July 9, 2010

Monsanto lengthens pledge on Roundup Ready soy

Monsanto Co will continue the export approval status for Roundup Ready soy through 2021, seven years after the company's patent expires.

However, farm industry players called for further action to ensure continued availability of the biotech seed.

Monsanto announced that it had decided to extend its pledge to maintain international regulatory registrations for Roundup Ready soy four years longer than it had previously pledged.

International regulatory approvals for biotechnology products are important for farmers because much of the grain they produce and sell is exported. Monsanto estimates it costs between US$1 million and US$2 million a year to keep up the registrations.

Monsanto's Roundup Ready soy, which are resistant to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, have been widely embraced by US farmers and are planted on about 90% of US soy acres. They come off patent in 2014, marking the biotech industry's first patented biotech seed product to come off patent status.

Monsanto has been working hard to move its farmer customers to a new patented Roundup Ready Two soy seed, which it said yields better than the first version of Roundup Ready beans. But lower-than-expected yields and high prices have sparked some backlash against the new seed, and growers and other seed industry players have demanded that Monsanto cooperate in efforts to promote generic versions of Roundup Ready beans.

Indeed, last month the West Virginia Office of the Attorney General said Monsanto may have violated consumer protection laws by touting high yields to farmers who paid high prices but got disappointing results from the Roundup Ready 2 soy. Monsanto denied the allegations.

The American Soy Association said it was pleased with Monsanto's extended commitment to maintain export market approvals but it wants a longer-term approach. The group also wants private and public sector breeders to be allowed to work with a trait before patent expiration and wants access to the data on a patented trait needed for export market registrations.