Herbicides For 2013: Loading Up The Arsenal

Despite some pushback from the drought, increased awareness surrounding weed resistance and high commodity prices made 2012 a solid year for herbicide sales, according to industry experts. Likewise, 2013 looks to continue that trend as products composed of three or more modes of action and offering enhanced application flexibility enjoy increased adoption in the market.

Along with much anticipated dicamba– and HPPD-tolerant traits coming to market, 2013 looks to be a breakout year for soil residuals — a fact University of Arkansas Associ­ate Professor Dr. Jason Norsworthy echoed in a July interview at a Bayer CropScience “Respect The Rotation” event.

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“I recently asked a group of growers, ‘Do you need new technology or new modes of action to control your weeds?’ and the majority of the guys said ‘Yeah, but we need new traits more’,” said Norsworthy. “Then I asked how many of them are using a full-rate residual herbicide, and only about a quarter of them said yes. So, we have a lot of tools that we’re not utilizing as well as we should be, and residual herbicides are one of them.”

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Dow AgroScience’s Ryan Messner, corn herbicide product manager, characterized 2012 as an “interesting year” for the company’s herbicides portfolio.

Spring came early, folks got out in the field and everything looked great initially with a lot of growers utilizing residuals — and then the drought kicked in,” says Messner. “In some areas and with certain products, we began to see some weed breakthroughs, just because they couldn’t get the product watered-in, and herbicide activation became a major concern.”

According to Messner, SureStart and Keystone NXT herbicides took the baton for Dow in 2012, utilizing three modes of action and an application flexibility that Messner says sets both products up for increased adoption as climate variability likely increases over the next decade.

Unpredictable Mother Nature

“I feel like we say this every single year: Mother Nature, you just can’t predict her,” says Messner. “She throws curveballs and 2012 was no different — she threw us a curve on the rain. These two residual herbicides offer growers the ability to treat either early in the season up to pre-plant, and from pre-plant all the way up to 11 inches tall corn.”

Keystone NXT also requires merely ¼-inch water to activate in the soil, giving growers added value as opposed to some of Dow’s competitors, according to Messner. “With some of our competitor’s products requiring ½-inch of water or more to activate, it becomes a great selling point for retailers.”

For 2013, the company anticipates registration of four new corn herbicide brands: FullTime NXT, Keystone NXT, Keystone LA NXT and Surpass NXT, all of which “offer outstanding mixing and handling characteristics that build upon proven weed control solutions that retailers have positioned for battling resistance and hard-to-control grasses and broadleaf weeds,” according to Messner.

“We’re committed to building products to fit retailers’ needs,” says Messner. “In many cases, they are extremely busy during planting time and have limited amounts of people and equipment, so they need products that can be applied early, they need flexibility because as demand grows, sometimes they simply don’t have enough time to get everything done.”

Dave Downing, product brand leader with MANA Crop Protection, says 2012 played out to be extremely challenging with drought conditions putting a dent in yields across the Midwest. “Farmers who felt the worst of it are ready to move on and focus on next year’s crop,” he says.

MANA is also looking ahead as it prepares to introduce several new herbicides in 2013.

“With glyphosate and HPPD/tria­zine inhibitor chemistries showing up on resistance watch lists, our new Torment herbicide comes into play at the right time,” Downing says. “With two modes of action (imazethapyr/fomesafen), this tool complements a planned glyphosate or glufosinate post-sequential approach to resistance.”

Torment lists 65 grasses and broadleaves for control. It can be applied pre- or early post-emergence with 45 days of residual activity. EPA registration is due before 2013 planting.

Downing continues in saying weed control champions like paraquat, metolachlor, atrazine, metribuzin and trifluralin have a renewed presence, and with good reason. Re-adoption of gold star, standard active ingredients continues to aid cotton growers in staying ahead of glyphosate-resistant pigweed through the Roundup Ready PLUS program.

“For glyphosate to remain viable, we’ve got to encourage growers to incorporate multiple modes of action into their prescriptions before resistance strikes. Older chemistries are the new front-runners and are coming back into play with tremendous success.”

MANA is launching several AI product extensions this season with an advanced formulation as part of their differentiation, including Rumble (fomesafen), Vise (metolachlor/fomesafen) and Tailwind (metribuzin/metolachlor). Registration is expected April 1.

More innovations from MANA are on the horizon. “With formulation technology a priority, growers will see new inputs from proven AIs with sophisticated improvements in efficacy, handling and safety,” he concludes.

Another well-performing 2012 product featured in the PLUS program is Valent USA’s Cobra herbicide, of which product marketing manager Trey Soud says “This year, more growers looked to Cobra as a preferred tank mix partner with glyphosate to control their tough weeds.”

Valent’s Valor and Valor XLT are also PLUS program incentivized, as well as among 2012’s top selling pre-emergence residual products in soybeans, according to the company. Fierce herbicide (launched in corn in 2012), combining two modes of action with residual activity up to two weeks longer than other herbicides, also fared well under the year’s drier conditions.

