What does it take to develop a soybean variety that’s ready for farmers’ fields? According to the Xitavo® soybean seed, it starts with years of focused breeding, testing and evaluation. Every seed is backed by disciplined quality standards to provide an average +3.0 bu/A yield advantage over leading competitors.1
How do they do it? Monty Malone, Xitavo soybean seed variety development lead, makes it clear: by being all-in on soybeans and all-in on research and development.
“The more data that is available to make a purchase decision helps you make the right choice,” says Malone. “Xitavo soybean seed customers put their trust in us when they purchase a bag of seed that it will be successful and make a profit on each acre.”
That trust is earned through rigorous product testing, regional breeding programs and leading customer support. Together, these factors help Xitavo soybean seed varieties to perform on your acres.
Soybeans Tested to Thrive in Your Specific Region
Five regional breeding hubs each manage an interrelated but unique germplasm profile by evaluating adaptability within their specific environments. Seeds are assessed against 12+ rigorous quality tests to position varieties to perform in local conditions.
The five hubs have testing footprints in:
- Memphis, Tennessee: mid-South and lower-Midwest
- Champaign, Illinois: central and eastern Midwest
- Nevada, Iowa: central Midwest
- Lincoln, Nebraska: central and western Midwest
- Sabin, Minnesota: upper Midwest and Northern Plains
Local pressures like diseases, pests and environmental stressors help breeders narrow varieties to a small group of elites, which Malone’s team then tests to determine which stand out in performance for their specific environment.
The testing doesn’t stop there. Two years out from launching a new variety, Malone’s team generates 70-90 data points through Agronomic Market Placement (AMP). The right products then advance into the portfolio, where agronomists generate 300-500 additional data points one year before launch.
Together, that data helps shape a portfolio built to meet a wide range of agronomic needs across every acre.
Checks and Balances Create the Best Yield Potential
While the breeding team produces varieties to succeed, the soybean variety development team puts them to the test to find areas of improvement. It’s a solid system of checks and balances.
“The breeding team is trying to control a lot of variables. They’re ensuring the difference in performance and varieties is truly genetic — that it’s an apples-to-apples comparison. We take the varieties and give them every chance to fail,” Malone explains.
This approach means varieties are tested against real-world conditions to determine if they’re built to withstand in-field challenges.
Ensuring Genetic Progress
Farming is already a challenging job. Xitavo soybean seed teams conduct this rigorous testing to make one critical decision easier: placing the right varieties on the right acres.
“Our goal is to have a better, more adaptive variety that makes life a little easier and production a little more profitable for farmers at their local level,” says Malone. “Everything comes down to the people. From the breeding team to the development team to the agronomists, we’ve got the best, most focused soybean technical support in the industry.”
For 2027, that commitment continues through focused soybean expertise and varieties built to perform acre after acre.
Learn more about Xitavo soybean seed and new varieties for 2027 at www.xitavosoybeanseed.com.
1Aggregate data calculated by averaging leading competitor brand means from 2022-2025 published OVT and FIRST trials from IA,IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MI, MO, ND, NE, OH, PA, SD and WI. 886 trials and 6,931 data points. No product recommendation by FIRST or University is implied.
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Xitavo is a registered trademark of M.S. Technologies, L.L.C., West Point, IA. The transgenic soybean event in Enlist E3® soybeans is jointly developed and owned by Corteva Agriscience and M.S. Technologies, L.L.C. Enlist, Enlist E3 and the Enlist E3 logo are trademarks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies.
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