Monsanto Breaks Ground on Lubbock Cotton Research Facility

LUBBOCK, Texas, Nov. 4, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cotton farmers on the
High Plains are always looking for ways to improve their farm's profit
potential, and two of the biggest opportunities for farmers to that are to
increase yield potential and produce better quality fiber. Those are the goals
of Monsanto Company's (NYSE: MON) $10.5 million research "megasite" in
Lubbock, where the company broke ground on the site today. The megasite will
provide a central point for the company's breeding and testing programs in the
High Plains region.

"Texas is the major player in the U.S. cotton industry with more than 50
percent of the country's planted acres," said Dr. Trevor Hohls, Monsanto
global cotton breeding lead. "We have made some great progress with
well-adapted germplasm in the past couple of years and are seeing great
results with Deltapine's Class of 09 varieties and Class of 10 candidates.
This increase in research will provide continued breakthroughs in genetics and
technology for the farm."

The site, the Monsanto Texas Cotton Research Center, is being developed on a
12.2-acre site within the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance Business Park.
Hohls said it will draw together a number of programs and contribute
additional resources in the area.

"This megasite will let our programs in Hale Center and Haskell work alongside
discovery breeding, biotech and testing programs," Hohls explained. "A new
testing center in South Texas will connect to these as well to provide
additional environments to use in the breeding and testing of our products. We
will be utilizing the latest technologies to select the traits of greatest
interest, measure progress in our water-use efficiency program and conduct
testing across diverse genetics and environments."

Kendall Bonds, Monsanto's western region testing lead, estimates that 20
employees will be based at the facility. He explains that due to the nature of
the work, a large percentage of the team has advanced degrees in genetics or
other technical fields. Specialized equipment and computer technologies are
also a factor for the facility.

"Cotton farming requires a lot of specialized equipment. Our breeding and
testing programs have similar needs, but on a different scale, as we look at
individual plants or small numbers of plants rather than fields," Bonds
explains. "Our site will bring these technologies together to help us do that
field work and analyze data. The combination of the field and lab components
enables us to determine what is working well and the opportunities we have
will produce real returns on our investment for farmers and the company."

Leadership of the Plains Cotton Growers Association, city government and the
Texas Senate agriculture committee were among the participants in the
groundbreaking.

About Monsanto Company
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions
and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality.
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to produce more from their land while conserving more of our world's natural
resources such as water and energy. To learn more about our business and our
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CONTACT Janice Person (901-320-5760)
Nick Weber (314-694-4689)

SOURCE Monsanto Company

Janice Person, +1-901-320-5760, or Nick Weber, +1-314-694-4689, both of
Monsanto Company