New varieties of corn and soybeans from Thunder Seeds and Prograin were some of the highlights from Quarry Seed's Annual Soybean Expo in Oakville last week.

Like many areas of the province, Quarry's research plots in Oakville have faced plenty of adverse weather, including heavy rains and thundershowers. Quarry Seeds general manager Shawn Rempel says the site looks good, but has been stressed.

He outlines some of the soybean varieties which have stood up particularly well in the weather conditions.            

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"There's a new RoundUp Ready 2 from Thunder called 37004, that one's really handled a lot of the early season stress well," he says. "There are two in particular (soybean varieties) from Prograin, one happens to be an Xtend, one happens to be a RoundUp Ready 2. Same thing, they just didn't get knocked so hard with IDC early on, they kept up with their plant counts and plant establishments."

Quarry's market development manager Garry Van Den Bussche explains the tour included more than just the varieties, though, as it gave growers a chance to learn more about the other factors that impact crop development.

"We're working with innovative companies... we work with Syngenta on the seed treatment side, and with ATP on the nutrition side. We test these things in labs and we do our own testing in the field along with our dealers, in addition to what the companies do themselves to find out to how they interact and how they add value in different markets in different areas across Western Canada," Van Den Bussche says. "In the end, we really do bring together great genetics, and bring them together with what we do."

Rempel says the plots in Oakville are open to farmers, so if any growers missed the Soybean Expo, they are welcome to visit the site at another time.