DuPont Pioneer expands corn hybrid choices for 2014

Date:02-20-2014

DuPont Pioneer is advancing 111 new Pioneer® brand corn products, featuring 32 new genetic platforms, to better meet growers’ needs now and in the future.

The new group of products includes 20 new Pioneer® brand Optimum® AQUAmax® products, developed to yield in water-limited environments and now available in an expanded range of maturity zones. The Pioneer brand Optimum® AcreMax® Xtra and Optimum® AcreMax® XTreme products featuring proven and trusted above and below ground insect control traits will include 33 new products for growers to choose from in 2014.

“The DuPont Pioneer management concept of ‘right product right acre’ describes how we develop, test and position products with local information from IMPACT™ (Intensively Managed Product Advancement Characterization and Training) trials,” says Bob Heimbaugh, DuPont Pioneer North American director of corn product evaluation. “Product performance is only meaningful at a local level. And to meet that goal, Pioneer leverages global resources to develop local solutions.”

In addition to the integrated refuge products available in the Optimum AcreMax product portfolio, Pioneer advanced three new brown midrib (BMR) silage hybrids and a new technology segment featuring a powerful pyramid of insect protection traits called Optimum® Leptra™ hybrids.

Through the industry-leading Pioneer silage genetics research program, three new BMR silage hybrids are being introduced to growers with a maturity range from 102 to 111 CRM and are unlike any other BMR hybrids available today. The BMR gene contributes increased fiber digestibility, while the base genetics provide superior yield, starch and agronomics that growers have come to expect from a Pioneer brand silage hybrid. Growers will also benefit from the Herculex® XTRA insect protection for above- and below-ground corn rootworm protection on continuous corn acres used for silage production.

Pioneer is introducing four new Optimum Leptra products for the 2014 planting season. These products provide three traits to deliver multiple modes of action and superior protection from a broad spectrum of above-ground corn pests. The Optimum Leptra product pyramid of protection combines the proven Herculex® I, YieldGard® Corn Borer and Agrisure Viptera® traits with locally developed and tested Pioneer corn genetics. These products are targeted for southern U.S. growing environments that can require control of infestations of corn ear worm and fall armyworm with a maturity range from 113 to 117 CRM.

Optimum AQUAmax corn products, planted on 7 million acres in 2013, continued to perform rain or shine. Based on consistent performance in over 42,000 on farm comparisons in the last three years, demand for Optimum AQUAmax hybrids in 2014 is expected to exceed 10 million acres. With the addition of this new class, the Optimum AcreMax family of products with integrated refuge is estimated to comprise about two-thirds of corn unit sales in 2014.

“Pioneer brand corn products released since 2012 make up more than 80% of our unit volume,” Heimbaugh says. “Pioneer continues to have the broadest corn product lineup in the industry, which shows our commitment to grower choice in both technology and genetics.”