DuPont Pioneer today announced plans to double acreage of Pioneer® brand soybeans with the Plenish® high oleic trait in northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio for 2017. This growth is driven by increasing demand for Plenish high oleic soybean oil by food companies and industrial products companies.
Farmers around Bunge locations at Delphos and Bellevue, Ohio, and Decatur, Ind., will have the opportunity to produce Pioneer brand Plenish high oleic soybeans under contract and be eligible for a grain premium. Participating growers will be able to deliver grain to a participating elevator or directly to designated Bunge North America facilities for processing.
“This will be the eighth year Bunge and Pioneer are collaborating to bring this higher-value product to area growers,” said Russ Sanders, DuPont Pioneer director of food and industry markets. “The program has been very successful for area farmers. Given the grower premium and the outstanding yield potential of these varieties, we expect very high interest again this year.”
Soybean growers who contract to grow Pioneer brand soybeans with the Plenish high oleic trait in the 2017 growing season will receive a 50 cent per bushel incentive for producing and storing the beans or a 40 cent per bushel premium for a harvest delivery contract.
“Plenish high oleic soybeans have been a great product in our portfolio,” said Tim Gallagher, executive vice president, Bunge North America. “We are seeing great demand from both farmers and downstream customers. Thanks to the high demand from area growers, we are able to comfortably double contract production acres this year as our oil customers continue to make a transition to Plenish high oleic soybean oil supplied by Bunge.”
The development and commercialization of Plenish high oleic soybeans illustrates how biotechnology can provide direct benefits to the food industry, consumers and growers.
With 0g transfat per serving and 20 percent less saturated fat than commodity soybean oil, Plenish high oleic soybean oil provides a sustainable, U.S.-grown, soy-based, transfat alternative for food companies and foodservice operators. The improved fatty acid profile provides the highest oxidative stability level of any commercially produced soybean oil. Additionally, this enhanced stability means longer fry life in restaurant applications and less polymerized oil buildup on equipment, which reduces cleaning costs.
For food manufacturers, the oil’s stability extends the shelf life for packaged food products without sacrificing flavor and eliminates the need for artificial preservatives, creating the opportunity for a cleaner ingredient label.
Pioneer brand Plenish high oleic soybean varieties are being developed with elite genetics using Pioneer’s latest Accelerated Yield Technology (AYT™) 4.0. Five years of field testing has confirmed yields are on par with similar elite commercial soybean varieties.
Traits included in Plenish high oleic soybean products have received regulatory approvals in nearly all key U.S. soybean export markets and approvals are pending in remaining export markets. For more information on Plenish® high oleic soybeans, visit www.plenish.com.
Bunge North America (www.bungenorthamerica.com), the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG), is a vertically integrated food and feed ingredient company, supplying raw and processed agricultural commodities and specialized food ingredients to a wide range of customers in the livestock, poultry, food processor, foodservice and bakery industries. With headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., Bunge North America and its subsidiaries operate grain elevators, oilseed processing plants, edible oil refineries and packaging facilities, and corn, wheat and rice mills in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
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