Asgrow® Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ Soybean Seed Stock Hits U.S. Soil This Spring
American production farmers support the introduction of the second generation of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® soybeans
ST. LOUIS, Mo., April 24, 2008 – Asgrow® Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ soybean seed stock is currently being harvested in Chile and will be arriving later this month to production farmers in the United States in preparation for the planned introduction of the technology in 2009.
Roundup Ready 2 Yield is the second generation of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® soybeans. The technology offers farmers the same flexible and dependable weed control and crop safety as original Roundup Ready soybeans, but with higher yield potential resulting from advanced gene mapping and insertion technology. Asgrow will be leading the way with new varieties.
“Roundup Ready 2 Yield will set the landscape for improved soybean production,” said Jeff Wheeler, Asgrow business lead. “With Asgrow Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans, farmers will experience higher yield potential based not only on the advanced breeding technology, but also on high-performing Asgrow genetics.”
The Chile environment offers a unique, stable environment for production of seed stock during winter in the United States. Chilean production is part of an intense seed increase program for Asgrow Roundup Ready 2 Yield, involving the completion of five cycles of growing seeds since 2006. The United States and Puerto Rico are also a key part of this system. “Each step of the process requires intense monitoring for purity and quality to insure a quality product and steward the development of the technology,” said Wheeler.
What began with just a few pounds of Roundup Ready 2 Yield seed two years ago will become hundreds of thousands of units by the fall of 2008 to support the introduction of Roundup Ready 2 Yield in 2009. “This process is designed to ramp up seed production to meet the anticipated strong demand when Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans are commercially available in the fall of 2008 for the ’09 planting season,” explained Wheeler. “Roundup Ready 2 Yield will serve as the primary platform for Monsanto’s introduction of new soybean trait technologies, including higher yield, expanded herbicide tolerance and enhanced oil products.”
For 2009, Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans will be available throughout Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as most of Illinois and Indiana and portions of northern Missouri, Kansas, Maryland and portions of southern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and South Dakota.
Roundup Ready 2 Yield will be introduced in 2009 on 1–2 million acres, as part of a controlled commercial release. A full-scale launch is planned in 2010.
Related Topics: Soybeans
