FALL HARVEST REPORT 2016

A monthly supplement to The Delmarva Farmer

It’s called Soft IP, Soft Identity Preservation.
It’s the process which farmers employ when growing special variety, premiumed crops to reduce the risk of ‘contamination’ by other varieties.
In a report to The Delmarva Farmer, Scott Raubenstine of Perdue Agribusiness said that many Delmarva soybean growers “opting to plant 100 percent of their production acres to Plenish and opt out of the required Soft Identity Preservation requirement.
That’s because Soft IP is “basically blowing out combines, segregating fields and harvesting activities to reduce the risk of contamination into the traditional yellow soybean stream.”
Plenish is the relatively new high oleic soybean developed by DuPont Pioneer and bringing farmers a premium from Perdue.
While Perdue declines to reveal the number of acres now in Plenish production, the company announced last year that it intended to enlist 60,000 acres by the 2015 growing year and according to Raubenstine, “our goal of doubling acres year over year continues,” including into the 2017 season, he noted.
“Plenish varieties have yielded in parity to other Pioneer T Series soybeans,” said Raubenstine, and “many Delmarva growers are opting to plant 100 percent of their production acres to Plenish and opt out of the required Soft Identity Preservation requirement.”
Raubenstine said DuPont Pioneer has introduced two additional Group 4 maturities in the Plenish soybean seed lineup with a Group 4.1 and a Group 4.2 soybean seed.
“Perdue AgriBusiness continues to add additional elevators to handle the interest in planting Plenish,” Raubenstine continued. “ Our goal is to once again assist growers in seed placement, varietal selection, ease of harvest delivery in order to maximize their profit per acre.”
Raubenstine said that “Perdue AgriBusiness’ Specialty Oil team continues to see strong demand and increased manufacturer testing of Plenish oil from many local food service companies, snack food companies, major food companies and industrial companies.”
Perdue and DuPont Pioneer in effect are asking Delmarva farmers assistance in seeking to “take back soy oil market share lost to the alternative oils being introduced in the late 1990s.”
Plenish is touted as a healthier alternative for consumers and a key production crop for growers seeking additional planting premiums.