Seed companies have announced several new corn and soybean lines for 2009. These hybrids and varieties include the latest technology and are adapted for the Mid-South environment.

Pioneer Hi-Bred: Pioneer Hi-Bred is releasing 17 new corn products for the Mid-South this year. The 2009 lineup features new double-stack products that feature Herculex insect protection and the Roundup Ready Corn 2 trait.

The Herculex I trait protects against European and southwestern corn borer, western bean cutworm, black cutworm, fall armyworm, corn earworm, sugarcane borer, southern cornstalk borer and lesser cornstalk borer.

“Our double-stack products and hybrids with the Roundup Ready Corn 2 trait for refuge are performing very well,” says Bob Heimbaugh, North American director of corn product evaluation for Pioneer. “We provide growers with options that include agronomic, disease and technology traits that fit the performance and technology compliance needs of their own farming operations.”

According to Kirby Wuethrich, Pioneer technical services manager, the 2009 class “has been tested locally in the Delta at research centers or off site yield trials and product advancement trials conducted on grower fields in full length strips.”

Seventeen hybrids will be available for 2009:

P1253HR, with Herculex, Liberty Link and Roundup Ready 2, has moderate to high yield potential in dryland or irrigated conditions in the Delta.

33F87 is a Herculex, LibertyLink, Roundup Ready 2 hybrid, suitable for dryland crop production in the Delta.

31D57 is a Roundup Ready 2 hybrid.

31D59 is a Herculex, LibertyLink, Roundup Ready 2 hybrid good for irrigated conditions in the Delta.

32B34 is a Herculex, LibertyLink, Roundup Ready 2 hybrid good for irrigated conditions in the Delta.

32D79 is a Herculex, LibertyLink, Roundup Ready 2 hybrid, also good for irrigated conditions in the Delta.

32D77 is a Roundup Ready 2 hybrid.

33F87 is a Herculex, LibertyLink, Roundup Ready 2 hybrid, good for dryland conditions.

P1184HR is a Herculex, LiberyLink, Roundup Ready 2 hybrid.

P1253HR is a Herculex, LibertyLink, Roundup Ready 2 hybrid with moderate to high yield in dryland or irrigated conditions in the Delta.

P1516HR is a Herculex, LibertyLink, Roundup Ready 2 hybrid.

P1516R is Roundup Ready 2 hybrid with high yield potential for dryland or irrigated conditions in the Delta.

P2023HR is a Herculex, LibertyLink, Roundup Ready 2 hybrid with high yield potential in dryland or irrigated conditions in the Delta.

New white corn hybrids include P1431W, which has moderate yield potential, 33H81 with Roundup Ready 2, 32B09, with Roundup Ready 2, 32B12 with Herculex, LibertyLink and Roundup Ready 2, which is adapted to moderate to high yield environments and 33G60, with Herculex, LibertyLink and Roundup Ready 2, also adapted to moderate to high yield environments.

“We're expanding our technologies to that marketplace for use only where it's approved by the market,” Wuethrich said of the stacked white corn lines. “P1431W is exciting because it brings some stability into the moderate yield levels that we haven't seen before in white corn.”

Syngenta's NK Corn Hybrids: New corn hybrids from Syngenta and Garst are available with traits including glyphosate tolerance (GT), European corn borer (CB) and rootworm (RW) protection and the LibertyLink trait (LL).

58L-3000GT with GT/CB/LL/RW. Dependable performance with solid agronomics. Good emergence, early growth and standability plus excellent drought tolerance and ear flex for enhanced reliability across a broad range of environments. High extractable starch. Relative maturity: 106.

N78N-3000GT with GT/CB/LL. Expect high yields. Very good agronomic features support top yields over a wide range of conditions. Very good root and stalk strength for easier harvest. Relative maturity: 115

N76M with GT/CB/LL. Good overall plant health and disease package plus good agronomics and strong drought tolerance for high yields under stress. Good for dry grind ethanol and high extractable starch. Relative Maturity: 115

N78S-GT is a stable hybrid with solid agronomics. Has strong roots and stalks and great late season intactness. Responds to lower plant populations. Excellent tolerance to southern corn leaf blight but will respond to fungicide treatment. Moves north to south. Relative maturity: 115

N73Y-GT is an extremely high yielding hybrid that responds well to management. Tremendous top-end yield, racehorse hybrid that responds to a fungicide application. Relative maturity: 113

Garst Brand Corn Hybrids: 82R44-3000GT with GT/CB/LL/RW. Excellent choice for highly productive soils. Excellent performance across the southern Corn Belt. Full canopy, robust plant style supported by excellent late-season health and agronomics. Relative Maturity: 117

83L67-3000GT GT/CB/LL/RW. Excellent top-end yield consistently across environments. Moderate ear flex, best performance at medium-high population Relative maturity: 115.

NK Soybeans from Syngenta: S43-N6 Brand is a Roundup Ready soybean with race 3 and 14 soybean cyst nematode (SCN) resistance and excellent phytophthora root rot (PRR) field tolerance and very good sudden death syndrome (SDS) tolerance. Fast-emerging soybean also provides good stress tolerance

S44-D5 Brand is a high yielding, Roundup Ready hybrid with race 3 and 14 SCN resistance, excellent PRR field tolerance with the Rps1c gene and above-average SDS tolerance. Medium height and bushy plant delivers improved standability over older varieties and excellent performance in stress conditions.

S47-D9 is a high-yielding, Roundup Ready variety with frogeye leaf spot resistance, race 3 and 14 SCN resistance, above-average PRR field tolerance with the Rps1c gene and very good SDS tolerance. Medium-height plant is dependable with excellent standability.

S74-W6 is a Roundup Ready variety with race 3 and 14 SCN resistance, good PRR field tolerance and good resistance to frogeye leaf spot and stem canker. Excellent for irrigated, high-yielding southern environments.

S41-R6 is a high-yielding, Roundup Ready variety with excellent stress, SDS and PRR field tolerance, race 3 SCN resistance and moderate race 14 SCN resistance. Medium height and bushy plant has excellent standability.