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Yield 10 is positioning itself to be at the forefront of deploying new traits in Camelina to improve the commercial performance of the crop to address the supply gap for low-carbon intensity feedstock oils in the biofuels market.
Yield10 has carved out a leadership position in the development of herbicide tolerant Camelina. In 2022, the Company conducted its first field tests of Camelina deployed with herbicide tolerance traits and confirmed these results in a second round of tests conducted in winter 2022/2023. Yield10 researchers are focused on developing Camelina varieties having a robust herbicide tolerance trait stack as a technological and economic benefit to growers.
The development of herbicide tolerance (HT) traits in commercial crops has significantly impacted the practice and economics of agriculture in recent decades. Controlling weeds in agricultural fields is critical to producing yield and a clean harvest. Farmers can also utilize more sustainable farming practices, such as no-till, if crops are HT.
We believe that our recent, successful trials of herbicide tolerant spring Camelina could mark another significant moment in the history of North American agriculture. When we include Yield10’s plans for seed scale-up of spring HT Camelina and the ongoing work to begin field testing winter HT Camelina this year, the future indeed looks bright for HT Camelina.
Before we can look forward to the future, however, let’s take a step back and trace some of the important steps along the path of HT’s interesting history in agriculture.
The first genetically engineered (GE) HT crops were first developed in the 1980s as the promise of biotechnology and recombinant DNA was introduced. Before the introduction of HT crops, farmers relied on a combination of tillage and herbicides to control weeds, which could be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly.
Some of the herbicides used regularly in these years were from 1945, a year which proved key to the development of selective weed-killing chemicals, with the introduction of 2,4-D; 2,4,5-T; and IPC. The first two of these were used as foliar sprays against broad-leaf weeds, and the third was applied on soil to target grasses. At the time, these herbicides were revolutionary. Their high potency meant weed control could be done effectively at much lower dosage rates when compared with their predecessors. However, some of those mid-20th century herbicides, including 2,4,5-T, were later deemed unsafe for humans as well as the environment and were subsequently discontinued in many countries.
According to a report from the USDA's Economic Research Service, the first GE herbicide tolerant crop was introduced and commercialized in 1996 in the form of glyphosate tolerant soybeans. This was followed by the introduction of glyphosate tolerant cotton and corn in 1997 and 1998. respectively. By 2020, 92% of all corn acreage, 94% of all soybean acreage, and 97% of all cotton acreage in the U.S. were planted with GE varieties. As shown in the Table below, the adoption rate was quite rapid for a new technology introduced into core commercial crops.
The introduction of GE HT sugar beets in the U.S. showed a remarkable adoption rate of 60% in the first year (2008) rising to 95% in the second year (2009). By 2013, 98% of the sugar beet harvest in the U.S. was from herbicide tolerant plants.
The adoption of GE HT canola was also significant, with adoption rates reaching 90 percent in Canada, according to a study published in the journal Food Policy. Canada approved GE HT canola in 1996, and USDA-APHIS deregulated glufosinate-tolerant and glyphosate-tolerant varieties of canola in 1998, and 1999, respectively. By 2002, approximately 70% of U.S. canola acreage was GE HT which grew to 95% of the crop by 2013.
In addition to an increase in HT adoption, we’ve also seen a large increase in the acres planted over the years. Based on USDA data, in 1997, just 17% of the domestic soybean acres planted were done using HT seeds, whereas this number jumped to 68% by 2001, reaching as high as 94% in 2014, and seeing an additional slight increase to 95% in 2022. Similarly, HT cotton amounted to just 10% of the acreage in 1997, increasing to 56% by 2001, and hitting 94% in 2021. As the graph above shows, the number of seeded acres of Canadian canola in Canada has also been on a steady rise since 1996.
Overall, the adoption of GE HT crops over the last 35 years has had a significant impact on the North American agricultural sector. Today, with vastly improved biotechnology tools as well as a regulatory climate that is science-driven, recognizing the long history of safety for GE HT crops, Yield10 is at the forefront of HT Camelina development.
We reported our first results with HT Camelina in August 2022, putting the Company on track to achieve our vision for the crop—to utilize it as a platform crop on large acreage to produce feedstock oil for biofuels, omega-3 oil, high protein meal, and PHA bioplastic. These results were replicated in the contra-season fieldwork we conducted this past fall 2022/2023. We also recently confirmed that our HT spring Camelina lines are tolerant to Clethodim, a product used to control grassy weeds. In addition to broadleaf herbicide tolerance, the Company is also developing Group 2 herbicide soil residue tolerance in Camelina. Together, these HT traits are expected to provide growers with a robust herbicide package for building acreage of Camelina.
In 2023, we are conducting further field testing and seed scale-up activities for our commercial quality HT Camelina lines, advancing the development of our stacked herbicide tolerant lines, and accelerating our regulatory efforts in support of the commercial launch of these important Camelina varieties to supply low-carbon intensity feedstock oil to the biofuels market.
In 2023, we are conducting further field testing and seed scale-up activities for our commercial quality HT Camelina lines, advancing the development of our stacked herbicide tolerant lines, and accelerating our regulatory efforts in support of the commercial launch of these important Camelina varieties to supply low-carbon intensity feedstock oil to the biofuels market.
Our blog posts contain forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, and therefore, you should not place undue reliance on them. Investors are also cautioned that statements that are not strictly historical, constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks include risks and uncertainties detailed in Yield10’s filings (10-K and 10-Q) with the SEC. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of the publication of the blog post.
