Monsanto, Dow enter corn technology agreement

Dow AgroSciences LLC, a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, and Monsanto Company have entered into an agreement to create the next generation of advanced weed and insect control technology in corn. The financial terms of the deal were undisclosed. 

Dow will license Monsanto's Corn Rootworm III, a third-generation corn rootworm technology that controls root-eating worms. Monsanto will license the use of Dow's new Enlist Weed Control System herbicide-tolerant trait in field corn, and will be the first licensee of the Enlist trait in corn. 

The agreement provides an opportunity for next-generation products to build upon the current SmartStax platform for stacked-trait corn offerings, according to the companies. The technologies are expected to be introduced in sold competitively by both companies as next-generation weed and insect control products. 

According to both Dow and Monsanto, the agreement paves the way for the U.S. introduction (pending regulatory approvals) of new next-generation SmartStax products by the end of the decade.