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.

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.

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

Web site: http://www.monsanto.com/
http://www.bayercropscience.com/