QUICK AGRONOMIC UPDATE & PIONEER CORN INNOVATION….What’s next happens here….

PIONEER INNOVATION….What’s next happens here….

Topics:

             * QUICK TEMPERATURE/GDU UPDATE – 
             * PIONEER CORN INNOVATION – 
      • POWERCORE
      • POWERCORE ULTRA
      • VORCEED
      • REDUCED STATURE CORN

TEMPERATURES & GDU ACCUMULATION:

As of August 6th, we have accumulated approximately the following for Growing Degree Units in 2023:

Planting Date     GDU’s2023          Average GDU     Departure from average

April 17                   2039                          2020                              + 19 (+ .75 day)

April 26                  1995                           1961                                +34  (+1.5 day

May 9                     1864                           1852                                +12 (+ .5 days)

We have not lost any ground versus the last update one week ago.  Average GDU accumulation/day last seven days is 23/day.   Forecasted daily GDU accumulation for next 15 days is the same – 23.  Night time temps have helped with GDU accumulation as they are running 2-4 degrees above average, whereas, daytime temps are 2-4 degrees below average.

     

The above maps are the 6-10 & 8-14 day temperature and precipitation forecasts.  As one can see, temperatures are forecasted to be continue to be below normal through mid-August with normal to above normal precipitation.  This means less stress on the crop and lower ET rates overall for both corn and soybeans.  The bigger potential for impact on overall yield over the next few weeks will be the continued reduced sunlight and high humidity.  This will play a bigger role as we move further into grain fill.

PIONEER CORN INNOVATION:

New technology offerings from Pioneer for the 2024 growing season!  Pioneer will introduce three new technology offerings for 2024:

                 

  • Powercore is the name of the new offering for ‘double-stack’ hybrids – what are currently AM products.
  • Powerecore will offer 3 modes of action for above-ground pests….current offering only has 2 MOA’s.
  • MOA’s will be current Herculex I plus two new modes-of-actions.  Powerecore offers a single MOA for Black Cutworm that VT Double Pro does not.
  • Powercore will also offer 4 MOA’s for herbicide tolerance – Enlist (2,4-D choline) – Liberty – Roundup – Assure II.   This will offer more options for herbicide and greater flexibility, something that the competitor’s Double PRO hybrids do not offer.   All Powercore hybrids will have the Enlist technology.  Current herbicide programs can be used on all of these products as well.
  • Powercore Ultra is the same as Powercore, but it offers protection against Corn Earworm and Western Bean Cutworm and is equivalent to current AML products.
  • Bottom line….Pioneer’s current lineup of top-yielding hybrids, with industry-leading agronomics and seed treatments, will now include Powercore technology that will offer enhanced pest control as well as more herbicide options and greater flexibility.

 

  • Vorceed is the name of the new offering that enables multi-year flexibility to manage corn rootworm (CRW) acres through more options than any other CRW product.
  • Vorceed has 6 MOA’s to control insects….3 above ground and 3 below ground.
  • Vorceed includes all of the benefits of Qrome plus:
        • new RNAi technology for CRW control
        • Enlist herbicide tolerance.
  • Testing shows that Vorceed will give 98% control of adult corn rootworm beetles.  This will be a game-changer versus current technology.
  • Vorceed will also (like Powercore), offer 4 MOA’s for herbicide tolerance.  Again, offering more options and flexibility versus 2 MOA’s from the competitor’s SmartStax Pro.

All of these offerings will be available across the whole of Pioneer’s lineup of diverse, high-yielding genetics.

 PICTURES FROM PIONEER INNOVATION PLOT

Enlist Herbicide System:

   

These two photos show the Enlist system in corn.  Photo on left is small plot with front pass of Enlist + RR – middle pass with Enlist+Liberty+RR – back pass is untreated.  Photo on right shows the field pressure in the untreated area.  Herbicide performance looked good.

             

The above photos show the affect of 2,4-D on brace roots on Enlist and non-Enlist corn at a 2X rate of Enlist.  Note the damage to the non-Enlist brace roots vs. the no damage on the Enlist corn.  We have always been concerned with growth regulator damage to seed and early root development, however this technology will eliminate that, giving more flexibility and less crop damage for weed burndown on no-till acres, whether preplant or pre-emerge applications.  Normally, we have to make sure the seed is planted minimum of 2″ deep, that it is germinated, and the seed trench is fully closed before spraying a growth regulator as this will cause injury to the seed and impact crop emergence and early root development.  With the Enlist technology there will be no damage to the corn plant, meaning better application timing and potential use of the higher labeled rates of 2,4-D for increased weed control.  Another benefit of this technology is that it can be post-sprayed up to 28″ tall corn with no increased risk of brittle plants…something we currently deal with from post-applications of growth regulators.

This technology is also resistant to FOP herbicides like Assure II.  Note what happened to non-Enlist corn in the above photo.  This will offer volunteer corn control in corn-on-corn acres and help with certain grasses that are becoming resistant to Roundup.  Select will still be able to be used to control volunteer corn in soybeans that have the Enlist technology.

REDUCED STATURE CORN

There has been a lot of buzz in the market as of late about ‘short corn.’  Pioneer is very much working in this area.  The below photos show you some of the early work on this from Pioneer.

   

The plants shown in the photo are the same hybrid…the plants on the right are the current, normal hybrid and the plants on the left are the same hybrid using reduced stature breeding (the ‘old man’ in the picture is just their for reference LOL).  The plant stage of growth for hybrid was approximately 4 leaves away from tassel, or V13-14.

Pioneer’s reduced stature corn is coming to the market different than the competitor.  While Bayer is using a GMO gene in there ‘short corn’, Pioneer’s is non-GMO.  Pioneer is using a dominant dwarf gene that they have found.  This gene is giving a 25% reduction in ear height and an 33% reduction in plant height.  Pioneer does have certain standards that they will maintain when pursing this breeding, such as a maintaining a minimum ear height of 24″ above the ground.   When looking at the plot, canopy closure looked pretty similar between the two strips.  This plant breeding has many practical uses, from less residue in corn-on-corn acres to improved green snap tolerance and late-season standability….even possible improved irrigation efficiency for drop nozzles.  It will come with all current and future technology traits.

Pioneer is planning Reduced Stature corn to be commercialized in 2025.   One advantage to not using a GMO.

What’s next happens here….

Please let us know any questions or comments you may have.  Thank you for your support!

Starman Seed Service, Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/by