Herbicide Tolerant Soybean: Why Growers Are Adopting Roundup Ready Varieties”. Agbioforum 2(1999): 65-72

Soybean growers have adopted herbicide tolerant varieties at a rapid rate. While some potential cost savings may have driven adoption, the primary reason growers are switching to new programs is the simplicity and flexibility of a weed control program that relies on one herbicide to control a broad spectrum of weeds without crop injury or crop rotation restrictions. Roundup Ready weed control programs for soybeans fit into on-going trends towards postemergence weed control, adoption of conservation tillage practices and narrow row spacing. Roundup Ready systems have also solved some of the problems growers faced in conventional weed management systems. Key words: biotechnology; Roundup Ready soybeans; weed control. Adoption of recently introduced herbicide tolerant soybean varieties has been extremely rapid. By 1998, approximately 38 % of the total U.S. soybean acreage was planted to varieties developed through the use of biotechnology methods to be tolerant to various herbicides. The first herbicide tolerant varieties, ulfonylurea tolerant soybeans, were introduced in 1993 and were developed to tolerate higher rates of some of the herbicides that were already being used in soybeans. Three years later, in 1996, Roundup Ready soybean varieties became available, allowing the use of glyphosate (R undup