Corteva Agriscience and the Pioneer seed brand are looking to new Z-Series soybeans to deliver agronomic advantages, better disease defence, and higher yields for North American soybean growers.
Canadian growers will have access to limited seed from 20 varieties for planting in 2024 — 50 will be available in the U.S., with full availability expected for 2025.
At the Commodity Classic at Houston, Texas, Pioneer soybean breeder Don Kyle outlined the advantages growers can expect when they plant the new Z-Series beans, which will replace the current A-Series lineup.
In this interview with RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin, Kyle says the new soybeans feature improved disease resistance to sudden death syndrome (SDS), brown stem rot, white mould and iron deficiency chlorosis, while also delivering significantly improved protection against soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and phytophthora root rot.
The Z-Series is the fifth soybean series Pioneer has introduced in its 50 years of soybean breeding and Kyle says growers can expect a generational leap in yield potential and agronomic performance over pervious soybean variety lineups. Overall, he believes the new class of soybeans will offers farmers a significant yield advantage. In extensive 2023 trials, the company says Z-Series soybeans showed an average yield advantage of 2.7 bu/ac over A-Series soybeans. (Story continues after the video.)
Kyle also shares how the new soybeans will deliver significantly improved protection against SCN and phytophthora. In the U.S. 13 new varieties will offer stacked Peking and phytophthora resistance.
When it comes to genetic resistance, seed companies have predominantly relied on the PI88788 gene to confer SCN resistance to soybean varieties, but with repeated usage, many growers are now seeing nematodes that exhibit resistance to the genetic trait. The Peking gene, which has its origin in Asian soybean varieties, offers a different source of SCN resistance to help fight the pest.
Almost all Z-Series varieties contain the Enlist E3 soybean trait for tolerance to 2,4-D choline, glyphosate and glufosinate.
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