BASF and Monsanto Company on Tuesday announced significant progress toward launching next-generation dicamba-based weed control systems for soybeans and cotton that could be available globally for farmers this decade, according to a company report.

"Today's announcement is an indication that together with BASF, we are making significant progress in bringing this new technology to farmers," says Kerry Preete, Monsanto vice president of crop protection.

The companies recently completed joint field testing of new dicamba-based formulations applied over the top of Monsanto's next-generation dicamba-tolerant soybean technology in development. The research, conducted at Monsanto's Monmouth, Illinois, research facility, demonstrated excellent weed control and crop safety on the dicamba-tolerant soybeans.

"The dicamba tolerant system is designed give growers pre- and post emergence application flexibility, allowing them to better manage their resources and thus improving productivity," adds Markus Heldt, President of BASF's Crop Protection division.

Additional field studies at various BASF research locations supported these results and confirmed significantly improved attributes compared to formulations available in the market today. This new formulation work offers even further improvement in physical characteristics that result in better performance and safety to nearby crops.

Upon commercialization, the dicamba tolerance trait is expected to be stacked with the Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean trait.