Print This PageVistive™
Vistive™ to Offer Expanded Varieties in 2008 to Help Meet Consumer Demand for Healthy Diets
Decatur, Ill. (August 28, 2007) — As food company and processor demand for better oils for healthier foods continues to grow, Monsanto next season will offer soybean farmers an expanded portfolio of high-performing Vistive™ low-linolenic soybeans, which can reduce or eliminate trans fats in processed soybean oil.
Introduced on just 500,000 acres in 2005, Vistive low-lin beans were planted on approximately 1.5 million acres in 2007. More than 100 food companies, including KFC and Kellogg's, are now using Vistive oil in their products.
“Vistive low-linolenic soybeans provide growers with a premium market opportunity along with strong agronomic performance in the field,” says Joe Bothe, Soybean Quality Traits Manager for Monsanto. “They also help strengthen the competitive position of the U.S. soybean industry by promoting the use of soybeans as the source for trans-fat-free food oil over alternative sources.”
Bothe said Vistive will be offered in 28 different seed brands for 2008, the same as this season, but growers will be able to choose from a broader selection of even better-performing varieties. In addition, Vistive will have greater geographic penetration and therefore be available to more farmers around the 20 processor locations that crush the soybeans and market Vistive oil to food companies.
Vistive low-linolenic soybeans typically contain up to 3 percent linolenic acid as an oil component compared with 8 percent for conventional soybeans. This low-linolenic alternative enables food processors to use Vistive oil to reduce the need for hydrogenation, which creates trans fats in processed soybean oil.
Vistive soybeans were grown this season throughout Iowa and in parts of Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio, Delaware and Maryland. Participating processors in 2007 include Cargill, AGP, Bunge, CHS, Inc., Mercer Landmark, Owensboro Grain Co., Perdue Incorporated and Zeeland Farms.
On average, processors are paying growers this season a premium of 55 to 65 cents per bushel for Vistive soybeans, and that figure is expected to remain steady for 2008.
For additional information, growers can visit www.vistive.com.
Media Note:
Visit www.monsanto.com/farmprogress2007,
or www.monsanto.com and click on the Farm Progress logo for
a full online press kit and Technology Showcase preview featuring a Monsanto
agronomist blog, time-lapse video of our drought tolerant-corn and dicamba-tolerant
soybeans, podcasts and audio reports, farmer reactions, and more -- giving
visitors a "peek over the fence."
Vistive™ is a trademark of Monsanto Technology LLC. ©2007 Monsanto Company.
