Johnston, IA (November 18, 2021) — Pioneer® brand corn and soybeans excelled in on-farm trials harvested this season, delivering consistent yield advantages over competitive products across all environments.
Pioneer brand products achieved even greater yield advantages under many of this season’s stressful growing conditions. At recent commodity prices of $5.93/bu for corn and $12.46/bu for soybeans,1 these yield advantages are helping create strong income opportunities for farmers.
“Farmers need solutions they can trust to help maximize yield potential and profitability on every acre — it’s why we rigorously test each Pioneer brand product, including every one of our most popular products in on-farm trials,” said Judd O’Connor, President, U.S. Commercial Business, Corteva Agriscience. “This data enables us to transfer insights from trials to farmers’ fields.”
Leading R&D Equips Pioneer Brand Corn to Thrive in Challenging Environments
The Corn Revolution has enabled Pioneer breeders to more efficiently search and screen the Corteva Agriscience global gene library to create exclusive Pioneer brand corn products in the United States.
The result is a diverse product lineup with the agronomic characteristics that deliver yield despite growing conditions.
“This season, growers faced challenges that included increased corn rootworm pressure, persistent drought and outbreaks of disease,” said Luis Verde, North American Corn Product Development Lead, Corteva Agriscience. “While Pioneer brand products showed advantages across all environments, it was in some of this season’s most difficult conditions where Pioneer brand corn best demonstrated its competitive advantage.”
The performance from the 2021 advancement class, which included 43 new products from 26 new genetic platforms, was exceptionally impressive.
“This past year’s new hybrids — all products of the Corn Revolution — delivered the first year in the field with an average 6.1 bu/A yield advantage,2 which we are excited to learn from and build on in the coming years,” Verde said.
Top performers included:
The 40 most popular Pioneer brand corn products by sales volume averaged a 4.2 bu/A yield advantage2 over the competition in more than 10,000 on-farm comparisons across all environments. This equates to $24.91/A in potential additional farm income.1
Pioneer® brand Qrome® products, which feature two modes of action to defend against corn rootworm pressure, averaged an impressive 6.2 bu/A yield advantage this season over competitive SmartStax® technology.2
This equates to $36.77/A in potential additional farm income.1 Qrome products with superior advantages over SmartStax® technology include:
Many western U.S. corn-growing states continued to experience persistent drought conditions this season. Pioneer® brand Optimum® AQUAmax® hybrids are bred to include key native traits that are designed to improve root system and silk emergence, among other agronomic characteristics, to help manage drought stress. In 2021, Optimum AQUAmax hybrids had a 5.8 bu/A yield advantage across all growing environments.2
The robust agronomics of Pioneer products are built to tolerate a range of diseases, and their overall plant health was on display this year. Large portions of the eastern Corn Belt saw severe outbreaks of tar spot disease, a foliar fungal disease, which can cause significant yield loss in susceptible corn hybrids. In the most heavily impacted areas, Pioneer products excelled with a 7.7 bu/A yield advantage.2
Premium seed treatments also contributed to yield advantages in fields experiencing stressful conditions, such as corn nematode pressure. Lumialza™ nematicide seed treatment provides more than 80 days of root protection in upper, middle and lower root zones against plant parasitic nematodes and can add a 3.7 bu/A yield advantage3 under low nematode pressure and up to 9 bushels under high nematode pressure.
Pioneer® Brand Enlist E3® Soybeans Growing Yield Advantages and Market Share
Overall soybean product performance was exceptionally strong in nearly 3,200 competitive on-farm comparisons.
The top 40 Pioneer brand soybean products by demand demonstrated a yield advantage 66% of the time, with a 2.5 bu/A yield advantage,4 resulting in a $31.15/A potential additional income advantage.1
“We are excited about how Pioneer brand Enlist E3 soybeans delivered this season,” said Jeff Thompson, Global Soybean Research Lead, Corteva Agriscience. “Enlist E3 technology is firmly established, and farmers planting Pioneer brand Enlist E3 soybean products can count on a decade of expertise to support them in adopting this superior weed control system.”
Enlist E3 soybeans now have approximately 35% of the total U.S. soybean market, and early indications on farmer demand for Enlist E3 soybeans in 2022 is trending higher than expected. Pioneer brand Enlist E3 soybeans are delivering a 3.0 bu/A yield advantage5 and outperforming 70% of the time versus Asgrow® XtendFlex® soybeans, including:
“The yield advantages from our on-farm trials against Asgrow® XtendFlex® soybeans would result in a $37.38/A potential additional income advantage with Pioneer brand varieties,” Thompson said. “This is just the beginning. Farmers planting Pioneer brand Enlist E3 soybean varieties can continue to expect a robust pipeline of products that help maximize yield potential and profitability on their farms.”
Next season also brings the availability of the new Lumiderm® insecticide seed treatment, which shields soybean seedlings against twice the number of insect species when compared with Gaucho® seed treatment. In multiyear trials, Lumiderm can add a 1 to 2 bu/A yield advantage.6
Farmers who would like to analyze the performance of their own acres at a subfield level and easily compare yield by hybrid choice, soil type, planting date and other variables can do so for free through Granular® Insights™.
Pioneer, the flagship seed brand of Corteva Agriscience, is the world’s leading developer and supplier of advanced plant genetics, providing high-quality seeds to farmers in more than 90 countries. Pioneer provides agronomic support and services to help increase farmer productivity and profitability and strives to develop sustainable agricultural systems for people everywhere. Join the discussion and follow Pioneer on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) is a publicly traded, global pure-play agriculture company that provides farmers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry – including a balanced and diverse mix of seed, crop protection and digital solutions focused on maximizing productivity to enhance yield and profitability. With some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and an industry-leading product and technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, the company is committed to working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. Corteva Agriscience became an independent public company on June 1, 2019, and was previously the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. More information can be found at www.corteva.com. Follow Corteva Agriscience on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.