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Business: Benson-Hill announces gains in soybean breeding program, introduces five new varieties

Agtech company Benson Hill has announced significant progress in its soybean breeding work. Its latest field evaluations of its third generation of soybean varieties showed protein gains of two per cent over its previous generation, with a yield gap of only three to five bushels per acres.

“We’ve successfully demonstrated that CropOS, our AI-based prediction and data insights platform, can drive our predictive breeding efforts and give us a step-change forward on multiple traits like protein and yield,” said Jason Bull, chief technology officer of Benson Hill, in a company statement. “We are now seeing massive gains in the field that minimize the tradeoff between yield and protein, surpassing expectations from when we began building on the high-protein soybean genetics we acquired in 2019.”

“What this means for the industry is that we’re accelerating our speed to market with de-risked, outcome-based products in record time,” Bull added. “We expect to expand our portfolio of seed innovations again in 2025 to offer two dozen varieties that encompass protein, lower indigestible sugars, and quality oil.”

The company also announced an expansion of its commercially available soybean portfolio for 2024, adding five new varieties to its lineup, which now includes more than 20 varieties across several relative maturity groups.