Farmers and seed dealers from major U.S. crop production regions recently gathered in St. Louis and Peoria, Ill. for “Monsanto Ground Breakers Week.” The nearly 250 farmers in attendance are part of Monsanto’s on-farm trial program, Ground Breakers, experiencing two new innovations from Monsanto: Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System, and FieldScripts.

At the events, farmers participated in educational sessions in advance of Monsanto’s Ground Breakers Field Trials Under Permit program for the Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System for soybeans and Ground Breakers FieldScripts, a corn hybrid recommendation and variable-rate-seeding prescription that can help maximize yield potential.

The Monsanto Ground Breakers program engages farmers in an additional phase of on-farm testing prior to the commercialization of new technologies. The Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System is intended to bring growers more consistency and improved weed control, especially tough-to-manage and glyphosate-resistant weeds. FieldScripts technology leverages innovations in hybrid performance research, data analysis and precision equipment to deliver and execute a variable rate seeding prescription that can help maximize yield potential across soil variations. FieldScripts represents the first offering from Monsanto’s Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) – a research and development platform dedicated to integrating Monsanto’s expertise in seed science, field science, data analysis, precision equipment and customer service.