Tag Archives: Soybeans

Golden Opportunity Awaits Soybean Growers

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The USDA, on Dec. 16, 2011, announced it had deregulated the biotech trait MON 87705, which is found in Monsanto’s Vistive® Gold soybeans.

Many Latham customers are familiar with the first generation of Vistive (low-linolenic) soybeans that produced an oil which reduced the trans-fat levels in food products. This new wave of soybeans will produce an oil that is more similar to olive oil in its content and usefulness, yet will be much easier and cheaper to produce.

In addition to maintaining next-to-zero trans fats in their food products, Vistive Gold soybean oil will allow food companies to significantly reduce saturated fats. As an example, French fries cooked in the fry oil/shortening commonly used results in 23.4% saturated fats and 15.7% trans-fat. Using oil from Vistive Gold soybeans will lower those numbers to 13.2% for saturated fast and 0.3% for trans-fat! Additional testing within the food industry has shown that Vistive Gold soybean oil also has excellent stability and flavor.
This new oil from the Vistive Gold soybeans will enable U.S. soybean growers to compete once again for food oil business while also helping provide a healthier lifestyle for themselves and for consumers. Over the past several years, other vegetable oils including palm, sunflower and canola have taken away a fairly large portion of the global food oils market that soybean oil once held. This was, in large part, due to the heart-healthy consciousness of the general public and the FDA’s mandate for displaying the percentage of trans fats on food product labels.

Soybean varieties that carry the Vistive Gold trait are currently in the Phase 4 (pre-launch) stage of development. Monsanto has also announced that this new trait will be combined with its current Genuity® Roundup Ready® 2 Yield technology, giving farmers soybean varieties that deliver excellent agronomic and yield performance.

Keep watching our website and our blog, TheFieldPosition.com, for updates on this exciting new “golden opportunity”!

Soybean Selection: It’s an Internal Battle!

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It’s not often that a company shares its “internal battles,” but today we’re airing one! Just as many football teams across the nation are preparing for bowl games this holiday season, the product team at Latham Hi-Tech Seeds is trying to determine the value of both offense and defense.

“Defense is the best offense there is!” says Latham Product Manager Mark Grundmeier. He stands by the defensive power of L2183R2. This Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Yield® soybean has the best defensive package in the industry. It has the industry’s best store (1.5 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the best) for Iron Chlorosis. Place it on medium to heavy soils and Marks says it’s tough to beat.

President John Latham, on the other hand, insists that Latham® Hi-Tech Soybeans L2182R2 is the way to go. “Offense, offense, offense,” chants John. He wants to raise 80-bushel beans and insists that L2182R2 is the way to do it. While L2182R2 is a great offensive product, John says it also has a solid defense package.

Which matters more, offense or defense? Our Seed-2-Soil® specialist says that one of the best predictors of a soybean product’s performance is its field position. “Just as it is on the gridiron, a good field position makes it easier for the offense to score,” says Peter Bixel, team lead for Latham’s Seed-2-Soil program. “Teams with poor defenses provide poor field position, which allows their offense to gain more yards but probably results in fewer points scored. Placement can help soybean products maximize yield potential.”

Can soybean growers – and championship football teams alike – benefit from having both a strong offense and a strong defense? Watch the video link below to see Mark and John go “head to head” on this issue.

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LinkUp with Latham Hi-Tech Seeds

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Weed resistance is a growing problem for farmers in the Upper Midwest. From Giant Ragweed and Waterhemp, to Giant Marestail and Johnsongrass, we all need to do our part to help keep resistant weeds in check.

Many growers are getting ahead of the game by integrating a herbicide rotation into their long-term crop plans. To provide growers with an alternative, Latham Hi-Tech Seeds offers several soybean products with the LibertyLink® trait:

  • L1773L – New LibertyLink® soybean with exceptional yield and very good defensive traits.
  • L2058L – Solid SCN line with a good defensive package.
  • L2383L – Tall plant with very good stress tolerance. Plant it on those tougher soils.
  • L2686L – Medium, bush-type plant with excellent tolerance to White Mold and Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS).
  • L2987L –Fairly tall, bushier soybean line with excellent SDS and stress tolerance.
  • L3287L – Very tall plant with good tolerance to White Mold and SDS.

Here’s a video feature on our LibertyLink lineup from Latham Product Manager Mark Grundmeier.

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It really does pay to “link up” with LibertyLink® soybeans from Latham Hi-Tech Seeds. Growers who order a minimum of 250 acres worth of LibertyLink® soybeans from Latham Hi-Tech Seeds are eligible to receive a $2/acre* rebate from Bayer Crop Science. NOTE: Seed must be ordered before February 1, 2012. (*Based on seeding rates of 1 acre/unit of soybean seed.)

Contact your Latham representative for more information on this offer and LibertyLink® soybean options from Latham Hi-Tech Seeds.