DuPont Gains on Monsanto as Farmers Question Seeds

Iowa farmer Tom Oswald says he used to prefer Monsanto Co.’s premium corn seeds because they “yield like crazy.” That was before they became too expensive.

Oswald, whose family has farmed hundreds of acres in Cleghorn since 1870, learned in late 2008 through AgTalk Internet discussion forums that the St. Louis-based company was planning to raise prices 25 percent, just as commodities were starting their biggest decline in 50 years. The 51-year-old farmer chose to double his purchases over the next few years from Monsanto’s biggest rival, DuPont Co.