DuPont Pioneer expands its game-changing Pioneer brand A-Series soybean lineup for 2018

DuPont Pioneer announced today that it will offer 56 new high yield potential Pioneer® brand A-Series soybean products for growers in the U.S. and Canada in 2018. This new class of outstanding varieties builds the overall performance advantage for the 110 Pioneer brand A-series soybeans commercialized in the past two seasons to 2.0 bu/acre. This lead was measured in more than 42,000 on-farm comparisons against competitive varieties ranging in maturity from groups 000 to 7.

“The new 2018 class builds upon the game-changing performance of the A-Series soybean lineup, which has the highest yield potential of any line we’ve ever introduced,” said Judd O’Connor, DuPont Pioneer North America Region leader. “Not only do we have the yield-leading lineup with A-Series soybeans, but also the most comprehensive soybean offering to meet grower needs for weed, pest and disease control.”

The newest class of elite Pioneer brand A-series soybeans includes multiple weed control traits in locally adapted varieties, including:

• Nearly 40 new A-series soybeans with Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® technology. The Pioneer brand soybeans with this leading weed-control solution had an average yield advantage of 2.7 bu/acre in 2017 against competitive varieties in 11,013 comparisons.
• Additionally, nearly half of the new Pioneer brand soybeans with Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® technology are rated good or better for white mold tolerance in the Group 3 and earlier maturities.
• Five of the Pioneer brand soybeans with Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® technology also have sulfonylurea herbicide resistance through either the DuPont™ STS® herbicide tolerant gene or BOLT® technology, making them ideal for double-crop areas.
• Ten new Pioneer brand soybeans with the LibertyLink® gene, bringing the total lineup of A-Series soybeans varieties with the LibertyLink gene to 14. A-Series soybean varieties with the LibertyLink gene have a 3.1 bu/acre yield advantage against older Pioneer brand soybeans with the LibertyLink gene in 546 comparisons.
• The majority of the new varieties contain native tolerance to preplant or preemergence applications of PPO herbicides sulfentrazone* and saflufenacil* when used at normal field rates. Additionally, many are also tolerant to preplant and preemergence applications of metribuzin*.

“Our goal is to create value for soybean growers and end-users,” said Paul Stephens, Senior Research Director, North America Soybean Product Development. “Pioneer® brand A-Series soybeans are developed by the industry’s most extensive localized soybean breeding and testing network using our proprietary Accelerated Yield Technology 4.0 advanced breeding approach. This enables us to produce high yield potential products with the agronomic traits growers need, faster than ever before.”

Additional highlights of the 2018 class of Pioneer brand A-series soybeans include:

• 51 varieties with native resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN), including the largest lineup of Peking-resistance-sourced varieties in the industry.
• 46 varieties with resistance to Phytophthora root rot.
• 12 varieties with strong tolerance to Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS). Pioneer continues to invest in SDS screening to provide varieties with a high level of tolerance to this impactful disease.
• Five varieties with excellent ratings for chloride sensitivity – a more common challenge in the South.
• Five new Pioneer® brand Plenish®^ high oleic soybean varieties, bringing the Plenish high oleic soybean portfolio to 16 varieties adapted to climates from Minnesota to Virginia where they are contracted.