Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Rising Food Prices Are Good for Ag-Biotech

[MON does not directly benefit from escalating crop prices because the prices of MON’s seeds are set at the beginning of each growing season and are not adjusted based on day to day price changes in the commodity markets. However, the worldwide escalation of food prices could benefit MON (and other ag-biotech companies) by persuading Luddites to drop their opposition to genetically-modfied seeds; this seems to be happening already, according to this article.]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-03-07/biotech-companies-see-food-prices-boosting-gm-crops-ft-says.html

›By Alan Purkiss - Mar 7, 2011

Rising food prices may result in greater acceptance of genetically modified seed in emerging markets, the Financial Times reported, citing leading seed companies.

Daniel Rahier, who heads biotechnology policy at DuPont Co., said there’s been a change of mood in countries such as Indonesia, where the government is encouraging companies to apply for approval of biotech seeds, and “it’s a similar story in Vietnam, Cambodia and Kenya,” the newspaper reported.

Stefan Marcinowski, in charge of plant science and crop protection at Germany’s BASF SE (BAS), told the FT rising food prices are “a wake-up call to use all available technologies.”

Hugh Grant, Monsanto Co. (MON)’s chief executive officer, said many agricultural areas of the world “have made significant policy shifts” in the past two years, the newspaper reported.‹