LA new variety of biotech corn paid off in a variety of ways for
Plainview, Neb. farmer Dell Kroeger this past season.

Monsanto's YieldGuard Plus controlled his rootworm and corn borer problems. And, Kroeger's yields increased by as much as 20 percent per acre in the areas where he planted the new variety.

Kroeger joined about 2,000 farmers throughout the Corn Belt, including several hundred in Siouxland, who planted test plots of YieldGard Plus in 2004. He also was among the dozens of area growers who attended Monsanto's "Yield Rally'' Wednesday at the Plaza Hotel in Sioux City.

Participants heard reports on how the new product performed this growing season, and received information about varities for 2005.

YieldGard Plus became the first seed corn variety that contains
genetically modified material to protect itself from both European corn borers and rootworms. Through the genetic material, the corn plants produce their own pesticides.

"In the past, (growers) have had to make a choice, 'Do I use a corn borer-based variety or a rootworm variety,'' said Dave Rhylander, director of traits for St. Louis-based Monsanto.

"Now, what they can do is buy both of them in one seed corn.''

Kroeger said the biotech corn is safer than applying pesticides, which often lose their effectiveness prior to harvesting the crop.

"You don't have to handle the chemicals,'' he said. "It's season-long control.''

Monsanto launched the product after it received final U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency registration in October 2003 and environmental approval in Japan, a major U.S. grain exporter, in June. The test plots of YieldGard planted this year were surrounded by conventional corn, so the pests do not develop a tolerance to the genetically modified seed.

Though some of that crop is still awaiting harvesting, Rhylander said early indications show that YieldGard Plus averaged 5 to 6 bushels more per acre than conventional corn. Kroger said test plots yielded around 220 bushels an acre, 20 percent above non-biotech corn. BT corn planted on acres where corn grew the previous year were up 10 percent, he said.

Rhylander said Monsanto will sell YieldGard Plus to growers on a much larger scale in 2005, introducing additional varieties and enlisting more seed corn companies.

Dean Herbst, a Midwest Seed Genetics representative who lives half an hour southwest of Mitchell, S.D., was among the dealers attending Wednesday's meeting. Herbst, who sold some seed for test plots this year, said he expects to sell a lot more next year in his South Dakota territory, where growers regularly battle rootworms.

"In our area, it will catch on quickly,'' he said.

Between 2001 and 2003, the number of U.S. acres planted with biotech crops expanded by 26 million acres to 106 million acres. In Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, many corn and soybean farmers have embraced biotech varieties to boost yields and reduce chemical use and costs.

The use of biotechnology in raising crops and livestock remains
controversial in some quarters, particularly in Europe.

Monsanto, for instance, is still awaiting approval from the European Union for YieldGard Plus.

But Rhylander points out YieldGard Plus is fully approved for food and feed use in the United States, Canada and Japan, as well as for ethanol production. Most Midwest grain elevators accept the biotech corn, including nearly all of them in this part of the country, he said. Siouxland also is home to a growing number of ethanol plants, creating another market for the corn.