex is a trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Respect the Refuge® and Respect the Refuge and Corn Design® are registered trademarks of National Corn Growers Association. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2009 Monsanto Company.
