Show Notes
Please send us your feedback on the podcast: [email protected] In this episode, we look back on the past 100 years, and highlight what will carry over into this next chapter in the company’s history. Corteva Agriscience chief technology and digital officer Sam Eathington and some really special guests discuss the past, present and future of agriscience innovation.
And here we are today with I think arguably the most amazing sort of agriculture feats and what's happened with hybrid corn production around the world….It's cool to kind of look back. The team's done, done a lot to review the history and put it together and it's a good time to hear stories from people that were there and really made stuff happen. But it's also a great time for us to look forward and think about what could agriculture become and where are we going.” - Sam Eathington
Dr. Stan Jensen is a plant breeder who was hired by Raymond Baker himself in the 1950s.. During his 44-year career with Pioneer, he contributed to the development of 39 successful single-cross hybrids for commercial release totaling more than 23 million units. Now in his 90s, Jensen got to witness firsthand the transformation that hybrid corn made possible.
“ Corn is a very innovative plant. And to learn about it and keep studying and work on the changes, it's an amazing plant. I really have a got a lot of respect for the corn plant.” - Dr. Stan Jensen
Also joining the conversation is one more connection to Raymond Baker. Raymond’s grandson, Joe Baker, attended the Pioneer 100 event. He remembers that his grandfather was quick to credit Iowa State for their role in the history of hybridization.
Grandpa always used to say if it wasn't for Iowa State, he wouldn't have met Henry Wallace, and there wouldn't be any Pioneer… He felt Iowa State was responsible for a lot of his success because he got to meet everybody. - Joe Baker
This collaborative approach, not only with Iowa State, but with other companies and partners is shining through in the latest focus for agriscience innovation: genome editing. You’ve heard in previous episodes about the Genlytix platform Corteva has built. Eathington shares that that platform is something that will be carried forward and expanded as part of Vylor.
Genlytix for us was a way we sort of brought everything together, not only the gene editing piece, but what are you doing on social responsibility? What are you doing on regulatory and policy? How are you collaborating around the world with not only universities, but startups or small companies in the space, and really bring the whole community forward around gene editing where we can. It's obviously much bigger than just Corteva, but where's our part, and how do we bring that forward? So that will continue in Vylor.” - Sam Eathington
To continue this journey with genetic advancements you’ll want to listen to Episode 30 of this podcast where we shared the recent progress with global regulatory approval. The EU has put policy in place to differentiate gene editing from GMO technology and paved the way for a regulatory framework that could allow for gene edited crops to be grown in Europe in the not-so-distant future. Another example is our episode 26 on Plenish Soybeans for how genetics can shift value from processing back to the farm. The idea that this could be a lot more common is an exciting one, because farmers can grow specialty products in a productive commodity system.
Please send your feedback on the podcast to [email protected]
A few takeaways from this episode: The meaning behind the name Vylor is very fitting for this episode. It combines the “valor” of the past with “vying” for the future. The promise of genome editing and the potential impact this will have on farmers. Everything from disease resistance to value added commodities, this technology is at the very beginning of what seems like will be an incredible impact on this industry. The Long Look. Th
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Dr. Carla Yerkes joins us to help us tell the story of Rinskor and explain the process of herbicide innovation and the persistence and creativity it takes to develop new solutions for farmers. Yerkes is a research biologist at Corteva Agriscience and has a Ph.D. in herbicide physiology. She has spent about half of her 30 year career in herbicide discovery research and the other half in herbicide trait discovery.
What is happening in agriscience today that we will be talking about 100 years from now? While it’s impossible to answer that question with certainty, there is a technology that has the potential to impact our industry in the next century as much or even more than hybridization changed the game over the past century. That technology is genome editing. The promise of this technology is very real and today you’re going to hear firsthand accounts of what changed in 2012 and 2013 to make all of this possible, what did it look like to test the technology in plant breeding, and what does the strategy look like to turn this science into better solutions.
In today’s episode, we’re following a molecule around the world, from being discovered in Japan to being developed in the United States to becoming a solution for farmers in the United Kingdom. Joining us is one of those farmers in the UK, Julian Gibbons. Julian has seen a variety of fungicide solutions come and go for important wheat diseases like Septoria tritici, or speckled leaf blotch. He’s really excited about the potential for a relatively newly registered product derived from a natural compound called Inatreq Active™. And the story of the need for Inatreq and the road to getting this product to farmers is the focus of today’s episode.
We celebrate the 100th year anniversary of Pioneer Seeds, and take a look back at the history of hybridization. The process may seem simple: to take two varieties or even species and cross them together to create more desirable offspring. But the concept of controlled hybridization, intentionally transferring pollen from a chosen male parent to a chosen female parent, is relatively new in the history of agriculture. But it has been nothing short of revolutionary.
What does it take to break the world soybean yield record? Today we talk to soybean yield record-holder Alex Harrell and soybean breeder Don Kyle. Alex farms in southwest Georgia with his dad where they primarily grow soybeans, corn, wheat and watermelon. In 2023, he became the first farmer to record a soybean yield of over 200 bushels per acre. The next year he beat his own record coming in at 218.2856 bushels per acre. It’s an incredible achievement for anyone, but it’s even more impressive when you consider that Alex farms in an area that doesn’t generally grow a lot of soybeans. “ We did a lot of studying, a lot of class, made a lot of mistakes, and watched a lot of beans rot in our humidity. You know when the things do line up, we have a lot of yield potential there as well. ” - Alex Harrell Farmers like Alex have had to learn these lessons and refine their system over years while experimenting with and matching up the right genetics for their fields. Don Kyle became interested in soybean breeding in the early 90s and has since dedicated his career in plant breeding to the crop. Today he’s a soybean breeder and Evaluation Zone Lead for the Eastern US at Corteva Agriscience based in Princeton, Illinois. He says even though he’s focused on soybeans for over 30 years, he’s more passionate than ever about the crop. Don thinks we might see more hybrid soybeans in the future, similar to what we’re currently seeing with wheat. But for now, farmers aren’t using hybrid soybeans so it’s even more impressive what farmers like Alex Harrell have been able to achieve in terms of yield growth over the years. “ It's very easy to produce soybean seed because they self-pollinate themselves. The problem is to produce hybrid seed is really difficult. So making a cross between two different soybean varieties today still requires using tweezers and sometimes magnifying glasses so you could see the flower parts the best. It's a very tedious job.” - Don Kyle A few takeaways from this episode: