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.

"The aggressive prices drive your desire to see if someone else has got something, because you want to send a message,"
Oswald said in an interview. Monsanto, the world's largest seed maker, "got a little too big for their britches," he said.

Under Chief Executive Officer Ellen Kullman, DuPont has taken the lead in the U.S. soybean-seed market with 30 percent of sales, compared with Monsanto's 28.5 percent. It also expanded its share in corn seed to 34 percent, compared with Monsanto's 36 percent. DuPont's Pioneer seed unit is winning on price and service after asking farmers whether they need the most advanced products, said David Begleiter, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in New York.

"Some farmers believe they have been buying something they don't need, and Pioneer's message plays into that," said Mark Gulley, a New York-based analyst at Soleil Securities who recommends buying DuPont shares and holding Monsanto stock.

Eoin Treacy's view Fertiliser and seed producers have been among the prime beneficiaries of the recent surge in wheat prices and in soft commodities generally. The well anticipated bid for Potash Corp has also attracted even more investor interest to the sector. DuPont and Monsanto although involved in many of the same businesses have vastly differing chart patterns both of which hold their own individual attractions. (Also see Comment of the Day from at least March 24th, which is now available in the free public archive following the customary 4-month lock up as well as more recently.)

DuPont with a yield of 4.06% and dividend cover of 1.17 remains a relative outperformer and one of the higher yielding large cap shares in the S&P500. It has been ranging for the last month mostly above $40, which also marked the region of the April high. A sustained move below $37 would trigger an MDL stop, fall below the 200-day MA and would be required to question medium-term upside potential.

Monsanto with a dividend yield of 1.97% and dividend cover of 3.71 trended consistently lower until early July by which time it has become quite overextended relative to the 200-day MA. It formed at least a short and potentially medium-term bottom with an upside weekly key reversal and has since unwound the oversold condition relative to the mean. A sustained move to new reaction lows would be required to question recovery potential.