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More Conventional Beans Ahead?

Jim Beuerlein says he sees a growing number of soybean growers in the eastern Corn Belt returning to conventional soybeans this year.

"We have wetter soils here and some of the conventional varieties are actually better suited for our conditions than Roundup Ready soybean varieties," says Beuerlein, technical adviser for Becker Underwood, a soybean inoculants company. He spent the last 39 years as a Professor of Agronomy at Ohio State University. "If farmers have their weed problems under control, a couple of three weeds won't hurt yields that much. They can plant cheaper seed and get just as good of a yield."

Trevor Glick has seen a similar trend. "Last year (2009) was the first year we sold more conventional soybean seed than Roundup Ready since Roundup Ready came out," says Glick, who is production manager of L&M Glick Seed, Columbus, Ind.

A lot of that was due to premiums being offered for non-GM soybeans by an egg producer, says Glick. But it also was a seed cost issue.

Glick says his seed company's future seed lineup plans are in a wait-and-see mode with all the news about Roundup Ready going off patent. "We will sell what our customers want," says Glick. "And what they want are the seed varieties that will give them the most profit."

Beuerlein says one action soybean growers can take to reduce seed cost is to lower their seeding rates. "Most farmers seed 50 to 80% more soybean seed than they need," says Beuerlein. "Most farmers could reduce their seed rates and not even see their yields come down."

More Competition By 2014, soybean growers will likely have more decisions to make than whether to plant generic Roundup Ready 1 or go to Roundup Ready 2. Pioneer Hi-Bred announced in December 2009 that it plans to have Optimum GAT soybeans commercialized in 2013 or 2014. Optimum GAT soybeans have glyphosate and ALS herbicide tolerance.

Also in December 2009, Dow AgroSciences announced it had applied for USDA approval of a new soybean herbicide tolerance trait package with tolerance to 2,4-D. Dow added that this trait package will be stacked with other traits offering tolerance to glyphosate. Dow AgroSciences expects the 2,4-D soybeans to be available around 2013 or 2014.

These new products in the pipeline should make for a very competitive seed market for soybean growers, says Beuerlein. "In three years Monsanto will have to make some serious decisions on how they manage their technology."

-Queck writes from Indianapolis, Ind.