DuPont may get some customers on the eastern plains the way things are going. Here’s a report from The Wall Street Journal (Ian Berry):
The offering, from DuPont subsidiary Pioneer Hi-Bred, includes five conventionally bred hybrid seeds that the company has been testing in areas of the western U.S. corn belt since 2008. It offers, on average, a 5% yield advantage over existing products, Pioneer officials said in a conference call.
Drought tolerance is seen as the next frontier for seed genetics, which in recent years have largely focused on pest-control. DuPont’s new product, released under the Optimum AQUAmax brand name, will be available throughout the U.S., but marketing will be focused on states that typically have drier weather, including Kansas, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma.
More coverage from the Des Moines Register (Philip Brasher):
Pioneer, a unit of DuPont, is in a race with other seed giants to get corn varieties to the market that could grow in drier areas or need less irrigation. Monsanto Co. is providing an update tomorrow on its biotech corn varieties that are in development. They include drought-tolerant products. Pioneer also is working on a biotech variety, but it won’t be ready until the middle of the decade at the earliest, officials said.