The Monsanto Company has declared the next 10 years as the “Decade of the Soybean.” The company that pioneered biotechnology and developed Roundup and Roundup resistant crops has set the goal of doubling soybean production by the year 2030. Roy Fuchs, Global Oilseed Technology Leader with Monsanto, told HAT the company will focus its breeding and technology programs toward increasing soybean production and soybean profitability for growers, “Global demand is driving US farmers to increase yields, and we can meet that demand.” He said Monsanto will not only invest in soybean genetics, but will also use their considerable biotechnology expertise to bring improved agronomic traits to the soybean.
Fuchs said one of the first out of the pipeline, which will hit the market in 2014, is the first Extend product. Built on the Genuity Rounup Ready 2 Yield platform, the new technology will combine Rounup and Dicamba tolerant traits to control a large number of weeds including Glyphosate resistant weeds. “Farmers are asking for a combination of offensive high yielding traits and protective defensive traits,” said Calvin Treat, Global breeding lead with Monsanto.
As part of the Decade of Soybean initiative, Monsanto plans to introduce new soybean varieties that produce soybean oil with healthier benefits. Soybeans that produce the Vistive Gold soybean oil are targeted to be grown in the Eastern Corn Belt, specifically in Eastern Indiana and Ohio. Fuchs said this new oil will make soybean oil more profitable for processors and provide a higher premium for growers.
Fuchs said producers should expect a number of new products to come to the market over the next 10 years. Using an accelerated breeding and research program, Monsanto plans transform soybean production and profits in the next 10 years.
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