Pioneer’s first alfalfa variety with the Roundup Ready trait, 54R01, will be available for the 2006 planting season on a limited basis. It will be the first of a number of such varieties, according to the company.

“Pioneer has a long tradition of providing its customers the broadest package of choices to help their bottom line,” says Gene Gengelbach, Pioneer forage products marketing manager. “This marks another step in providing alfalfa producers the latest technology to increase efficiency and improve alfalfa quality.”

The Roundup Ready system enables growers to create a wider, more flexible herbicide application window in the seeding and subsequent years of the stand, eliminating crop rotation limitations associated with in-crop use of persistent herbicides. Roundup herbicide can be applied from planting through five days before cutting.

Improved weed control at stand establishment reduces the risk of stand failure and contributes to better quality forage earlier in the stand life.

The forage produced from this herbicide-resistant alfalfa is comparable in composition, nutritional value and safety to that produced from conventional varieties.

For more information, contact a local Pioneer sales representative.