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Cropping system for soybeans improved

Soybean growers across Canada will soon have access to new soybean technology and new options for weed management. Monsanto recently received full regulatory approval to introduce the next Genuity trait for soybeans, the Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans, which is a stacked trait with dicamba tolerance. This new trait is part of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System, which will combine Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Xtend with glyphosate and dicamba herbicide products.

“The new trait comes with proven yield performance and offers growers a new tool for weed management,” explains Bill Lester, corn and soybean trait marketing lead for Monsanto Canada. “Growers will still be able to continue to use glyphosate or any other current soybean product they are finding value in today, but now have the new option to use dicamba where it has a fit to help tackle tough-to-control weeds and also offer some extended residual control.”

According to Lester, field research data has shown that dicamba can provide residual value under certain conditions, helping to extend the weed control window and protect yield. “This new stacked product will give soybean farmers the option of applying Roundup WeatherMax in conjunction with dicamba, separately or as a tank mix.”

Dicamba is a product that most corn growers are familiar with, providing some early season residual control. However, this new product will be the first opportunity for growers to use this chemistry in soybeans.

“Dicamba has a long history of use and we are introducing a new use pattern for dicamba in a new crop,” notes Lester. “Dicamba provides some short-term residual control but does not hang around in the soil and therefore does not present any cropping restrictions. Growers are very familiar with the weed control expectations that dicamba will be able to bring them.”

Dicamba is a Group 4 chemistry with a strong track record of being able to control a broad spectrum of weeds. This product provides a new weed management solution to help growers utilize an additional mode of action to control weeds and prevent the development of resistant weeds happening on their farms. It also provides a new tool to address difficult weed problems.

“We have a lot of internal research with Monsanto across Canada with this new trait,” explains Lester. “The University of Guelph has also undertaken some specific trials to assess dicamba performance on some glyphosate-resistant weeds in Eastern Canada. Their trial results to date, coupled with our own Monsanto trials, indicated that dicamba will be a great tool to effectively manage two glyphosate-resistant weeds known in Eastern Canada today, glyphosate-resistant giant ragweed and glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane populations. This is a great new tool for those growers.”

The new dicamba option in soybeans will also offer improved control of other populations of herbicide-resistant weeds, such as those that are resistant to group 2 or group 5 chemistry, which are also known to exist in Canada.

Monsanto expects to have the new Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans commercially available in Canada in 2014, pending key global export market approvals. Lester adds that Monsanto makes a significant effort not to introduce any new trait to the market until those key export markets have provided approvals, so there isn’t any disruption to commodity trading. If all of these approvals come through globally, then Monsanto will be in a position to launch this new trait for the 2014 growing season.

“The first introduction will likely be limited to Eastern Canada, with introduction to Western Canada anticipated as early as 2015,” says Lester. “This is strictly because of the breeding efforts it takes to get this new trait introduced to the earliest maturing varieties more suited to Western Canada.

“We are continuing to introduce soybean genetics with earlier maturity, which helps with the expansion of soybeans in Western Canada,” he adds. “Not only are growers seizing the opportunity to grow a new crop, but the maturity of the newest varieties is starting to be timely enough to allow the crop to expand further west across the Prairies. Soybean varieties with the Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Xtend trait will offer new opportunities for growers across Canada.”

September 20, 2013  By Donna Fleury

Western Canada soybean growers will have the option to use dicamba to help tackle tough-to-control weeds with extended residual control. Soybean growers across Canada will soon have access to new soybean technology and new options for weed management.