Bayer CropScience and Monsanto Sign Cross Licensing Agreement on Herbicide Tolerance...

Bayer CropScience and Monsanto Sign Cross Licensing Agreement on Herbicide
Tolerance Traits in Rapeseed/Canola

MONHEIM, Germany and ST. LOUIS, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayer CropScience AG
and Monsanto Company have agreed to cross license their respective herbicide
tolerance traits in rapeseed/canola on a non-exclusive basis for
commercialization within their respective branded canola seed businesses.
Canola is a form of rapeseed primarily grown in North America and Australia.

Under the terms of this global agreement, Monsanto will grant Bayer
CropScience access to Monsanto's Genuity(TM) Roundup Ready(R) canola trait and
Bayer CropScience will grant Monsanto access to its LibertyLink(R) tolerance
trait for use in canola. The agreement also includes specified rights to
access, on a non-exclusive basis, future herbicide tolerance traits and other
agronomic traits that may be introduced by either party for use in canola.
Further details of the agreement were not disclosed.

"Bayer looks forward to providing canola growers with greater choice and
flexibility in the future," said Dr. Joachim Schneider, Head of the BioScience
Business Unit at Bayer CropScience. "LibertyLink(R) and Genuity(TM) Roundup
Ready(R) are the two leading weed control systems available in the marketplace
today and growers will be able to choose our seed with either system, or even
both, in around three to four years time."

This global agreement between the two trait developers enhances the
opportunity to bring new and improved solutions to growers.

"This agreement builds on our practice of broadly licensing our technologies
to bring value to farmers," said Neil Arbuckle, Monsanto's Canola Business
Development Lead. "Canola oil is one of the healthiest oils available and as
such, plays a key role in the global vegetable oil market. With this new
agreement, farmers will benefit from greater access to new traits and new
technologies that will help ensure canola remains competitive in the global
marketplace."

About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health
care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of
Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 6.4 billion (2008), is one of the
world's leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop
protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The
company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup
for modern sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications.
Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 18,000 and is represented in
more than 120 countries. Further information on Bayer CropScience is available
at: www.bayercropscience.com.

About Monsanto
Monsanto Company is an agricultural company and a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm
productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on enabling both
small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while
conserving more of our world's natural resources such as water and energy. To
learn more about Monsanto's business and our commitments visit
www.monsanto.com.
Contact:
Greg Coffey phone: 919-549-2404
Email: greg.coffey@bayercropscience.com
Find more information at www.bayercropscience.com.
rib (2008-271E)

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current
assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to
material differences between the actual future results, financial situation,
development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These
factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available
on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability
whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to
future events or developments.

SOURCE Bayer CropScience AG

Greg Coffey, +1-919-549-2404, greg.coffey@bayercropscience.com