Speaking of Seeds...

Just after I wrote the above post on seeds, I read about Monsanto raising the price of some GMO seeds next year by as much as 42%. RoundupReady 2 Yield soybean seeds will cost farmers an average of $74 an acre and original RoundupRaady seeds will cost $52 an acre. (Monsanto shares have gained 19% this year in our troubled economy.)

SmartStax corn seeds, developed by Dow Chemical will cost $130 an acre, which is 17% more than the YieldGard triple-stack seeds they will replace.

Acreage forecasts indicate SmartStax corn seed will be planted on as many as 4 million acres in its first year on the market (2010) with an eventual potential for as many as 65 million acres in the US the company said.

Meanwhile Monsanto said RoundupReady 2 Yield soybeans were planted on 1.5 million acres this year, and projected to be planted on as many as 8 million US acres next year. Monsanto plans to see 55 million acres eventually planted in the US with their GMO soybean seeds.