With the US harvest continuing to progress rapidly, field trial results in key relative maturities demonstrate that corn hybrids with Monsanto Company's Genuity SmartStax trait are outyielding the industry's leading triple-stack corn trait technology.

 

In field trial comparisons, the Genuity SmartStax corn hybrid portfolio in the 90-105 relative maturity days is exhibiting an average yield advantage of approximately four bushels per acre across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Minnesota in nearly 4,000 comparisons when compared with the YieldGard VT Triple hybrid portfolio.

 

This figure excludes the whole-farm yield advantage that Genuity SmartStax may provide through reduced refuge, which can be estimated in a range of 1.5-3 bushels per acre, based on previous field trials and experience.  The majority of the Genuity SmartStax product offerings and volumes of 2010 sales were in these shorter-maturity regions. 

 

"Even in a year where certain insect pressure is relatively low, these results validate that Genuity SmartStax can offer farmers a performance edge, providing even greater confidence under more typical insect pressure," said Dr. Ted Crosbie, Monsanto's vice president of global plant breeding.  "Combine that with the industry's most complete package of insect control and the ability to dramatically reduce the refuge requirement to 5% in the Corn Belt, and Genuity SmartStax offers a compelling package."

 

Field trials indicate that trait efficacy continues to be the industry standard, as evidenced by the improved consistency of corn rootworm protection under heavy pressure.  Based on thousands of root digs over two years, more than 98% of the Genuity SmartStax roots that were rated for corn rootworm injury, scored below the threshold at which yield is adversely impacted, compared to just 70% for Herculex Xtra.

 

Despite particularly heavy corn earworm pressure in many parts of the Midwest, the Genuity SmartStax trait package is delivering a consistent level of protection.  Early data indicates a 78% reduction in damaged kernels for Genuity SmartStax versus the refuge hybrid and a 70% reduction in damaged kernels compared to Herculex Xtra. 

 

Additionally, with US soy harvest nearing completion, early harvest results from key soy growing states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin indicate that the top-performing 181 Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soy varieties tested across these states exhibit an average yield advantage of more than three bushels per acre, with a greater than 70% win rate, when compared with competitive Roundup Ready soy varieties.

 

These preliminary data are based on 16,000 head-to-head comparisons in on-farm commercial and breeding trials. The company will use its findings to select and deploy the best products for the 2011 season.