Tag: corn

October 6, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Monsanto Income Drops by Nearly Half

Executives of Monsanto told skittish investors on Wednesday that earnings per share would grow 13 to 17 percent in the next fiscal year and that the company was on its way to fixing problems in its seed business that have undermined the confidence of Wall Street.

The remarks, in line with some previous assurances by company executives, were made as Monsanto reported that net income for the year that ended Aug. 31 had dropped by nearly half from a year earlier.

“I believe we’ve taken steps to allow our company to return to growth,” Hugh Grant, the chief executive, told analysts and investors Wednesday on a conference call.

He said the seed business was going to offer “more products at more price points” to help regain the trust of farmers who have been put off by high seed prices and lower-than-expected yields for some products, particularly Monsanto’s new SmartStax corn.

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August 23, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

In Italy, a Battle Over Genetically Modified Corn

VIVARO, Italy — Giorgio Fidenato declared war on the Italian government and environmental groups in April with a news conference and a YouTube video, which showed him poking six genetically modified corn seeds into Italian soil.

In fact, said Mr. Fidenato, 49, an agronomist, he planted two fields of genetically modified corn. But since “corn looks like corn,” as he put it, it took his opponents weeks to find his crop.

The seeds, known as MON810, are modified so that the corn produces a chemical that kills the larvae of the corn borer, a devastating pest. Yet while European Union rules allow this particular seed to be planted, Italy requires farmers to get special permission for any genetically modified, or G.M., crop — and the Agriculture Ministry never said yes.

“We had no choice but to engage in civil disobedience — these seeds are legal in Europe,” said Mr. Fidenato, who has repeatedly applied for permission, adding that he drew more inspiration from Ron Paul than Gandhi.

The World Trade Organization says that general bans on genetically modified crops constitute an unfair trade barrier, because there is no scientific basis for exclusion. But four years after a W.T.O. panel ruled that European Union policies constituted an illegal “de facto moratorium” on the planting of genetically modified seeds, some farmers, like Mr. Fidenato, and seed producers like Monsanto complain that Europe still has not really opened its doors.

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December 16, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

GM corn health risks identified – General – North Queensland Register

16 Dec, 2009 03:45 PM

AN INTERNATIONAL study of three Monsanto genetically manipulated maize (corn) varieties shows clear evidence of health risks, according to anti-GM lobby group Gene Ethics.

It says that the study analysed data from 90-day rat feeding trials of: insecticide-producing Mon 810 and Mon 863 GM maize; and Roundup herbicide tolerant NK 603 GM maize.

Adverse impacts were found on the kidneys, livers and the dietary detoxifying organs of experimental rats, and also some damage to heart, adrenal glands, spleen and the haematopoietic system.

The research was conducted by French scientists from the universities of Caen and Rouen and is published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences.

According to Gene Ethics, the report shows the GM maize events contained novel pesticide residues that will also be present in human food and animal feed where they may pose grave health risks.

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October 7, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Crop Science Society of America Award

ASA, CSSA, SSSA to present awards in Pittsburgh

October 7th, 2009

The American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) will recognize the following individuals during the scientific societies’ Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA, www.acsmeetings.org, on November 1-5, 2009. The annual awards are presented for outstanding contributions to education, national and international service, and research.

Recipients:  Crop Science Society of America Award

James L. Brewbaker, University of Hawaii – Seed Science Award.

James L. Brewbaker has served as a plant breeder and geneticist for the University of Hawaii Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Science since 1962. He received a Ph.D. from Cornell University in plant breeding and has served as a visiting scientist in nine countries. His research is on the genetic improvement of tropical crops, with a focus on maize and tropical leguminous trees. He also founded Hawaii’s Crop Improvement Association and Hawaii Foundation Seeds, where he serves as director.

October 5, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Money Grows Out of the Ground | The Financial Planner’s Briefcase | TheStreet.com

DECATUR, Ill. (TheStreet) — Agriculture and fair competition have had a strained relationship.

Price-fixing scandals, such as the lysine conspiracy, have marred the industry. (Lysine is a vital component of livestock feed and the subject of the new movie "The Informant.")

Regardless, the industry is growing in appeal as the world’s population expands, straining food production. More food is needed from less space as cities grow, claiming more farm land. Companies such as Archer Daniels Midland(ADM) is a big source of food, and its shares will benefit as a result. Archer Daniels has risen 37% over the past year, compared with a decline for the benchmark S&P 500 Index. Archer Daniels’ growth potential is all but guaranteed.

Still, not all food producers have risen quite like Archer Daniels. Bunge(BG) and Corn Products International(CPO) declined during the past year, while The Andersons(ANDE) is little changed. Some of the biggest players in the industry, such as Cargill, are closely held.

Global population growth stands at 1.1% a year, which doesn’t sound like much, but in reality means there will be 77 million more people every year, taxing an already stretched food supply and leaving a huge hole to fill by food producers. Food isn’t a complex industry to understand: Everyone needs it, and it’s all basically the same.

That last point gives the industry most of its character. Commodities, be they corn, grain or lysine, require hedging, which is a huge task. Archer Daniels, for example, has nearly $2 billion in derivative contracts to help guard against a decrease in price or other events that could affect profits, such as foreign-exchange risk.

Money Grows Out of the Ground | The Financial Planner’s Briefcase | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com

September 11, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Monsanto Plowed Down (MON)

It’s becoming increasingly harder to figure out whether Monsanto (NYSE: MON) is a bargain or a value trap. Yesterday, the agriculture giant announced less-than-stellar guidance for its 2010 fiscal year, which started at the beginning of the month.

It’s really a tale of two product lines for Monsanto. The seed and trait business is growing and competing well against — and sometimes with — DuPont (NYSE: DD), Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW), and Syngenta (NYSE: SYT).

Its Roundup product, on the other hand, is headed in the wrong direction. Once a cash cow, Roundup now faces generic competition, and a glut of chemical herbicides in the supply chain is pushing down prices. Unlike drug companies such as Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Merck (NYSE: MRK), which can pretty much kiss off most of their sales once generic competition starts, Monsanto does expect to bring in $650 million to $750 million in gross profits from Roundup in the coming year. Still that’s a long drop from the nearly $2 billion in gross profits that the herbicide brought in during fiscal 2008.

In a couple of years, it’s not going to matter much: By 2012, the company expects that seeds and licensed traits will make up 85% of the company’s total gross profit. But in the meantime, the drop is hurting the bottom line.

Earnings per share, after adding back restructuring charges, are expected to come in between $3.10 to $3.30, a sharp decline from the $4.40 or so that’s expected from the recently completed year. Trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of more than 24, Monsanto is a little cheaper than we’ve seen in the past, but it doesn’t leave investors much breathing room, if Roundup sales continue to fall faster than expected.

Monsanto Plowed Down (MON)