Monsanto Plans Dual Seed Pricing For 2010
8 October 2009 US-based Monsanto Co. announced that it would increase seed prices up to 10% overall next year even as it holds certain “workhorse” hybrid seed prices flat for farmers unwilling to pay premiums for the company’s genetically modified (GM) seed technology, according to Reuters.
“We have to have a balanced approach,” said Monsanto Chief Financial Officer Carl Casale. “You’ve got to continue to acquire new customers.” Casale said 2010 price increases would range from 8% to 10% across the portfolio on average, although some seed prices would be held flat as part of an effort to give farmers a broader choice.
Monsanto has implemented double-digit price increases over recent years on its popular GM corn and soybean seed technology that help farmers maximize yields and efficiencies. Monsanto officials said that they were introducing for the first time a strategy to hold prices flat for certain seed offerings they described as “workhorses” — proven hybrids lacking some of the sophisticated new technology. Casale said the company did not correlate its seed pricing strategies with crop prices but rather with how much value the company thought it was providing the farmer.
Monsanto reported mixed hybrid market share performance for 2009, holding flat with many of its brands, and slipping from 41% to 39% for its Deltapine cotton seed. The company said that its genetic corn traits were planted on 70.6 million US acres in 2009, and 85.7 million acres worldwide. Soybean traits were planted on 73.2 million US acres in 2009, and 159.5 million acres worldwide.
Monsanto plans to introduce at least one new product every year for the next seven years, officials said.
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