Bayer launching soybean trait stack with tolerance to five herbicides

Soybean growers could soon have five herbicide-tolerance options in a single trait stack as Bayer Crop Science prepares to introduce its new Vyconic technology. At Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock, Ont., Bayer Crop Science agronomic solutions lead Adam Pfeffer joined RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin to discuss the technology, which Bayer expects to begin introducing in 2027, followed by a broader commercial launch in 2028, subject to regulatory approvals. Vyconic combines tolerance to five herbicides: glyphosate, dicamba, glufosinate, 2,4-D, and mesotrione. The first three are currently available in Bayer’s XtendFlex soybean system, while tolerance to 2,4-D and mesotrione will add more herbicide options. “That’s really the main thing with Vyconic — really flexible weed control and the ability control weeds that you have in your field,” says Pfeffer. He notes that added flexibility could give growers more options for managing tough-to-control weeds and herbicide resistance while allowing them to select chemistry based on the weed spectrum in individual fields. Bayer is also emphasizing what sits underneath the herbicide traits. The company says a new trait integration approach has allowed its breeding program to combine Vyconic with newer soybean genetics earlier in development. Bayer reports Vyconic varieties have demonstrated a yield increase of more than two bushels per acre. Pfeffer says the first broad commercial introduction is expected to include varieties ranging from triple-zero maturity for Saskatchewan and Manitoba through Group 3 maturities for Eastern Canada. “It really gets back to the basics of genetics, yield, and making sure you have the right agronomic bean for that acre,” he says. Before that happens, however, regulatory approvals still need to be completed. Pfeffer says Bayer is awaiting European stack approval and Chinese import approval, along with some crop protection regulatory work. If those approvals are secured as anticipated, Bayer plans an initial commercial introduction in 2027 before increasing seed volumes and the number of available varieties in 2028. Vyconic will also be broadly licensed, meaning growers can expect to see the trait offered through multiple seed brands over the following seasons. Trending Massey Ferguson is expanding its planter lineup with a new split- and narrow-row offering aimed at farms looking for core precision planting technology, flexible configurations, and practical capacity. At the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, AGCO marketing manager Jason Lee joined RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin for a walkaround of the new Massey Ferguson N-Series split/narrow... Read more » Bernard Tobin at Canada's Outdoor Farm Show. I am over at Bayer CropScience now catching up with Adam Pfeffer. Sir, how's it going? Great, beautiful day, not too warm, first day of the show. It's going to be a great week. Pretty exciting here for your company as well, Bayer launching Vyconic. Tell us about it. Yeah, Vyconic is our newest soybean trait that we anticipate to have in the marketplace in 2027 with a very broad commercial introduction and sales in 2028. So It'll be the first industry's first 5-way herbicide tolerant stack in either corn or soybeans. So yeah, this is my 4th trait launch with Bayer. I've been with the company for about 20 years now, so we just continue to bring innovation to the markets. Talk about that stack. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, give me a list. Yeah, so glyphosate, dicamba, glufosinate, what we have with XtendFlex today, and then we're going to add in 2,4-D and mesotrione. What does it bring to the farm? I mean, first of all, you've got some flexibility, right? That's really the main thing with Vyconic is really flexible weed control. Controlling weeds that you have in your field, how you need to manage them. So yeah, just having the ultimate flexibility in what products you want to use, how you want to manage weeds, and certainly with the complexities of weed control today with glyphosate-resistant weeds, Group 2, 5, 14, there's lots of challenges to manage weeds in our fields, and bringing Vyconic will help bring, you know, the ultimate in weed control. We have got resistance to manage, we've got waterhemp, palm ramarenthra. That's exactly it, is just providing more options to farmers to manage those tough-to-control weeds, and, you know, general broadleaf and grasses as well, really, and all that helps drive yield potential, good agronomics, and really gets back to the basics of genetics, yield, and making sure you have the right agronomic bean for that acre. Let's talk about genetics. Obviously, you know, the herbicide traits are one thing, but you've got to have some power in the genetics. Tell me what's stacking up there. Yeah, so we've been busy with our breeding group. We've changed how we've brought this trait to the market. We moved to a trait integration approach, and this has really allowed us to bring the broadest class of products ever in a trait launch from Bayer. So we're going to have material from triple zero maturity that'll fit Saskatchewan, Manitoba, right through eastern Canada up into the Group 3s in the first year of commercial introduction. Let's talk about the launch. You've got a few things to fork out here. You've got some approvals from Europe, right? Yeah, so we're down to European stack approval and Chinese import approval. So those are typically the 2 last approvals from a biotech standpoint. that we get globally. We still have a few things to work out from the crop protection side, but we all anticipate it all to come together in the first portion of 2027 to allow for a broad commercial launch here throughout Canada in the next couple years. So we'll see them in farmers' fields in '27 and a sort of broader commercial release in 2028? 2028. So it'll all depend on regulatory approvals, so certainly we're not going to launch anything to market until we get all exporting countries' approvals, so it'll really depend on the timing of that, but we do have pretty robust plans for testing, seed production, and yeah, initial commercial launch in '27, and then really ramping up the sales volume and number of products for 2028. Final question. Now, you farm, you're talking to a lot of farmers this weekend, you know, what are they thinking about, you know, this package and what it brings to their farm? Yeah, I mean, we've talked about it over the last couple years, and I would say there's a significant amount of interest Really to get back to the basics of weed control, having more options at your disposal, and really, in Ontario, Canada, we're used to new technology in this industry, and we're happy to bring another blockbuster trait to the Canadian marketplace. So yeah, people are excited, they're excited for the flexibility, and what we've seen in the genetics to date, and what I'll spend the next month or two evaluating, is going to be Really exciting to bring to the Canadian market. And final point, available through all your seed partners in the next year or 2? Correct, yeah, with Viconic it'll be similar to all other trait launches where we'll broadly licence the traits to industry partners here, so you'll see it come available over the next few seasons in many brands. Awesome, great stuff, Adam. Appreciate you making some time for Real Agriculture here at the OTO Farm Show. Yeah, appreciate it, Bernd, thank you. For the latest ag news, agronomic advice, and more, cheque out RealAgriculture.com and RealAg Radio.