“Longer-lasting residual activity takes the pressure off post-emergence herbicides so that they can be applied at the appropriate time to smaller weeds, instead of being applied as a rescue scenario,” notes Soud. “The longer residual also decreases the amount of time the weeds compete with the crop.”

For next year, Valent expects registration for Fierce in soybeans in time for the 2013 season. “Fierce soybean registration will bring growers the most consistent, longest-lasting control of the broadest spectrum of broadleaves and grasses, including species that are resistant to glyphosate and other chemistries,” says Soud while also noting the same two week residual staying power as its corn counterpart.

Good Problems

Bayer CropScience enjoyed two-fold success in 2012. LibertyLink soybeans and Liberty herbicide, enjoying a market share that trait licensing manager Jon Fischer estimates at around 15% in southern markets, performed remarkably well (despite some supply issues) as growers battled the glyphosate-resistance onslaught. On the corn side, Al Luke, Bayer strategic business lead for broad acre crops, reports an increase in sales for all four selective corn herbicides (Corvus, Laudis, Balance Flexx and Capreno).

“We had an outstanding year with LibertyLink sales in 2012, so these are some of the problems we like to have,” says Fischer of the supply issue. “It means we’re getting good engagement with our customers. Whether its variety performance or herbicide performance, our market research tells us we’re at a 90% overall satisfaction level with the LibertyLink system in soybeans, so we’re very excited about the progress we’ve been making.”

Fischer assures there should be no supply issues in 2013. “We’re going into this season with the expectation that we’re going to have a pretty close alignment of seed and herbicide supply, and we’ve put steps in place to ensure both growers and retailers get their supply where they need it and when they need it.”

Adds Luke: “My advice to retailers is to get with their distributors as early as possible and lock those orders in.”

Both the fact that the LibertyLink system has no known resistance issues in row crops, as well as grower-driven demand, are the main catalysts behind the product’s recent success, according to Fischer, a selling point many retailers were more than happy to take advantage of.  “We’ve seen retailers that are willing to use the uniqueness of the product as a differentiator for their business — really seizing the opportunity to offer their growers that next level of service.”

Looking forward, Bayer CropSci­ence is working with MS Technologies to develop a soybean herbicide-tolerant trait package that features tolerance to an HPPD-inhibitor (isoxaflutole [IFT]) and glyphosate herbicides. Pending regulatory approvals, the stack should be available in 2016. Balance Bean, the first herbicide of its kind available for use on soybeans, will be available concurrently with IFT/glyphosate-tolerant soybeans. Bayer CropScience also is working with Syngenta to develop an HPPD/LibertyLink/glyphosate-tolerant stack expected to hit the marketplace towards the end of the decade.

“We’re still advocating three active modes of action and the rotation of other crops and other herbicide systems into the mix,” says Fischer. “The more effective tools you have, it really does help fight resistance.”

Resistance Fight Spreads

At Syngenta, sales have “really taken off,” according to Marc Hennen, herbicide brand asset lead. “Most of our sales are traditionally in the Southeast, but we’ve really been seeing a lot of growth in the upper Midwest as waterhemp proliferates into southern Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota.”

To deal with resistant weeds, Syngenta is advocating a pre-, or residual, application of Boundary (S-metolachlor and metribuzin) and a post-application of Flexstar GT 3.5 (fomesafen and glyphosate), deploying four effective modes of action at once.

“What we’re trying to do is get the message out there that there’s really not one good ‘post’ solution anymore,” says Hennen. “It used to be just a couple sprays of glyphosate and you were good to go. Now with some of these resistant biotypes, you need to get more modes of action out there.”

Prefix, containing fomesafen and S-metolachlor, and glyphosate are two additional products that performed well in 2012, according to Hennen.

Going forward, retailers can expect products containing HPPD-inhibiting chemistries such as mesotrione, the active ingredient in Callisto, to be available for weed control in soybeans after mid-decade. Syngenta and Bayer CropScience are co-developing herbicide-tolerance technology that will enable HPPD and glufosinate chemistries in soybeans to, when stacked with other traits, provide multiple mode of action herbicide tolerance in soybeans.

In corn, Lexar EZ and Lumax EZ, both of which received registration in 2012 as new formulations of previously existing products, provided broad spectrum burndown and residual control and three modes of action to growers, depending on their geography. “Lumax EZ is more of a central to northern Corn Belt product, as it contains less atrazine than the Lexar EZ, which is better suited for the central to southern Corn Belt,” says John Foresman, Syngenta product lead for mesotrione brands in corn.

According to Foresman, the new formulations offer improved handling, minimized over-wintering effects and less separation, along with improved mixing with sulphur-containing nitrogen fertilizers.

