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ST. LOUIS, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The unusually late start to this year's corn and soybean season finds many U.S. farmers still in the field, harvesting what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates to be among the largest crops on record. In order to better serve farmers who have been delayed by harvest in making their 2009 seed purchase decisions, Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) today announced it is enhancing its DEKALB(R) early purchase program on seed orders.

"One of the most important things we can do to help farmers is to listen and do our absolute best to respond to their needs," said Dieter Holtz, Monsanto vice president of national brands. "We are enhancing our early purchase program and extending the window of opportunity for farmers who are finishing up harvest and at the same time are trying to make seed purchase decisions for next year."

Last week, Monsanto reported that preliminary data collected from more than 12,800 research comparisons demonstrate that nationally, the five leading DEKALB corn seed products out yielded national competitive corn seed products by 9.8 bushels per acre on average. Monsanto's DEKALB brand also out yielded Pioneer's competitive corn seed products by 8.8 bushels per acre on average in data collected from 9,870 head-to-head comparisons throughout the Corn Belt.

"Combining our proven track record of strong performance with our enhanced purchase program enables farmers to select DEKALB products for 2009 with confidence," said Holtz.

Under the enhanced program, farmers can take advantage of increased and extended program rates for early purchase of DEKALB seed. For example, the early purchase rate for farmers has increased from 7.75 percent to 10 percent, and the purchase deadline has been extended from Nov. 15 to Dec. 10.

To learn more about the early purchase program and related financing options, farmers should visit their DEKALB seed dealer.

About Monsanto Company

Monsanto Company is 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 our business and our commitments, please visit: www.monsanto.com. To learn more about this year's harvest season, please visit Monsanto harvest videos.

Note to editors: DEKALB is a registered trademark of Monsanto Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. Pioneer is a registered trademark of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.