By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent

URBANDALE, Iowa — The Iowa Soybean Assoc. (ISA) has estimated in 2010 alone, fewer than 3,000 Iowa soybean acres have been made up of Pioneer Hi-Bred’s 75 percent high-oleic brand, Plenish, while Monsanto Co. is roughly a year or two behind with its Vistive Gold premium brand.

“Unlike low-lin (linolenic acid) soybeans, high-oleic soybeans hold greater potential for U.S. soybean farmers,” said Kirk Leeds, ISA CEO. “They offer the food industry a premium product to increase stability in many food applications, and do so without creating trans fats.”

Because specialty beans have been a part of America’s agricultural landscape for about five years, the stage is set for Iowa to become a major player in this unique niche market.

“Throughout the United States, we think that the low-lin soybean market is a little under a million acres from year to year, of which Vistive soybeans, as well as low-lin varieties in Iowa, are a pretty significant contributor,” said Ben Kampelman, who heads Monsanto’s business oilseeds communications team.

“It is likely that specialty oils will always be a segment of overall commodity production, but some of the next-generation oils could help increase that slice of the pie.”

Earlier this year, Des Moines-based Pioneer received USDA regulatory approval for its Plenish high-oleic soybeans; Monsanto this year also released Vistive III, the next generation of the St. Louis-based company’s Vistive beans.

Russ Sanders, director of Pioneer’s DuPont Ag & Nutrition Enhanced Oils Venture, said specialty beans such as Plenish offer benefits to the food industry, the industrial sector and the consumer. They also provide the potential for increased value to U.S. soybean farmers – especially Iowa growers who remain the nation’s leading soybean producers.

“We have contracted acres in targeted locations in North America for the 2010 growing season,” he said. “Our acreage targets for 2010 did not change due to global regulatory approval timelines; however, product testing with our key accounts will move to the next phase, based on USDA deregulation.”

Sanders added deregulation of Plenish high-oleic soybeans marks the final step in the U.S. regulatory process, which allows Pioneer to work with end-use and grower customers on ongoing field and oil testing, including food product development and sensory testing.
Although Sanders didn’t specify exact acreage for Iowa, he said Pioneer’s acreage targets for 2011 would be based on strong market demand and global regulatory approval status – which, he added, haven’t yet been finalized.

“We’ll work closely with a number of select growers who are trained in growing specialty crops under identity-preserved conditions,” he said. “Specific locations will be determined based on market demand and processor accessibility.

“Numerous varieties of Plenish soybeans are being developed by Pioneer so our customers can put the right product on the right acre for their farms.”

Kampelman said Monsanto reached a similarly important regulatory milestone in May, when the FDA issued a response letter to Monsanto’s Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notification, supporting the use of oil from Vistive Gold soybeans under the intended conditions of use.

“The GRAS status enables food companies to develop and test foods containing this nutritionally improved soybean oil, which is an important step toward offering consumers the benefit from this oil in a variety of food products,” he said.

“With that said, the oil isn’t yet commercially available, but we are hopeful that it will be in the years ahead.”

But because Pioneer and Monsanto both need additional international approval, Leeds said neither is making any concrete projections of expected acres in the next couple of years. “However, to meet expected need for this higher-value soybean oil, millions of acres will be needed over the next several years,” he added.
In the meantime, for U.S. soybean farmers, Leeds said the number of new traits in the research pipeline of the various seed companies is exciting.

“Unlike current traits that have been focused on the input side of the business, many of the new traits will be on the output side,” he said. “Long-promised benefits to consumers will soon be entering the marketplace.

“As with all new traits, farmers will need to see if the actual value matches all the marketing claims made by the technology providers.”

Additionally, Leeds said the oil from high-oleic soybeans will open doors for industrial uses, particularly in industrial lubricants.

“The increased stability in the high oleic soybeans should help create more stable industrial products as well,” he said. “Soybean farmers are investing checkoff dollars to make sure we understand areas that hold the greatest opportunities.”