DuPont Pioneer to expand soybean research in Nebraska

DuPont Pioneer will more than triple its localized testing at a new soybean research facility based out of Stromsburg, Neb. The new site will implement the business’s Accelerated Yield Technology (AYT™) process and enhance the next generation of Pioneer® brand soybean products named the – T Series – that includes 39 new products to be introduced in 2013.

"Our Right Product, Right Acre philosophy and AYT™ system, a combination of molecular breeding techniques, information management and localized testing, will be a strong foundation of this program and will allow us to make better decisions to benefit farmers’ operations more than ever before,” said Steve Schnebly, DuPont Pioneer senior research manager. Schnebly has been focused on the soybean area since 1995 and will continue to oversee the Nebraska program. The facility will expand the already strong DuPont Pioneer soybean research infrastructure that currently exists with locations in Dallas Center, Iowa; Lawrence, Kan.; Volga, S.D.; Algona, Iowa and Redwood Falls, Minn.

"A site in Nebraska will increase our opportunities to have closer interactions between researchers, seed growers and producers than we have in the past,” said Schnebly. “It’s not just about the products we sell, but also about the information we can bring to farmers to help them maximize their profitability on every acre.”

"Plant breeding research is a time-intensive process. Multiple years of testing at the local and regional level benefits producers,” said Schnebly. “With this additional facility, we have a good, strong mix of irrigated and non-irrigated acres to work with that will help us understand what works well in both types of areas. It also will expand our work on some of the key defensive traits in Nebraska and the region including phytophthora resistance, sudden death tolerance, soybean cyst nematode and iron chlorosis tolerance.”

The research center will be operational spring 2013 with about three staff positions, ultimately having around seven employees. “We are very excited and proud to be in the great state of Nebraska and also located in the community of Stromsburg.”