U.S. Alfalfa Growers Offered Round-Up Ready Seed

DES MOINES - Feb 19/06 - SNS -- Alfalfa growers in the United States will have access to Roundup Ready seed in Pioneer brand alfalfa varieties. The company initially will be marketing Pioneer variety 54R01 as the first alfalfa product in 2006 under a limited introduction with additional products to follow.

Incorporated into the lineup of high-yielding proprietary alfalfa products, the Roundup Ready trait provides control of grass and broadleaf with a single glyphosate herbicide.

Pioneer claims the Roundup Ready system enables growers to create a wider, more flexible herbicide application window in both seeding and subsequent years of the stand, eliminating crop rotation limitations associated with in-crop use of persistent herbicides. Roundup herbicide can be applied from planting through five days before cutting.

"Improved weed control at stand establishment reduces grower risk of stand failure and contributes to better quality forage earlier in the stand life," Pioneer said in a press statement.

"The forage produced from alfalfa with the Roundup Ready trait is comparable in composition, nutritional value and safety to that produced from conventional varieties. The single difference is that it is resistant to Roundup herbicide."