Monsanto's Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans debut
Date:03-22-2016
New technology could give soybean growers those extra bushels that they desperately seek.
Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans, which combine glyphosate and dicamba herbicide tolerance, now are being delivered to farms.
The use of dicamba over the top of Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans, though, remains in the late stages of Environmental Protection Agency review and has not been approved.
But, even in the absence of the ability to spray dicamba, farmers still will gain from the newest germplasm and high-yield opportunity these products offer, said Asgrow brand manager Dipal Chaudhari.
What is the benefit of the new Asgrow brand Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans?
“The Asgrow Xtend varieties help us get an advantage from a genetics standpoint, as well as a trait standpoint. Genetics is what delivers the step-change in yield. Trait is what provides the additional tool for the farmer from a weed-management standpoint.
“Even though we don’t have chemistry approval for dicamba, which is a core additional component that Xtend delivers, we’re still excited because we’re able to deliver these varieties this year and allow farmers to plant them and test them.”
Tell me more about the 25 products, spanning all eight maturity groups, that Asgrow is offering this year.
“Asgrow is leading the way in launching these varieties. Farmers have choice when it comes to what variety they pick, what disease package they pick, what agronomic package they pick. In the state of Illinois, 12 of the 25 fit, so half the portfolio is going to be an option.
“Not only are we coming up with a step-change in yield, we’re coming up with defensive packages and agronomic packages that protect that yield.”
What’s actually in this seed to allow it to perform better and yield more?
“It was a game-change when we brought out Roundup Ready 2 technology. That was a change in the DNA to be able to maximize yield. We kept that same scientific discovery in place for Roundup Ready 2 Xtend, so Roundup Ready 2 Xtend is built off of Roundup Ready 2 trait technology. That’s No. 1.
“No. 2 is agronomic benefits. Because we’re able to keep that in place and bring in the Xtend trait, we’re able to continue building upon that with agronomic traits. No. 3 is disease protection, packages within the breeding cycle to specifically select for tolerances to diseases.
“For example, something that’s really common here is sudden death in soybeans. These beans, depending on which variety you pick, have stronger ratings against sudden death, as well as white mold, frogeye, Phytophthora — those diseases are still prevalent, more in some years than others, but the newer varieties tolerate them better.”
Are farmers better at farming today?
“Farmers, in general, have always been innovators, early adopters. Look at what they do, on such a large scale. These are real people that are constantly looking for ways to improve, constantly looking for ways to do things better, that helps them be more efficient, that helps them produce more, to ultimately provide more for the consumer.”
What do you see in the future?
“From an Asgrow perspective, it’s really exciting because we continue to lead the way with new technology. We continue to deliver on what we promise. We don’t bring something out until it’s really true and tested.
“We started off by coining this decade as the decade of the soybean. We did that because we had just launched Roundup Ready 2, we had seen us going to be launching Roundup Ready 2 Xtend and then only continuing to build off of that.
“Building off of that means additional herbicide tolerances, because as we know the marketplace is getting crowded, where farmers have choice, farmers have different options from a herbicide standpoint, so what do additional herbicide stacks look like, and then also even looking past that into other technologies that we’re discovering, whether it’s RNAi (a natural process that cells use to ‘turn off’ or silence unwanted or harmful genes) or what have you, to look at handling weed resistance and weed management at a different level, in addition to disease protection.”
What is your response to the people who are critical of this type of technology?
“I would encourage them to ask questions and learn more. The more you start asking questions and the more conversations you have with real-life farmers and the more conversations you have with folks in the industry, the more you get to learn. And based off the facts that you learn, I’d say form your opinion.
“My belief is clearly in line with the technology and the fact that it’s safe and that it delivers, that it enables the farmer to deliver more, in turn, being able to provide more for the growing population that we have.”
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