Company’s soybean products offer growers more weed control options

Soybean growers looking for a good yielding crop—even in the face of tough conditions—may want to look at the statistics to back up Channel XtendFlex soybean products as a seed to consider.

Morgan Schmidt, a technical agronomist with Bayer, said as Kansas growers look to their buying decisions, the latest XtendFlex soybeans have tolerance to three herbicides with different modes of action so producers have options for addressing weeds. The XtendFlex soybean products are the next generation of Roundup Ready Technology soybeans and growers have been able to take advantage of the elite genetics, according to Morgan Schmidt, a technical agronomist with Channel Seed.

As she noted in the Midwest, growers are beneficiaries of Bayer’s commitment to herbicide tolerance seeds and genetics.

“A lot of farmers have had good experiences with XtendFlex soybeans,” she said.

Growers want drought tolerance and yield potential, Schmidt said, adding that improving yield potential also has a variable—soil quality can vary. Growers are also looking for plants with tolerance to shattering or lodging problems that can deter from high yield potential.

“Bayer soybean varieties go through a significant testing process,” Schmidt said. “We are using precision breeding technology combined with local field trials.”

Varieties for commercial use are now available from your local Channel Seedsman.

As growers asked important questions about dicamba drift, Schmidt said the XtendFlex soybeans offer three modes of herbicide action for farmers who have more options for weed control and that will help with their spraying decisions, she said.

Whether that’s XtendiMax herbicide with VaporGrip Technology (a restricted use pesticide), glyphosate or glufosinate, XtendFlex soybeans offer the flexibility farmers need to target challenging weeds.

“We can expect high yield potential from the XtendFlex soybean products across Kansas.”

An encouraging sign was that this past summer several prominent dryland growing regions faced severe drought situations and what Schmidt liked was the plant and pod fill.

“The XtendFlex soybean plants stayed healthy, which gives the plant more opportunity to fill late in the season,” she said.

Growers need to consider drought tolerance as they are assessing the profitability of the crop.

“Soybeans have good market potential,” she said, adding that with high yield potential growers can have more profitable crops.

This is the second soybean trait launch by Bayer in the past five years, which shows the commitment the company has made to growers, she said, adding that Channel seed representatives work closely with farmers to help them select top performing products with high yield potential.. Growers can visit roundupreadyxtend.com for more information about XtendFlex soybeans.

Channel Seedsmen help growers evaluate the weed and agronomic challenges on each farm and field, and offer advice and suggestions to tailor management plans for each growing situation.

Schmidt is a proponent of pulling soil samples early on in the planning process so a grower can make input adjustments to provide an optimum growing environment for crops.

Dave Bergmeier can be reached at 620-227-1822 or [email protected].