WASHINGTON, D.C. — Top seed companies Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer have reached a licensing deal that has ended protracted legal battles over the rights to genetically modified (GMO) seed traits, and opened the door to what local officials say will be more choices for farmers.

The deal, announced by both companies last week, calls on DuPont to pay Monsanto at least $1.75 billion over the next four years chiefly for access to Monsanto’s soybean technologies, along with payments totaling $905 million annually through 2023.

It also sets aside a $1 billion verdict handed down by a federal jury in St. Louis in August 2012 against DuPont. Monsanto claimed Pioneer violated a licensing agreement for use of the Roundup Ready trait when it attempted to stack several traits together.

Meanwhile, a hearing was set for this fall in a separate court case in which DuPont alleged anticompetitive behavior against Monsanto. Both court cases now are dropped as a result of the new deal.

“This is a smart deal for DuPont,” said DuPont Pioneer President Paul Schickler. “We’ve got access to two additional technologies that we can now combine with our existing technologies, as well as the technologies that are in our pipeline.”

In a joint statement, the companies said the agreement means Pioneer will be able to offer Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans as early as next year, and Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Xtend glyphosate- and dicamba-tolerant soybeans as early as 2015.

Pioneer also gets regulatory data rights for the soybean and corn traits previously licensed from Monsanto, allowing it to stack traits. Monsanto, meanwhile, will receive access to certain DuPont Pioneer disease resistance and corn defoliation patents.

“We’ve always agreed that technological innovation and farmer choice are essential to agriculture, and this agreement endorses the value of our next-generation soybean technologies,” said Brett Begemann, Monsanto president and chief commercial officer.

“This signals a new approach to our companies doing business together, allowing two of the leaders in the industry to focus on bringing farmers the best products possible, while working to advance innovation and long-term opportunity for agriculture.”

Two Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) officials said the pact appears not only to help both companies, but in the long run will give farmers more planting options.

Tamara Nelsen, IFB’s senior commodities director, called the deal “an amicable business decision that will foster competitiveness and farmer access to new products.”

Ryan Tracy, IFB’s external relations director, also applauded the move. “This shows a willingness for companies to come together in an agreement which is good for the industry as a whole. It shows other companies that this process is achievable.”

The world’s largest seed company, Monsanto is considered the market leader in GMO crop technology. It first introduced its Roundup Ready soybean technology in 1996, and the herbicide-tolerant trait is now key to many other crops, including corn, alfalfa, cotton, canola and sugar beets.

Monsanto posted sales last year of $13.5 billion; Pioneer had sales last year of about $7.3 billion.