MS Technologies and Bayer are hoping to see the light at the end of the tunnel soon for EPA approval of their latest collaboration – Balance GT Soybean Performance System.
“We started with no one in the industry really knowing what it was to people wanting to know when they can get their hands on it, said Lindsey Seitz, brand manager for MS Technologies. “It’s obvious that the industry needs new options so we are really just making sure we are educating the market that this is a tool that will be coming.”
We had the chance to visit with Seitz about the new soybean platform at the 2017 Farm Progress Show, where she was fielding questions from many growers about why they should make the switch to Balance GT.
“Really the answer is that the genetics of the system are going to provide good high yields. We know that’s what improves per acre profits and what really pays the bills at the end of the day,” Seitz said. “In addition to that, the Balance Bean herbicide is a completely new mode of action in soybeans. It’s never been used before so there is no known resistance.”
With a double herbicide-tolerant trait stack, Balance GT was designed to protect against a wide range of broadleaf weeds and grasses such as Palmer amaranth, marestail, and waterhemp.
“It’s really just another tool in your toolbox that is going to combat against weed issues that glyphosate doesn’t really take care of anymore,” Seitz said.
Getting clearance for the product has been five years in the making, Seitz said. All of the traits have received approval and now the two companies are just waiting on EPA registration on the herbicide, hopefully in 2018.
Eighteen months after that approval, MS Technologies and Bayer will be launching a triple-stacked soybean to market. With three modes of herbicide action, Balance GTLL will provide tolerance to glyphosate, Balance Bean, and also Liberty herbicides.
“It’s really going to go from good to great and its really going to cover all your bases especially when we get that third mode of action,” Seitz said.
Balance GT marks the second collaboration for MS Technologies and Bayer, which brought growers the LibertyLink system in 2009.
