Monsanto Company announced it has received approval from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the sales of a new formulation of acetochlor for early post-emergence use in cotton and soy.

The product will be marketed as MON 63410 Herbicide for the 2010 growing season. Upon receipt of state registrations or approvals, it will be introduced primarily for those areas of the Southeast, Mid-South and Midwestern states of Missouri and Southern Illinois, which have had resistance and other control problems with Palmer amaranth and tall waterhemp.

"Farmers face a number of weed control challenges in cotton and soy production and we continue to work on solutions from both the crop protection and seeds and traits perspectives," said Kerry Overton, Monsanto selective herbicides marketing manager. "We''ve been working on a plan that includes immediate ways to address those challenges through information, as well as incentives designed to take a season-long approach. This breakthrough with a new encapsulated formulation of acetochlor will be an important step forward in weed control while offering good crop safety."

MON 63410 is a new encapsulated formulation of acetochlor that provides for greater crop safety on cotton and soy than previous products like Harness herbicide and Degree herbicide. Both herbicides are approved for use on corn, where the compound already provides reliable pre-emergent residual control of grasses and small-seeded broadleaf weeds. In comparative testing against currently registered products under an EPA experimental use permit during the 2009 season, MON 63410 provided similar crop safety results in cotton with improved control of Palmer amaranth, more commonly called pigweed. Soy testing in the same season showed improved crop safety results and similar weed control to currently registered products.

Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products.