Syngenta’s investment to improve the quality and value of soybean varieties and corn hybrids will have far-reaching benefits from seed to feed, and even to society at large. Its collaboration with the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) and United Soybean Board (USB) to increase feed values will benefit livestock and row-crop producers.

Thanks to innovative leadership, Syngenta is the first multinational seed company that’s making long-term industry success a priority today. The benefits start with varietal selection. Varieties high in certain amino acids make soybean meal more effective in livestock feed.

Syngenta is partnering with the checkoff-funded High Yield PLUS Quality (HY+Q) program to showcase and advance the livestock nutritional value in the company’s portfolio of soybean varieties. A similar Syngenta effort is underway for corn hybrids, with the overall objective being to maximize value from seed-to-feed and fuel markets for both soybeans and corn.

This Syngenta focus will help farmers fight serious soybean market share and soybean revenue losses in critical livestock feed markets, particularly for swine and poultry. Soybean meal in swine feed rations has dropped 70 percent since 1990, having largely been replaced by synthetic amino acids and corn byproducts. More than 70 percent of soybeans produced in the U.S. are fed to livestock across the swine, dairy, beef and poultry sectors.

The Syngenta effort encompasses the company’s major seed brands, including NK, Golden Harvest and Enogen Feed Hybrids. Syngenta teams will identify and promote soybean varieties and corn hybrids within these seed brands that have the nutritional characteristics most sought after by livestock and ethanol producers. For livestock, nutritional value is determined by amino acid levels that drive animal growth, productivity and profitability.

Improving soybean feed value at the varietal level can help increase both domestic and international demand. ISA estimates that billions of dollars in global market value can be realized when farmers select varieties with the best feed value.

Here’s a list of selected soybean varieties that tested high in livestock feed value in FIRST trials:

Visit Syngenta-US.com to learn more about Syngenta soybean varieties.