1

Monsanto Corn Breeding:Providing Improved Products to Multiple

Commercial Channels

Line Review Worksheet

Show selected lines only ExportLines Nursery notes

Select

YLD % of Check Mean Keep Plot Lineage Trait 1 Trait 2 Trait 3 Comments

x 110 14011 :@>0003.1001.4001. 7 5 22 nice95 X 14012 :@>0003.1001.4002. 6 6 24 better85 Breeder Comments

x 120 Advance this line into PCM1 on 6 testers

101x 105

87Data GCA SCA

Line Data Double click entry to show Set data sheetSelect Set Entry Tester Gen # Loc SELIN YLD MST TWT YM RTLP STLP PHT EHT CZ INT FSP DRP ERM

GCA All 39 120 120 105 97 120 220 105 100 75 75 100 114

X C7201 5 19HGZ1 F4 13 140 250 18.5 56.3 14 15 115 53 1 99 113C8202 4 80IDM2 F4 13 103 229 19.1 56.7 12 2 116 44 3 4 100 114

X C8207 12 LH283 F4 13 113 226 19 57 12 1 118 42 5 4 100 115

C8101 26 :@>0003+ F3 7 132 241 18 56 13 6 112 51 2 99 113

Rank Data Ranks DataSet Entry Tester Overall Loc 1 Loc 2 Loc 3 Loc 4 Loc 5 Loc 6 Loc 7 Loc 8 Loc 9 Loc 10 Loc 11 Loc 12 Loc 13 Loc 14 Loc 15

Mean Yield 140 150 160 165 170 175 180 185 190 200 210 215 300C7201 5 19HGZ1 1 45 55 66 33 20 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 2C8202 4 80IDM2 18 50 66 33 21 30 40 5 6 7 8 2 1 3C8207 12 LH283 16 60 12 20 30 8 8 5 4 10 12 2 8 4

C7201 5 19HGZ1 2 1 5 8 25 47 36 22 1 1 5 4 3 8C8202 4 80IDM2 4 2 5 22 44 56 12 11 5 8 22 14 16 55C8207 12 LH283 16 14 22 11 10 1 17 27 26 5 4 9 8 7

08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0126.1001.

08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0160.1002.08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0171.1003.

08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0003.1001.

Pedigree08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0003.1001.08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0102.1001.

08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0175.1002.

Checks Check mean08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0179.1003.

Add Filter?

Select Below and update above?

Sort by Yield Levels

Green - Hybrid above chk mRed - Hybrid below chk mea

Keys to Success• Breeding programs are structured to

support commercial strategy

• Automation of the breeding process has increased the breeding through-put, which enables intense selection pressure to identify the very best products

• Expanding germplasm diversity by utilizing our pool of global germplasm

• Utilize molecular markers to enhance the probability of success

• Rapidly integrate biotech traits into elite products

• Expanded our pipeline depth to provide more improved products

2

Regional Breeding Teams Based on Adaptation Areas

W. CentralW. Central E. CentralE. Central

SouthSouthRegional Breeding Team Objectives:

1. Focus on most elite germplasm

2. Maintain important germplasm types

3. Enhance product diversity

4. Enhance breeder germplasm knowledge and info exchange

5. Breeder synergy to identify and support customer needs

NorthNorth

3

State of the Art Field Plot Equipment Enables Optimal Farming Practices

1.8x Growth

'03 '04 '05 '06 '07E1.00

1.25

1.50

1.75

2.00

2.25

2.50

2.75

Plo

ts (M

illion

s)

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

3/12

3/15

3/18

3/21

3/24

3/27

3/30 4/2 4/5 4/8 4/11

4/14

4/17

4/20

4/23

4/26

4/29 5/2 5/5 5/8 5/11

5/14

5/17

5/20

5/23

Optimal Plant SpacingOptimal Planting Date From Texas - Canada

Plo

ts P

lant

er /

Day

4

Monsanto Tests Future Products in Hundreds of Environments

Global Germplasm Resources Enable Deployment of

Differentiated Product Portfolios

“Inter-company” breeding crosses are a routine part of our programStarting 2nd Breeding Generation of an integrated germplasm pool

Holden’s

DEKALBUSA

Asgrow USA

Cargill Int’l

Sensako Agroceres

DEKALB Int’l

AsgrowInt’l

Inter-companyCrosses

12 countries and 3 companies/country = 36 major germplasm acquisitions

Utilization of our Global Germplasm Pool is Creating Products with Unique Genetics

50-60% of Our Pre-Commercial PipelineFor RM 110-120

23% of Commercial

Products

New Germplasm with Ex-US Genetics

New Products with Ex-US Genetics Have Improved Grain Yield Compared With Other Products

Competitor ProductMonsanto Product

Monsanto ProductCompetitor Product

Competitor ProductMonsanto Product

Higher Grain Yield

Competitor ProductMonsanto Product

Competitor ProductMonsanto Product

Monsanto ProductCompetitor Product

Better Stalks

New Products with Ex-US Genetics Have Improved Stalk Strength and Stability Compared With Other Products

Better Stalks in Environments with More Stalk Lodging

1

Getting the “Best” Genetic Combination Is a “Numbers Game”

• Lottery– 5 White balls selected from a set of white

balls numbered 1-55– 1 Red ball selected from a set of red balls

numbered 1-42– Probability of matching the 6 numbers is

~1 in 146 million• Genetic Combinations

– Slots (picked white and red balls = 6) equal genes

– The different numbers on the balls are different alleles (variant) at each gene

– Probability of getting the “best” (match) 6 numbers is ~1 in 146 million

• Getting the “best” plant product is much harder

– Corn as tens of thousands of genes (slots)– Monsanto’s elite global germplasm pool

has lots of genetic variation (alleles)– With just 20 genes and only 2 alleles the

probability is ~1 in 1 trillion of getting the “best” plant

1 2 5 6 7 8 9 103 4

10 Chromosomes of Corn

55 alleles at this gene (slot)

2

Monsanto is Changing the “Numbers Game” in Plant Breeding

Grain Yield from Parent 2

Grain Yield from Parent 1

1 2 5 6 7 8 9 103 4

Use Molecular Markers to Identify Which “Ball” We Want to Pick

Cycle Freq. of Best Genotype

0 1 per trillion

1 5 per billion

2 1 per 5,000

3 1 in 5

With a Few Cycles of Selection We Can Quickly Improve our Probability of Success

3

Monsanto Built New IT Systems to Handle All of the Information

0

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

3000000

3500000

Phenotypic Genotypic QC Analysis

Conv

MAB

Dat

a po

ints

(mill

ions

)

• Breeder’s have 1-2 weeks to process and make decisions on millions of dps

• 700% increase in information and analysis with the inclusion of molecular marker information

• Decision support systems integrated with phenotypic and genotypic information systems

Select Traits

Quality metricsPredicted Model Response

Parental Contribution

Identify and Select QTLs

4

Marker Assisted Breeding Methods are Starting to Deliver Improved Products to the Market

Monsanto Product Competitor Product

Competitor Product

Competitor Product

Monsanto Product

Monsanto Product

Higher Grain Yield

1

Key Points of Monsanto’s Corn Breeding Program

• Expanded the scale of the breeding engine• Improvements in equipment and automation has driven

growth in the program size and yield testing capability (plots).

• Integrated and utilized our global elite germplasm pools to deliver improved product performance and product diversity– We continue to deliver the biotech trait package

with the very best germplasm• Utilizing new technologies (molecular

markers) to improve the rate of genetic gain in our breeding programs