St Louis, Missouri
April 2, 2009
The American Soybean
Association (ASA) today celebrated more than a decade of
diligent and persistent work on behalf of U.S. soybean farmers
to advance global acceptance of new biotech soybean traits after
LibertyLink® soybeans (A2704-12) from Bayer CropScience received
food safety approval from the Korean Food and Drug
Administration (KFDA). This final regulatory approval in South
Korea clears the way for unrestricted planting in the United
States and importation into all major markets for LibertyLink
soybeans, along with Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ soybeans (MON 89788)
from Monsanto, which received final KFDA regulatory approval on
Feb. 27, 2009.
“Today marks a significant milestone in the history of crop
biotechnology,” said ASA President Johnny Dodson, a producer
from Halls, Tenn. “This year will be the first planting season
since 1996 that farmers have access to new biotech-enhanced
soybean traits that can be planted, harvested, comingled and
shipped without restriction to customers around the world. The
value of U.S. soybean and soybean product exports exceeded $20
billion in 2008, so regulatory approvals in our key export
markets are critical to U.S. farmer profitability.
“The American Soybean Association is a strong supporter of
biotechnology because ASA’s farmer-leaders believe it is a tool
for producing safer, more nutritious food more efficiently and
more abundantly,” Dodson said. “For more than a decade, ASA has
safeguarded U.S. soybean farmer profitability by working with
biotechnology providers to keep out of export channels varieties
of biotech-derived soybeans that haven’t been approved for
export to key foreign markets. At the same time, ASA has worked
tirelessly with biotechnology providers to educate foreign
regulators and import customers about the safety of seedstock
enhanced through modern biotechnology. ASA appreciates both
Monsanto’s and Bayer’s good stewardship of their new biotech
traits throughout the U.S. and international regulatory approval
processes.”
Monsanto’s Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans, which are tolerant to
Roundup® (glyphosate) herbicide, are the next generation of the
popular Roundup Ready technology farmers have used in soybeans
since 1996. The new product offers the same effective weed
control, simplicity and flexibility benefits of the Roundup
Ready system and it promises significantly increased soybean
yield potential.
Bayer’s LibertyLink soybean technology is tolerant to Ignite®
(glufosinate) herbicide so farmers will now have an additional
in-crop weed control option. Being able to alternate herbicides
provides an effective management tool to minimize the selection
for herbicide resistant weeds, which will enhance the
sustainability of all U.S. soybean production.
Soybeans grown from these biotech-enhanced varieties are no
different in composition, nutritional profile, functionality or
safety than soybeans grown from seed developed through
conventional breeding methods. However, herbicide-tolerant
soybeans are helping farmers protect the environment by
implementing reduced tillage practices that save millions of
tons of topsoil every year. These practices also reduce the
number of times a farmer has to run equipment over the field,
which saves million of gallons of fuel and improves air quality
by reducing engine emissions, and there is less herbicide
carryover in the field, which provides for healthier
groundwater, rivers and streams.
“ASA has worked in partnership with Bayer CropScience, Monsanto,
the Foreign Agricultural Service of USDA, and the U.S. Soybean
Export Council to educate foreign buyers on the safety of
biotechnology and the need for regulatory clearances of these
new traits,” Dodson said. “Worldwide market acceptance of crop
biotechnology has been one of the most important missions of the
American Soybean Association during the past 12 years. It has
been a tremendous task involving hundreds of meetings and
thousands of hours of time by volunteer famer-leaders and staff
in major export markets around the globe. The end result,
however, is worth it because U.S. soybean farmers now have
access to two new biotech soybean varieties, while U.S. soybean
exports and our reputation as a dependable supplier are
protected.”
In 2008, more than 162 million acres (65.8 million hectares) of
biotech soybeans were planted worldwide, which is equivalent to
70 percent of global production at more than 234 million acres
(95 million hectares) of soybeans. Last year, over 92 percent of
the soybean acres in the United States, 99 percent of the
soybean acres in Argentina and 65 percent of the soybean acres
in Brazil were planted with biotech-enhanced seed. These three
countries collectively produce 90 percent of the world’s soybean
exports.
“U.S. farmers look forward to these and other new
biotech-enhanced soybean varieties now under development that
will offer important benefits to consumers, growers and the
environment, ranging from healthy oil profiles to increased
yields to better weed control,” Dodson said.
ASA is the policy advocate and collective voice of its 22,000
producer-members on domestic and international issues of
importance to all U.S. soybean farmers. |
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