Research Triangle Park, North
Carolina
December 16, 2008
LibertyLink® soybeans and
Ignite® herbicide will ensure sustainable crop productivity
Bayer CropScience
announces the commercial launch of LibertyLink® soybeans—giving
growers a new nonselective herbicide-tolerant system in soybeans
for the 2009 season.
LibertyLink soybean varieties featuring top-yielding genetics
and built-in tolerance to Ignite® herbicide will be available
through more than 85 seed companies. The LibertyLink trait
together with Ignite herbicide provides growers an effective
tool for weed control and weed resistance management.
Glyphosate-resistant weeds have been confirmed in 19 states, and
many states report weed resistance to multiple chemistries
including ALS-, PPO- and triazine herbicides. By rotating to
LibertyLink soybeans, growers have the benefit of the effective,
over-the-top weed control with Ignite, which has a unique,
nonselective herbicide mode of action. This rotation will enable
growers to effectively manage, or potentially avoid weed
resistance, while maintaining current production practices and
reaping the associated benefits of herbicide-tolerant systems.
“We are excited to officially announce the commercialization of
the LibertyLink trait in the U.S. soybean market,” said Andy
Hurst, Product Manager, Herbicide Tolerant Traits and Ignite
herbicide at Bayer CropScience LP, during a teleconference last
week in Chicago. “Growers will have access to LibertyLink
varieties that are competitive with commercial standards and
finally will be able to alternate herbicide-tolerant
technologies in soybeans.”
For the 2009 season, LibertyLink varieties range in relative
maturity from 0.5 to 4.9. That range will broaden quickly for
2010 and beyond.
“We expect there will be enough seed stock to accommodate up to
one million acres of LibertyLink soybeans next year,” Hurst
added. “In field tests, LibertyLink soybean varieties have
demonstrated yields equal to or better than current commercial
varieties, and Bayer CropScience is working with key germplasm
originators to ensure future varieties are top yielding.”
Prior to today’s announcement, the American Soybean Association
(ASA) and Bayer CropScience reached out to key stakeholders and
foreign buyers to discuss the benefits of this technology in
ensuring future oilseed supplies. LibertyLink soybeans are fully
approved for food, feed and cultivation in the United States and
Canada. Additionally, import approvals have been obtained in key
soybean export markets with biotech approval processes including
Australia, China, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, New
Zealand, Russia, South Africa and Taiwan.
“We continue to champion the development and market acceptance
of new traits and technologies that increase the productivity
and sustainability of U.S. soybean farmers,” said ASA President
Johnny Dodson, a soybean producer from Halls, Tenn., who chairs
ASA’s Biotech Working Group. “The LibertyLink trait is an
important tool that enables growers to rotate herbicide-tolerant
systems to effectively avoid or manage weed resistance and
preserve these technologies for the future of U.S. soybean
production.”
LibertyLink with Ignite herbicide is the only nonselective
alternative to glyphosate-tolerant systems. LibertyLink soybeans
will provide similar over-the-top convenience, while enabling
growers to manage or potentially avoid weed resistance.
Ignite herbicide is now labeled for use on all LibertyLink
crops, including corn, cotton, canola and new LibertyLink
soybeans. Ignite provides fast-acting, postemergent control of
more than 120 broadleaf weeds and grasses, including woolly
cupgrass, velvetleaf, cocklebur, foxtails, marestail,
morningglories, ragweeds, waterhemp, Palmer amaranth and ALS-
and glyphosate-resistant weeds.
“LibertyLink soybeans are an important addition to the Bayer
CropScience portfolio. Bayer is committed to offering
comprehensive crop solutions to growers,” Hurst explained. “We
have a wide array of seed treatments, crop protection products
and traits for enhancing productivity and yield. The LibertyLink
trait helps set the foundation for our current portfolio as well
as future introductions.”
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the
fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer
CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of
about EUR 5.8 billion (2007), is one of the world’s leading
innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop
protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant
biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of
products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable
agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer
CropScience has a global workforce of about 17,800 and is
represented in more than 120 countries. |
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