Yield Potential When It Matters Most: Field Data Reinforces Competitive Advantage of NK Seeds 2023 Field Forged Series Lineup

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Aug. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NK Seeds unveiled new field data today highlighting the superior performance of their 2023 Field Forged Series^™ lineup of corn hybrids and soybean varieties, which combines the strongest performers, old and new alike. No longer do farmers have to decide between planting their go-to favorites and using innovative new hybrids and varieties. Across the Corn Belt, NK Seeds Field Forged Series products consistently outyielded key competitors in 2021 harvest trials. The national yield average numbers tell the story:

• Fifty-one NK^® Field Forged Series corn hybrids landed in the top 10 in 2021 Farmers Independent Research of Seed Technologies (FIRST) tests.
  
  
• Thirty-eight NK Field Forged Series soybean varieties landed in the top 10 in 2021 FIRST tests — and 13 of those placed within the top three.

"Every season and every crop matters, but given the agronomic and economic pressures that farmers are facing this season, they want to be confident that the products they plant will maximize profit potential this fall," says Jim Shertzer, Head of NK Marketing. "Of these industry-leading yields, six hybrids and 14 varieties are available for the first time commercially for the 2023 growing season. That kind of performance should give farmers confidence and reduce some of the risk that's inherent in farming."

The 2023 Field Forged Series class packs high standards and proven results into every seed.

"Each seed is forged in the lab and in the field to ensure that we're bringing not just the highest yield potential, but also agronomically stable crops that work across an array of diverse acres to help drive farmers' profit potential," says Shertzer. "Our powerful R&D process allows us to deliver our high-performing seed with leading traits faster than ever for corn and soybean products that come tested and proven to perform."

With 34 NK Field Forged Series hybrids in the 2023 lineup, there's a match for all geographies and growing environments. Popular corn standouts include:

• NK0007-AA offers excellent yield potential, strong roots and stalks, and leading drought tolerance. This hybrid has a 5.5 Bu/A advantage over all DEKALB^® products (N = 348), a 4.0 Bu/A advantage over all Channel^® products (N = 125), a 2.1 Bu/A advantage over all Beck's products (N = 130) and a 1.1 Bu/A advantage over all Wyffels products (N = 87).
  
  
• NK0243-AA is a great option for farmers looking for excellent agronomics in a broadly adapted hybrid. Noteworthy for its season-long standability and strong late-season plant health, it has a 3.5 Bu/A advantage over all DEKALB products (N = 821), a 5.8 Bu/A advantage over all Channel products (N = 179) and a 4.6 Bu/A advantage over all AgriGold^® products (N = 20).
  
  
• NK1188-AA features consistent yield potential and agronomics across environments. Farmers will notice its attractive plant height and ear placement, along with improved test weight and grain quality. This hybrid also features dependable drought tolerance. It beat Channel by 2.0 Bu/A (N = 33) in Iowa in 2021.
  
  
• NK1523-V is notable for its high-end yield potential with agronomic stability. With a strong and robust root structure, it offers excellent yield potential with increased management. This hybrid beat Pioneer by 3.3 Bu/A (N = 28) in Iowa in 2021.

The performance results don't end there. NK1701-V has an impressive 11.1 Bu/A advantage over all Pioneer products (N = 34), NK8005-V has a 9.4 Bu/A advantage over all DEKALB products (N = 38), and NK9175-DV has a 4.8 Bu/A advantage over all Pioneer products (N = 313).

All hybrids in the 2023 Field Forged Series class are available with industry-leading trait stacks, including DuracadeViptera^™ and Viptera^™, to meet specific field needs.

"These multi-year results show what happens when high standards meet proven results," says Joe Bollman, NK Corn Products Manager. "Farmers who choose to plant Field Forged Series hybrids in 2023 can expect to see strong yield potential in their area of adaptation, as well as strong roots and stalks, consistency and excellent disease tolerance."

