A new variety of soybeans will soon get a new name after making a debut at the recent AG CONNECT Expo. MS Technologies Brand Manager Lauren August says their FG72 soybeans, a collaboration with Bayer, will have their new name revealed at the upcoming Commodity Classic later this month. In the meantime, she can tell us about how the beans will address a problem that growers, especially in the South, face: herbicide-resistant weeds.
“FG72 is going to be one of the first systems to actually provide a double-stack herbicide tolerance,” allowing growers to use tried-and-true glyphosate and now isoxaflutole, the active ingredient in Balance Bean herbicide previously used on corn. “[Balance Bean offers] a unique reactivation capability. Once growers have sprayed it, they’ll receive coverage in their fields all the way up through canopy closure with a little bit of rain,” without having to worry tank mix issues and about it affecting their neighbors’ fields.
Ten years in the making with Bayer, Lauren said this has been an evaluation of more than 40,000 unique elite trait lines, and they expect to release 56 commercial lines in 2015 and another 200 shortly after. More information is available at the company website, www.mstechseed.com.
You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Lauren here: Interview with Lauren August