Residual Innovations

DuPont Crop Protection’s Jennifer Goodman, soybean portfolio manager, says the Wilmington, DE-based company is highlighting three products offering residual protection for the 2013 growing season.

“For pre-emergence soybean applications, Enlite and Envive herbicides give soybean growers peace of mind by offering longer-lasting, more consistent weed control, including control of glyphosate-tolerant or resistant weeds,” says Goodman.

Formulated to address the needs of northern, central and southern U.S. growing seasons, she adds the herbicides help soybeans get off to a good start in a variety of soil types and growing conditions.

Another innovative product from DuPont is Synchrony XP herbicide, a “cost-effective tank-mix partner” that boosts glyphosate activity in burndown or post-emergence applications, according to the company. Unlike 2,4-D, which generally requires a seven to 14 day pre-harvest interval, there’s no waiting to plant after a Synchrony XP burndown.

“Synchrony XP can be used in a post-emergence application to control resistant and challenging weeds such as lambsquarters, morningglory and velvetleaf,” says Goodman. “And the residual control reduces weed populations for an extended period of time.”

Meanwhile Jeff Carpenter, DuPont U.S. corn portfolio manager, is excited about innovations in the company’s corn herbicides pipeline, starting with Instigate, which received EPA registration back in August and will make its debut with the 2013 growing season.

“Instigate offers application flexibility – it can be put on pre-emerge or early post, and it’s designed to control broadleaves and grasses,” says Carpenter. “It offers enhanced weed control, allowing flexibility in tank mix partners and use rates.”

Carpenter also states that Instigate offers both one- and two-pass weed control. “The key part for retailers to know about this product is that it is being positioned primarily in the Eastern Corn Belt, targeting Indiana, Michigan and Ohio,” says Carpenter. “It’s also important to understand that this is a dry product, not a bulk product. So for retailers interested in reducing their bulk products, this is a great option.”

As for the near future, Goodman states: “Exciting new weed control blends are also on the way with an emphasis on resistance management.”

A Dicamba Comeback

BASF U.S. Crop Protection has enjoyed a solid year in herbicides sales, according to Luke Bozeman, technical market manager for the Research Triangle Park, NC-based global giant.

Two products that made headway in the market, according to Bozeman, were Optill PRO (saflufenacil + imazethapyr and dimethenamid) in soybeans and Armezon, a corn post-emergence product. “Optill PRO launched in 2012 for soybeans and has been a very well performing product and we anticipate expanded use in 2013.”

In 2013, BASF looks forward to the registration of Zidua, a pre- and early post-emergence product already approved for use in corn, in soybeans, giving growers yet another residual choice in the weed resistance fight.

“Zidua has a very good performance profile for resistant weeds,” says Bozeman. “It features some very nice staying power in the soil and it’s very good on problem weeds like Palmer amaranth and waterhemp.”

Beyond 2013, BASF is excited to receive registration for Engenia herbicide to go with the Roundup Ready 2 Xtend dicamba-tolerant soybean system Monsanto is developing. Bozeman reports Engenia, the company’s advanced dicamba formulation, is being constantly innovated to maximize performance.

“We’ve taken another advancement in management of off-target risk while at the same time keeping the high weed control activity profile of dicamba,” says Bozeman. “This is going to allow a soybean grower, for instance, an entirely new type of herbicide to use in crop, and we’re very excited about that as well.”

Meanwhile, Monsanto’s Kim Magin, director of industry affairs, advised that the company feels it is starting to chip away at some of the preconceived notions regarding dicamba. “I’m hearing far greater acceptance in the market than I did when we first started a few years ago,” says Magin. “I think it’s partly driven by growers that recognize they need new tools to
manage the many resistant weeds that are out there.”

“I also think there’s been a greater appreciation for some of the formulation advancements that have been made, both by Monsanto and BASF with dicamba and Dow with its 2,4-D,” she adds. “There is new technology that is helping to reduce the volatility of some of these formulations, and there are application practices that can be applied to really reduce drift and overall off target movement.”

As they build to 2014, Monsanto officials have been developing research-based best management application requirements for future Roundup Ready 2 Xtend. Among the recommendations that, along with a group of industry and extension experts, they came up with are:

  • Using only coarse to ultra-coarse droplets and timing sprays when weeds are four inches or shorter.
  • Applying only in wind speeds of 10 mph or less and keeping the sprayer at a ground speed of less than 15 mph. Boom height is also to be maintained at 20 inches above the canopy.
  • Maintaining the required label buffer zone, using a drift reduction agent and deploying residual herbicides to manage weed resistance concerns are also important best management practices.

After nailing down the best management practices, it’s time to take the message to the front lines. “Re­tail­ers are going to be pivotal in influencing a grower’s decision (to use dicamba),” says Magin. “They can make or break the differences in the formulations through education and training, so over the next year we’re going to be working closely with them on these application requirements so that they can then pass that along to whoever is doing the application work.”

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