Proprietary genetics meet diverse traits in the NK Field Forged soybean portfolio. The 2023 NK Field Forged portfolio includes 14 Enlist E3^® and 14 XtendFlex^® varieties. Each made the cut for demonstrating consistently outstanding yield potential, paired with resistance to soybean cyst nematode, proven Sudden Death Syndrome tolerance, resistance to Soybean White Mold and strong Phytophthora Root Rot resistance.

In third-party trials, Field Forged Series soybean varieties came out on top: NK Enlist E3 varieties had a 1.1 Bu/A advantage over Pioneer^® Enlist E3 varieties, and NK Field Forged Series XtendFlex varieties had a 1.8 Bu/A advantage over Asgrow^® XtendFlex varieties in 2021.

"For the 2023 growing season, we're turning things up a notch, with yield and agronomic strength in every seed," says Eric Miller, NK Soybean Product Marketing Manager. "Each product in our latest lineup was hand-selected in response to grower demand for innovative agronomic traits, proven yield and herbicide trait flexibility. It's proving to be a powerful combination that's really driving farmers' profit potential."

NK Seeds will share 2022 corn and soybean yield results later this year on their website, social channels and blog, The Amplifier.

Syngenta Crop Protection and Syngenta Seeds are part of Syngenta Group, one of the world's leading agriculture companies. Our ambition is to help safely feed the world while taking care of the planet. We aim to improve the sustainability, quality and safety of agriculture with world-class science and innovative crop solutions. Our technologies enable millions of farmers around the world to make better use of limited agricultural resources.

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This document contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as 'expect', 'would', 'will', 'potential', 'plans', 'prospects', 'estimated', 'aiming', 'on track' and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Syngenta, such risks and uncertainties include risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, compliance and remediation, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or commodity prices, single source supply arrangements, political uncertainty, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors.

Yield advantages are composites based on the results of 2020-2021 Syngenta first-party, FIRST and other independent third-party trials, when available. For more information regarding yield comparisons against an individual product, ask your Syngenta representative. No product recommendation by FIRST is implied.

© 2022 Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label and bag tag instructions; only those labeled as tolerant to glufosinate may be sprayed with glufosinate ammonium-based herbicides.

LibertyLink^®, Liberty^® and the Water Droplet logo are registered trademarks of BASF. HERCULEX^® and the HERCULEX Shield are trademarks of Corteva Agriscience LLC. HERCULEX Insect Protection technology by Corteva Agriscience LLC.

Under federal and local laws, only dicamba-containing herbicides registered for use on dicamba-tolerant varieties may be applied. See product labels for details and tank mix partners. Golden Harvest^® and NK^® soybean varieties are protected under granted or pending U.S. variety patents and other intellectual property rights, regardless of the trait(s) within the seed. The Enlist E3^® soybean, LibertyLink^®, LibertyLink^® GT27^®, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend^®, Roundup Ready 2 Yield^® and XtendFlex^® soybean traits may be protected under numerous United States patents. It is unlawful to save soybeans containing these traits for planting or transfer to others for use as a planting seed. Only dicamba formulations that employ VaporGrip^® Technology are approved for use with Roundup Ready 2 Xtend^® and XtendFlex^® soybeans. Only 2,4-D choline formulations with Colex-D^® Technology are approved for use with Enlist E3^® soybeans. The trademarks or service marks displayed or otherwise used herein are the property of a Syngenta Group Company. ENLIST E3^® soybean technology is jointly developed with Corteva Agriscience LLC and M.S. Technologies, L.L.C. The ENLIST trait and ENLIST Weed Control System are technologies owned and developed by Corteva Agriscience LLC. ENLIST^® and ENLIST E3^® are trademarks of Corteva Agriscience LLC. GT27^® is a trademark of M.S. Technologies, L.L.C. and BASF. Roundup Ready 2 Xtend^®, Roundup Ready 2 Yield^®, XtendFlex^® and YieldGard VT Pro^® are registered trademarks used under license from the Bayer Group.

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SOURCE NK Seeds