Monsanto Co. unveiled its new Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System, which is designed to provide farmers with more consistent, flexible control of weeds, especially tough-to-manage and glyphosate-resistant weeds to maximize crop yield potential.
Pending regulatory approvals, this advanced system is expected to be available to U.S. farmers for the 2014 growing season, consisting of an innovative new soybean trait solution and a next-generation herbicide formulation.
- Roundup Ready 2 Xtend is Monsanto’s newest Genuity soybean trait that includes tolerance to dicamba. This trait will also be stacked with the current Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean trait technology, which offers farmers the highest yield opportunity with more beans per pod and more bushels per acre. Roundup Ready 2 Xtend will be the industry’s first biotech-stacked traits in soybeans, offering tolerance to both glyphosate and dicamba herbicides, once approved.
- Roundup Xtend is an enhanced dicamba and glyphosate herbicide premix that will enable farmers to manage weeds before planting and as an over-the-top-option during the season in conjunction with Roundup Ready Xtend crops. With dual modes of action, this low-volatility formulation will give farmers additional choice for broad control of glyphosate-resistant and tough-to-control broadleaf weeds and extend application and planting flexibility, as well as the window for post-emergence applications.
The Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System will be an integral component of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready PLUS Weed Management Solutions platform. Roundup Ready PLUS offers weed management recommendations that are developed in conjunction with leading academics, agronomists and other industry partners for control of tough weeds.
The recommendations focus on multiple modes of action, including the use of pre-emergence applied residual herbicides in combinations with Roundup agricultural herbicides. Roundup Ready PLUS also offers financial incentives to help farmers offset the cost of using qualifying residual herbicides.
“Today, Roundup Ready PLUS provides farmers with solutions for effective weed control. The Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System is designed to offer future solutions and choice within Roundup Ready PLUS. It represents another step forward in empowering farmers to optimize yield through effective and economical weed control,” said Matt Helms, Monsanto’s U.S. Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System Launch Lead.
“Monsanto’s introduction of this new crop system will be another tool for a farmer’s weed control program, both for those dealing with glyphosate-resistant weeds and those who are trying to minimize the risk of developing resistant weeds,” said Johnny Dodson, a Halls, Tenn., farmer who is past president of the American Soybean Association.
“Dicamba is a mode of action that has not been available to soybean producers as an in-crop herbicide. The Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System will give them additional choice to help grow high-quality, clean, high-yielding crops.”
Once approved, the Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System will be available in all Monsanto soybean brands, and broadly licensed to independent seed companies.
Although soybean farmers will have first access to Roundup Ready Xtend crops and Roundup Xtend herbicide, Monsanto also plans to have a follow-up introduction for cotton with Bollgard II RR Xtend with LibertyLink.
In addition to glyphosate tolerance, this Genuity cotton product would provide growers with dicamba and glufosinate tolerance, pending regulatory approvals.
Monsanto and BASF have been collaborating on the advancement of next generation low-volatility herbicide technology to be used in the Roundup Ready Xtend Crop Systems.
