Pioneer Hi-Bred Introduces New Y Series Pioneer® Brand Low Linolenic Soybeans for 2009

Announces Premiums for Low Linolenic Soybean Growers

DES MOINES, Iowa.– Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, is adding three new Y Series Pioneer® brand low linolenic soybean products to its lineup for 2009. This expansion of low linolenic soybean offerings from Pioneer provides additional choices to growers who can reap cash premiums for this healthy end-use product.

The new Y Series, announced by Pioneer earlier this year, represents a step-change in soybean productivity and is the result of a proprietary matrix of traits and technologies Pioneer researchers have developed to deliver unprecedented productivity gains. The new low linolenic soybeans in the Y Series line have shown yield advantages over previous low linolenic products.

“The market for low linolenic soybeans continues to expand, increasing contracting opportunities for growers, and Pioneer is meeting that demand by expanding its product offerings,” says John Muenzenberger, Pioneer senior business manager of soybean output traits.

The new Pioneer low linolenic soybean products offered to growers in 2009 will include varieties featuring higher yields and excellent defensive traits.

92Y90 offers very good tolerance to brown stem rot and has very good emergence and stability scores. 92Y90 is a solid performer under a wide range of environments. This late Group II variety is early maturing and suited for areas like eastern Iowa and northern growing areas such as Ohio.

93Y01 is an early Group III variety featuring good field emergence and harvest standability.

93Y50 is an exciting, high-yielding new variety that displays strong field emergence and harvest standability, plus resistance to Phytophthora root rot. “This is our ‘ultra low lin’ variety which means it is around 1 percent linolenic acid,” says Muenzenberger.

Soybean producers growing Pioneer low linolenic soybeans again will be able to receive an attractive premium for their crop at numerous locations across the heart of the Corn Belt. Pioneer works with various processors, including Bunge, to offer low lin premiums to growers.

Low lin soybean growers will earn a premium of $.60 per bushel for on-farm storage of low linolenic soybeans and a premium of $.55 per bushel for harvest delivery.

“We continue to see a rising demand from food companies for low linolenic soybean oil and are excited to offer value-contracting opportunities with flexible marketing alternatives to soybean growers,” says Muenzenberger. “By participating in our low linolenic soybean program, growers help position themselves as leaders and innovators in the global marketplace while helping meet the increasing consumer demand for foods with improved nutritional profiles.”

In its fifth year, this low linolenic soybean contracting program has grown from a targeted base in Iowa to an expanded geography currently reaching multiple locations in at least seven states for the 2009 growing season: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Missouri.

Pioneer research activities for soybean output traits also have expanded to seven research centers throughout the Corn Belt. In addition to extending the lineup of low lin soybean varieties, Pioneer also is developing high oleic soybean varieties which will be commercially available in 2009, pending regulatory approval. These products offer healthier oil alternatives for consumers and also can be used in a wide range of industrial applications including lubricants, coolants and hydraulic fluids.

“Pioneer low linolenic soybean varieties are performing well, and the pipeline of new soybean products and other soybean end-use traits is looking strong for the future,” says Muenzenberger.