Monsanto partners with Bayer CropScience for treated corn seeds

ST. LOUIS — Monsanto announced an exclusive partnership Tuesday with its rival Bayer CropScience to develop a new treatment for corn seeds.

The deal is part of St. Louis-based Monsanto's broader effort to capture more of the global corn seed market. The world's largest seed company is a big player in U.S. commodity crops like soybeans and cotton, and chief executive Hugh Grant told investors last week that increasing corn seed sales is a key part of Monsanto's plan to double its annual operating profit by 2012.

"Corn looms large in our growth plans," Grant said.

The treated seeds would be resistant to a fungus and other diseases, using Bayer's patented technology. Bayer CropScience is a division of the Germany-based chemical giant Bayer AG. While Monsanto has traditionally competed with Bayer in the market for genetically engineered seeds, the companies formed a research partnership last summer to develop new strains of biotech crops.

The partnership is part of Monsanto's plan to offer strains of corn that have multiple engineered genes to make the crops resistant to pests and herbicides. Monsanto said Tuesday that some of those seeds will also be sold with the fungicide treatment the company is developing with Bayer.

The fungicide-treated seeds will be available for sale by the year 2010, according to the companies. The firms did not release financial terms of their deal.

The new seed treatment will use an existing Bayer CropScience fungicide called Vortex. Bayer CropScience president and chief executive Bill Buckner suggested in a statement that the deal with Monsanto will help Bayer sell the treatment to a broader market.

"We look forward to this opportunity to provide growers with advanced technology that combines Bayer CropScience innovation in seed treatment with Monsanto innovation in seed," Buckner said.

Monsanto's stock rose $1.19 to close at $120.78 in Tuesday's trading.