ST. LOUIS, Mo. – (Insert Date) – Farmers now have available a tool to assess the value of corn yields combined with grain moisture at the time of harvest. A new online calculator, offered by DEKALB® and available at DEKALB.com, provides this valuable information when farmers input a few simple categories specific to their fields.

“Harvest moisture and drydown are important considerations for farmers, and now it has become even more important due to unprecedented energy costs,” says Chris Peterson, DEKALB Marketing Manager. “It can cost a farmer up to 5 percent to 10 percent of his variable input costs to dry corn from 20 percent to 15 percent moisture. Selecting products with good drydown can help farmers avoid these costs,” he says.

The online harvest moisture calculator allows farmers to input the value of each bushel of corn (or the current commodity price), their drying cost per bushel, the number of acres they plant per bag and their average yield per acre. Then the free tool automatically calculates the value in each bag of DEKALB seed based on both the DEKALB yield advantage and harvest moisture advantage.

Field trial data shows that DEKALB triple-stacked corn is 1.3* percent drier at harvest as compared with its leading competitor. Field trials across the Midwest also show a 14.6** bushel-per-acre yield advantage over the same competitor’s triple-stacked products, Peterson says.

“Together, the yield and harvest moisture advantages of DEKALB corn delivered an average of $89.50*** per acre more profit, according to this data,” Peterson adds. “Using a $5per bushel corn value, that profit advantage breaks down to $73per acre based on the increased yield plus $16.50 per acre due to lower drying costs.”

Farmers should visit DEKALB.com to learn more about the harvest moisture calculator and other online tools that can help them be more profitable.

Individual results may vary, and performance may vary from location to location and from year to year. This result may not be an indicator of results you may obtain as local growing, soil and weather conditions may vary. Growers should evaluate data from multiple locations and years whenever possible.
*Source: 2007 Monsanto and third-party head-to-head comparisons as of 07/30/08.
**Source: 2007 Monsanto and third-party head-to-head comparisons as of 10/24/07.
***Assumes $5.00 per bushel grain price and $0.06 per point drying costs.

Always read and follow pesticide label directions. DEKALB®, DEKALB and Design and WHEN PERFORMANCE COUNTS are registered trademarks of DeKalb Genetics Corporation. ©2008 Monsanto Company.