3 New Soybean Technologies in the Pipeline

Posted By John Latham, President

As a family-owned company, Latham Hi-Tech Seeds has one major advantage over our competitors:  We have the freedom to help our farmer-customers choose the traits and technologies that will work best for their given farming situations.  That’s why we’re especially excited about Latham’s pipeline of soybean products!

Strategic alliances with the world’s leading technology providers means Latham is testing soybean products with three of the industry’s newest trait packages.  Here’s a summary of the emerging soybean technologies that farmers in the Upper Midwest could access in the near future from Latham Hi-Tech Seeds:

  1. Enlist E3 – Developed and produced by Dow Agrosciences, Enlist E3 soybeans will be tolerant to new 2,4-D choline, glyphosate and glufosinate. Dow AgroSciences is working to introduce Enlist Duo™ herbicide with Colex-D™ Technology. Enlist Duo is a proprietary blend of new 2,4-D choline and glyphosate that will offer growers minimized potential for drift and near-zero volatility. We’re expecting the first E3 soybean products to hit the market for the 2014-2015 sales season.
  2. The Balance Bean – This new soybean product from Bayer® has the working name of “FG72” and will be a double stack for resistance to isoxaflutole and glyphosate. Isoxaflutole is the active ingredient in Balance® Flexx and in Corvus® corn herbicides. Eventually this product will be stacked with Liberty®, making it a three-way stack.
  3. Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System – Monsanto continues to advance its stacked product featuring Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Yield® technology with Dicamba resistance. Known as Xtend, this product will help extend the life of glyphosate. This technology appears to be slightly ahead of the other two now, depending on regulatory approvals.

We’re hopeful regulatory approval will be received in time for at least limited supplies to be planted in 2014.  Although 2014 may seem like a distant future, the truth is, we’re working on our 2014 seed guide right now.  Latham must grow seed beans a full season ahead to produce products that farmers will plant the following year.

Weed resistance is a growing problem – literally.  Diversity of tactics is the key to consistent weed management and high crop yields.  That’s why, at Latham Hi-Tech Seeds, we couldn’t be more excited about the new traits that will soon be available to diversify modes of action and help farmers fight weed resistance!

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