“We are excited because we have watched these soybean varieties in development and know how well they can yield,” says Bill Backhaus, Midwest agronomist for BASF. “BASF has a very diverse germplasm base for plant breeding, and now farmers can see it in action on their farms.”
BASF is introducing 19 new soybean varieties to its Xitavo lineup for 2025. For the first time, many new introductions come from BASF’s exclusive soybean breeding program. Backhaus notes that these results are from just over a decade of effort by plant breeders.
New Xitavo varieties: What to expect
Here are key points about the new introductions:
All 19 are Enlist E3 varieties. “You can spray glufosinate, glyphosate and 2-4,D choline over the top,” Backhaus says. While all are Enlist E3 varieties, some are licensed from other programs.
Maturity groups range from 00 to 4.8. “They should work across the Corn Belt and in the far north,” Backhaus says.
Some carry Peking resistance for SCN. “Planting a Peking variety allows you to rotate source of resistance [for soybean cyst nematode],” Backhaus says. “You would not want to select Peking every year, but it works well in a corn-soybean rotation alternated with PI88788 resistance during soybean years.”
Several carry PI88788 resistance. “This will give you new varieties with this resistance type,” Backhaus says. “Don’t come back with the same variety every time, especially more than twice, even if it has PI88788 resistance.”
Selecting varieties
“Top yields start with seed selection,” Backhaus says. “We emphasize the yield triangle, made up of genetics on the base and environment and management on the two legs. Genetics is first and foremost. Studies show 19.8 bushels of yield variation depending upon which variety you choose.”
Xitavo soybeans are sold through a retailer network, Backhaus says. “We encourage them to know their farmers and their fields,” he says. “The goal is selecting varieties which best fit their fields.”
That includes accounting for row width, seeding rate preference and tillage type. But it also hinges on understanding differences in plant type. “Not all soybean genetics have the same plant design,” he says.
Backhaus uses the variety profile index, or VPI, to classify varieties. “Our plant breeders are beginning to utilize it, and it helps customers get the best-suited variety into each field,” he says.
So far, they’re classifying varieties by high, medium and low VPI:
Low VPI. “These varieties focus on one primary stem, and do not branch easily,” Backhaus says. “They build yield by packing in more nodes per plant and more pods per node.”
Think of them as defensive varieties, he adds. They excel on higher or tougher ground, not fields with all black soil.
High VPI. “For black soils with high CEC and lots of organic matter, this is your choice,” he says. “They put on lots of branches, and with adequate moisture, produce top yields.”
Midrange VPI. “You get some of the best of both worlds,” Backhaus says. “They branch more easily than low VPI varieties, but not as much as high VPI varieties.
“There is much more to this than just identifying a bushy versus nonbushy bean. When agronomists and farmers work together, this system helps them make really good variety placement choices.”