Soybean growers could soon have tolerance to five herbicides in a single trait stack. Bayer Crop Science's Vyconic technology, discussed by agronomic solutions lead Adam Pfeffer with RealAgriculture at Canada's Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock, Ontario, is expected to be introduced in 2027 with a broader commercial launch in 2028, subject to regulatory approvals.

Vyconic combines tolerance to glyphosate, dicamba, glufosinate, 2,4-D and mesotrione. The first three are already in Bayer's XtendFlex system; 2,4-D and mesotrione add two more modes of action, which Pfeffer says gives growers flexible weed control and the ability to choose chemistry by the weed spectrum of each field — including hard-to-control and herbicide-resistant weeds.

Bayer is also emphasising the genetics beneath the traits. A new trait-integration approach has let its breeding programme combine Vyconic with newer soybean genetics earlier in development, and the company reports Vyconic varieties yielding more than two bushels an acre above comparators. The first broad introduction is expected to run from triple-zero maturities for Saskatchewan and Manitoba through Group 3 for eastern Canada.

Approvals come first: Bayer is awaiting European stack approval and Chinese import approval, along with some crop-protection regulatory work. If those arrive as anticipated, an initial commercial introduction in 2027 will be followed by more seed and more varieties in 2028, and the trait will be broadly licensed so that it appears in several seed brands over the following seasons.

Five-way herbicide tolerance answers the resistance problem in North American soybean weeds by widening the chemical toolbox; it also raises the stakes of the pending import approvals, since soybeans grown with the trait cannot enter markets that have not cleared it.

Source: AgroPages