"Vistive III is a win for farmers, food producers and consumers," said Jerry Hjelle, vice president of regulatory for Monsanto. "This provides a glimpse into the next-generation of biotech products that can bring direct health benefits to consumers. We also expect farmers to benefit from the premium pricing opportunity the market is likely to offer for the oil once it's commercialized. And food producers should benefit from a more stable and more healthful soybean oil to use in its food products"

Completing regulatory submissions in the United States is an important step forward in bringing the benefits of this next-generation soybean product to the market, he added.

Vistive III soybean oil is more stable at high temperatures and is shown to have significantly extended fry life when compared to commodity soybean oil, or existing low-linolenic soybean products.

"Application studies show that products fried in the new oil maintain optimum flavor quality," said Richard Wilkes food applications lead for Monsanto.

Vistive III eliminates the need for hydrogenation, resulting in foods with zero trans fats and reduced overall saturated fat content, thus bringing health benefits to consumers.

"Vistive III anticipates the needs of my customers and will help me offer them the best soybean product today's technology can create," said John Buck, a farmer in New Bloomington, Ohio, who has been growing the first-generation Vistive soybeans for several years. This year, Buck is growing only soybeans with the Vistive trait. "As a third-generation farmer who has been in agriculture for a decade, I look forward to advancements in soybeans that continue to improve food quality and can help me and my family eat healthier while enjoying the foods we eat."

About Monsanto Company

Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while conserving more of our world's natural resources such as water and energy. To learn more about our business and our commitments, please visit: www.monsanto.com. Follow our business on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MonsantoCo, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MonsantoCo, or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed.

Editor's Note: Vistive is a trademark of Monsanto Technology LLC.

Media - Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair (314-694-4490)

SOURCE Monsanto Company

http://www.monsanto.com

Here are highlights from Wednesday's Analyst Blog:

Progressive's Income Falls

Auto insurer Progressive Corporation's (NYSE: PGR) income for October fell to 16 cents per share compared with 22 cents in the year-ago period. Though the company has posted a growth in premium writings, realized gains were lower in the quarter compared to the year-ago quarter.

The company, which reports earnings on a monthly basis, disclosed an income of $106.7 million, down from $145.0 million in the prior-year period.

Progressive's net premiums written increased 3% year-over-year to $1.3 billion. The company recorded a pre-tax investment gain of $20.0 million, compared with $88.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Combined ratio, which reflects the percentage of premiums paid out as claims and expenses, improved to 91.6% from 93.2% recorded in the year-ago period.

Policies in force (PIF) were good in Personal Auto and Special Lines, which were up 5% and 3% year-over-year, respectively. In Personal Auto, Direct Auto reported a 13% growth in PIF while Agency Auto was flat year-over-year.

However, growth remains a challenge at Progressive's Commercial Auto business, which was down 5% year-over-year. This line continues to be negatively impacted by the downturn in the economy, primarily in the housing and construction sectors. Combined with this, increased competition has added to its woes.

Progressive's recurring pre-tax investment yield was 3.7% year-to-date, versus 4.8% reported in the year-ago comparable period. Reported book value was $8.34 per share at Oct 31, 2009, up from $8.13 at Sep 30, 2009, and $7.24 at June 30, 2009. Return on equity on a trailing 12-month basis was 18.7%. During October, Progressive repurchased 2.3 million shares at an average price of $16.38.

As of Oct 31, 2009, Progressive has invested 18% of its portfolio in Group I securities that include common equities, redeemable and non-redeemable preferred stocks, and non-investment-grade and non-rated fixed-maturity securities. In early November, approximately $300 million of its securities were reallocated into common equities.

Like Progressive, other auto insurance providers such as Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL), Infinity Property and Casualty Corp. (Nasdaq: IPCC) and State Auto Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: STFC) have experienced the severe impact of the weak economy, which has significantly hampered consumers' confidence and their ability to purchase auto insurance policies. Additionally, the U.S. auto insurance industry has been subject to unusually high expenses due to fraudulent activities.

Monsanto Confirms Guidance

At its investor conference call, Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) indicated that it will accelerate launches for its Genuity SmartStax corn and Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean products. The company emphasized its growth strategy from 2010 through 2012, which includes three operational imperatives: the conversion to Genuity SmartStax in U.S. corn, the upgradation to the Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield platform in U.S. soybeans, and increased penetration in Latin America.

Monsanto now anticipates its new Genuity SmartStax corn seed will launch on more than 4 million acres in 2010, compared to its previous expectation of 3 million to 4 million acres. As a part of the accelerated adoption of Genuity SmartStax, the company unveiled a new portfolio of product upgrades for key U.S. corn segments.

For the Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield platform in U.S. soybeans, Monsanto increased its launch-year expectation for 2010 to 8 - 10 million acres, compared to its previous projection of 7 - 8 million.

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The new research center is an extension of the company's commitment to doubling yields in its core crops by 2030 compared to a base year of 2000, while reducing the amount of inputs required per unit produced by a third. Monsanto currently invests more than $2 million a day in research in order to meet this commitment to global agriculture.

The Beijing research center will participate in early-stage bioinformatics and genomics research, and serve as a base for collaborations with Chinese scientists. Monsanto also has research centers in the United States, Brazil and India.

"Monsanto has made a commitment to collaborate with Chinese scientists on advanced biotech and breeding technology," said Stephen Padgette, vice president of biotechnology for Monsanto. "Monsanto has made a commitment to develop advanced biotech and breeding technology to China. The establishment of the center will give Chinese researchers access to our global research network and to our industry-leading product development pipeline."

"We are pleased that Monsanto, the leading agricultural biotech company, is setting up a research center in China. Biotech is an important solution to increase crop productivity. Technology innovation and improvement will be determining factors for agriculture sustainability," said Zhai Huqu, president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS). "Strengthening the exchange of information and creating a technology collaboration platform is crucial for technological innovation. CAAS has worked with Monsanto in the past and this is a great opportunity to expand that collaboration."

Recently, Monsanto announced a collaboration with Huazhong Agricultural University to further gene discovery and the development of novel biotechnology traits. The company also established a RMB 1 million scholarship at the university to encourage students to pursue careers in biotechnology research.

Prof. Qifa Zhang, a leading scientist at Huazhong Agricultural University, congratulated Monsanto on the establishment of the research center.

"The establishment of the center will have a key role in further strengthening our collaboration, and speeding up commercialization and marketing of new technology," Zhang said.

China has already made many achievements in agricultural research, said John McLean, general manager of the research center.

"We hope to work closely with Chinese scientists and researchers on innovation in agricultural biotechnology. Establishing a research center in China is a good platform for exchange of information and collaboration between Monsanto and Chinese researchers," McLean said. "We already work with several research institutions and universities on novel agricultural traits. We firmly believe that technological advances will increase productivity and contribute to finding solutions to the challenges facing agriculture."

About Monsanto Company

Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while conserving more of our world's natural resources such as water and energy. To learn more about our business and our commitments, please visit: www.monsanto.com. Follow our business on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MonsantoCo, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MonsantoCo, or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed.

Contact | Media - Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair, Monsanto (314-694-4490)

SOURCE Monsanto Company

http://www.monsanto.com