Genuity® Roundup Ready® sugarbeets were introduced to farmers during the 2008-2009 crop season. Farmers across the U.S. and Canada used the technology on their farms, creating the fastest adoption of any biotech crop to date.

The reason for the quick adoption is simple- farmers are able to have a broad-spectrum weed control with the use of Roundup while reducing the impact those weeds have on reducing crop yields and sugar content. Fewer herbicide applications, increased yields and more sugar content all make Genuity Roundup Ready sugarbeets attractive to many farmers. Other benefits include:

• Broad-spectrum weed control with in-plant herbicide tolerance.
• Excellent control of key weeds that plague sugarbeets and can compete with the crop for nutrients, soil moisture and light, therefore reducing yield and sugar content.
• Proven crop safety when Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides are applied over the top.
• Weeds that emerge prior to or with sugarbeets cause the most yield losses. To limit weed competition during stand establishment, farmers should make the first application of Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides before weeds exceed two inches in height or when sugarbeets reach the 2-leaf stage

Although farmers across the U.S. and Canada have continued to see the benefits of Genuity Roundup Ready sugarbeets, some Monsanto opponents don’t see it that way. On January 21, 2008, Monsanto opponents initiated a legal action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenging the deregulation of Roundup Ready sugarbeets by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). To learn more about this case, visit the article in our Issues and Answers section.

Did you know?

• Sugar is a carbohydrate that occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables.
• Of all known plants, sugar is most highly concentrated in sugarbeets and sugar cane.
• The sucrose (sugar) from sugarbeets and sugar cane is identical, and the same as the sucrose found in fruits and vegetables.
• Sugar beets are grown commercially throughout the world in cooler, temperate climates.
• The main producers around the world are the European Union, the US, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine, Iran, Japan and China. In the US, sugarbeets are grown in California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.
• The sugar is the same no matter its original plant source or growing practice. Sugar – whether from sugarbeets or sugar cane, or from sugar crops grown using conventional, biotech or organic methods – is pure and natural and has the same nutritional value, composition and wholesomeness.
• Regulatory agencies around the world have reviewed Roundup Ready® sugarbeets and confirmed the sugarbeets and end-products derived from those sugarbeets are the same as the food and feed products derived from today’s conventional sugarbeets.
• Because sugar is an important ingredient in the North American food supply, it is vital to have a sustainable and geographically diverse supply of sugar and sugar byproducts to support the North American food industry for consumers.
•  In North America, hurricanes, droughts, floods, frosts and other environmental events have historically challenged the dependable supply of sugar products.