Indianapolis, Indiana
December 18, 2007
In just its second year on the
market, HERCULEX® XTRA Insect Protection has captured nearly 20
percent of the nation’s corn acres containing a corn rootworm
trait, according to independent market research. The acceptance
of HERCULEX XTRA by growers is due to its high-yielding genetics
and ability to protect roots from corn rootworm damage, says Ben
Kaehler, Traits & Germplasm Licensing business leader for
Dow AgroSciences.
“We’re very pleased with the growth of HERCULEX hybrids,
particularly since YieldGard has been available in the market
for several years prior to the entry of HERCULEX,” Kaehler says.
“After seeing the performance results of HERCULEX products in
2007, we expect growers will continue to plant more acres to
this superior technology.”
There have been numerous questions about how yields are affected
by traits. Dow AgroSciences tried to answer that question by
conducting studies to evaluate yield performance between hybrids
with identical genetics containing either HERCULEX XTRA or
YieldGard® Plus in-plant traits.
These trials, conducted under heavy corn rootworm pressure, took
place at seven locations across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and
Nebraska. The results showed that the HERCULEX® XTRA hybrid
averaged 231 bushels per acre, while YieldGard Plus netted 221
bu./A, a difference of 10 bu./A.
The study also showed that the HERCULEX XTRA hybrid protected
yield from corn rootworm damage. Again, the same genetics
protected by HERCULEX XTRA outyielded the hybrid without the
corn rootworm trait by 28 bu./A.
“Under an apples-to-apples comparison, the results clearly
showed that HERCULEX XTRA delivers outstanding yield protection
from corn rootworm,” says Maynard Ochs, product development
agronomist for Dow AgroSciences. “Second, the trials prove the
value of protecting corn from rootworm with hybrids containing
HERCULEX XTRA.”
HERCULEX® XTRA Insect Protection has shown excellent performance
in Midwestern university root ratings trials both in 2006 and
2007. An average of root ratings from nine Midwestern states
showed that hybrids without a corn rootworm trait saw
considerable feeding damage that led to a rating of 1.62 on the
1-to-3 rating scale. However, the average root rating for
HERCULEX XTRA hybrids was just 0.07.
“Beginning with the results we saw in trials across the Midwest
in 2006, these latest results confirm that HERCULEX XTRA
provides superb root protection against corn rootworm while also
protecting the crop from yield-robbing pests like western bean
cutworm and black cutworm,” Ochs adds.
®HERCULEX is a trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC
®YieldGard is a registered trademark of Monsanto Company.
HERCULEX Insect Protection technology by Dow AgroSciences and
Pioneer Hi-Bred. |
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