Pioneer Hi-Bred to sell soybeans by seed count

Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, will sell its soybean products by seed count per unit, rather than by weight, beginning in the fall of 2012 for varieties sold throughout North America for the 2013 planting season. The number of soybean seeds sold per unit by Pioneer will be 140,000.

The advantage for Pioneer customers is that buying by seed count provides a simple, convenient and more accurate means of planning their soybean crop.

"Our customers will benefit because they can more easily calculate the number of units they need based on their desired planting rates because the seed quantity per unit will always be consistent," says Don Schafer, senior marketing manager, soybeans.  "This change is in response to customer demand for consistent seed count packaging for more efficient field-by-field planning."

Prior to this change, Pioneer sold soybean seeds by weight (50 pounds of seed equals one unit).  Soybean seeds can potentially vary in size, based on genetics and growing conditions, affecting the number of seeds per unit.  With this change to selling by count, the number of seeds per unit will be consistent for Pioneer customers.

Pioneer® brand soybeans will continue to be sold by count in traditional paper bags, PROBOX® units and jumbo bags, as well as through PROBulk® systems.