The first new hybrids containing Supercede* nutritional traits combine strong yield potential with
more feed value, according to Mark Henderson, a manager in the company’s value-added grains
business unit. The result is a cost-effective feed with more nutritional merit than other staples of
livestock nutrition.

The seed corn has undergone extensive field testing and has piqued interest in the grain and feed
industries. Dow AgroSciences developed the seed at the same time it worked to create a market for the new grain.

The grain will be sold through an identity-preserved channel that fosters a system of contracts and new relationships between farmers, elevators and feeders of livestock and poultry.

Farmers will earn premiums to grow the corn. Premiums will be based on the grain's worth as a
replacement for more costly feed ingredients, with each link from farm gate to end use earning a fair share of the grain's added value, according to Dow AgroSciences.

Supercede nutritionally enhanced grain can reduce feeders' costs for energy, protein and key essential amino acids. Its nutrient makeup is more balanced than No. 2 commodity corn or high-oil-only corn, Henderson says, so it will reduce meat producers' need to supplement corn with other ingredients. In addition to contract production by corn growers, the company also expects that farmers who raise their own livestock will benefit from the grain's feed value.

"We are very excited about the prospects that nutritionally enhanced grain will have as a replacement for No. 2 yellow dent corn and feed supplements in livestock production," he says. "Traditional commodity corn has about 3.5% oil and 8.5% protein. Supercede has approximately 5.5% oil and 10% protein, plus elevated levels of essential amino acids."

Supercede also provides an alternative to the high-oil-only corn in the enhanced nutrition grain
category, Henderson adds. "Our protein and essential amino acids are in better balance with energy than high-oil corn. But most important, strong yield performance will make this a credible source of feed in the market.

"Consistently good yield plus a per-bushel premium will equal more profit potential for farmers," he says.

Supercede is a nutritionally enhanced dent corn produced using a single-cross breeding system,
explains Steve Thompson, Ph.D., a Dow AgroSciences research scientist. "It offers dramatically
increased nutrient value with yields that, at a minimum, are equal to conventional elite hybrids."

The new single-cross corn hybrids look and act like a normal hybrid in the field, he notes. By contrast, most high-oil-only corn is a blend of two types of seed. The seed contains 8 to 10 percent high-oil pollinators mixed with 90 to 92 percent of a shorter male-sterile hybrid.

"A uniform stand of a single hybrid will look more tidy in the field because all the plants are the same height, but this is only cosmetic evidence of other benefits," Thompson explains.

"With all the single-cross plants producing pollen, you reduce the risk of pollination failure," he says. "Plus, all the plants have uniform growth and development. With the mixed seed pollination system, the pollinators must have synchronized development with the other hybrid. Under weather or insect stress, however, they can get out of sync."

In trials across the 107-day growing zone in the north central cornbelt, hybrids containing Supercede produced yields equal to and/or slightly higher than benchmark corn hybrids.

Supercede will be sold on a limited basis in 1999. It will be available in two 107-day varieties sold by Mycogen Seeds -- 2655, a non-Bt hybrid, and 2654, which also includes NatureGard® NGBt1 Insect Protection.

"We will have a limited number of acres contracted for the 1999 growing season so farmers and the feed industry can get meaningful experience with Supercede," Henderson says. "Production will be limited to the north central cornbelt, based on the hybrids we have available. From that base, we will, in time, increase the number of hybrids containing Supercede genetics and the number of seed company brands that contain the traits."

Dow AgroSciences LLC, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a global leader in providing pest
management and biotechnology products that improve the quality and quantity of the earth's food supply and contribute to the safety, health and quality of life of the world's growing population. The company employs more than 3,000 people in over 50 countries and has worldwide sales of more than $2 billion. Dow AgroSciences and Mycogen are wholly-owned subsidiaries of The Dow Chemical Company.

*Trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC
NatureGard is a registered trademark of Mycogen Corporation

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