Monsanto Says Triple-Stack Corn Beating Some SmartStax

Monsanto Co., the world’s biggest seed company, said early harvest data show some of its SmartStax corn hybrids are yielding less than triple-stack corn seeds, an older technology.

Some SmartStax seeds, which have eight added genes to protect against weeds and bugs, “have shown yield variability below” VT Triple seeds, which have three extra genes, St. Louis-based Monsanto said today in a statement. Yields of other hybrids are on a par with the so-called triple stacks, it said. The harvest is less than 10 percent complete, Monsanto said.

Monsanto, led by Chief Executive Officer Hugh Grant, has promoted SmartStax, its most expensive seed, as yielding 5 percent to 10 percent more than triple-stack corn. The company is counting on the latest SmartStax corn and Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans to boost profit as much as 17 percent a year after profit from Roundup herbicide collapsed because of competitors producing generic versions.

“This is really early in our harvest data,” Mimi Ricketts, a Monsanto spokeswoman, said by telephone. SmartStax was mostly planted in the northern Corn Belt, where the harvest hasn’t yet begun, Ricketts said.

SmartStax traits are working as expected, reducing insect damage more than 70 percent, the company said.

VT Triple and VT Triple Pro corn seeds are yielding as forecast, with the latter product’s output exceeding competing seeds by more than eight bushels an acre, Monsanto said.

Soybean harvest data isn’t yet available, Monsanto said.

The company is posting updated harvest data from 15,000 U.S. comparisons of seeds throughout the season to help growers evaluate products.
Monsanto fell 43 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $55.80 at 10:11 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares fell 31 percent this year before today.