Crop Talk Summer 2019

WHAT’S NEW WITH BAYER PRODUCTS

Pest-proof your corn

TOP PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

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ibberella ear rot — it even sounds like it could mean trouble. Corn growers that have experienced wet weather through the middle of the season know that Gibberella ear rot is a real threat to yield, quality and return on investment.

Caused by an infection of Fusarium graminearum, the same pathogen that leads to fusarium head blight in cereals, Gibberella ear rot causes high levels of vomitoxin (DON) in corn, leading to lost yield and quality issues as we experienced in the fall of 2018.

Proline® fungicide is the only product registered for corn to not only manage Gibberella ear rot but also stalk rot and important leaf diseases in both grain and silage hybrids.

Indeed, in grower-cooperated trials, Proline reduced DON in grain corn by 41% and increased yield by 9% over the untreated check1. In silage corn, Proline reduced DON levels by 57% while providing a 4% yield increase over the check2.

Other serious yield robbers in corn are leaf diseases, like rust, eye-spot, Northern corn leaf blight, and the Western bean cutworm (WBC), which, even at the

seemingly low infestation level of one larvae per ear, can potentially rob you of 15 bu./ac.3 All of these pests — Gibberella ear rot, leaf diseases and WBC — can affect corn at different times during the season.

Corn hybrid selection is an important first step in managing leaf diseases and other yield robbing pests. Your Bayer Territory Sales Manager or Market Development Agronomists are great resources to help

answer questions on what hybrids are best suited your farm operation.

For early leaf diseases, turn to Stratego® PRO fungicide. Applied between 7-leaf and early tassel, Stratego PRO provides exceptional earlyseason protection and an average yield increase of 6% over untreated check4.

If DON is your main concern, apply Proline at early silking for protection against Gibberella ear rot as well as late-season leaf diseases. And if WBC is in your corn field, add an insecticide to your tank mix at either spray timing.

Don’t let leaf diseases or Gibberella ear rot take down your corn yield and quality this season. Talk to your Bayer representative about how Proline and Stratego PRO fungicides can help you grow your best corn crop yet.

For more information on Proline and Stratego PRO, visit cropscience.bayer.ca

19 Bayer grower-cooperated replicated Corn demonstration strip trials (2008-2017). All trials had >0.4 ppm DON in UTC. 7 replicated field-scale trials (2013-2015). Scott Banks, OMAFRA. 3 Western Bean Cutworm Scouting and Management in Field Corn (2017). Tracy Baute, OMAFRA, Ridgetown; and Jocelyn Smith and Art Schaafsma, University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus.

4 24 Bayer small plot and field-scale trails (2013-2015).

Your result may vary according to agronomic, environmental and pest pressure variables.

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How well do you really know sclerotinia?

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if pressure has been low for a while,” says Humphris. “All it takes is some rain or high humidity at the right time for spores to start flying. And it doesn’t matter if you’ve sprayed for it before. Sclerotia — the resting bodies that contain the fungus — can lie dormant in the soil for years. All they’re waiting for is an opportunity.”

His advice? “I’d definitely recommend planning for a Proline® fungicide application,” he says. “Canola growers choose it more than any other fungicide

because it consistently delivers an excellent result. But whatever product you choose, have it ready to go because you won’t have much time to react if seasonal conditions are conducive to disease development.”

If you see great yield potential coupled with a good thick canopy and some rain in the forecast, you’ll need to be ready to act. “Don’t wait for disease to develop and think you can outrun it,” says Humphris.

“Once you see infection, you’ve already lost yield.”

For more myths and facts about sclerotinia, visit: cropscience.bayer.ca/ Proline-canola

PHOTO: ALICE BUTLER, DPIRD

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n the world of canola diseases, clubroot and blackleg seem to get the most attention lately. Fair enough as both present some difficult and pressing control issues. Meanwhile, dealing with one of the most economically significant canola diseases, sclerotinia, has become just another routine for many.

“We’ve become so familiar with sclerotinia, that maybe we’ve taken our eye slightly off the ball when it comes to our knowledge about it and how we manage it,” says James Humphris, Crop and Campaign Manager with Bayer.

And yet, over the last decade or so, spray timing recommendations have been refined, our understanding of disease behaviour and potential crop losses have been clarified, and field surveys have given us a far clearer picture of how widespread scleortinia inoculum actually is on the prairies.

“There are a lot of myths about sclerotinia that date back years,” says Humphris. “For instance, last year’s sclerotinia pressure was low, so this year it will be low again. Myth! Each field and every year is different and needs to be handled differently. The right thing to do is assess your field in that critical period prior to flowering and pay specific attention to the moisture and environment.”

Some things are still as true today as they were years ago. For example, the fact that potential yield loss from sclerotinia is generally half the infection level, and that high moisture a few weeks before and during flowering is the key risk factor.

And here’s a sobering fact: according to the 2017 Canadian Plant Disease Survey, conducted by the Canadian Phytopathological Society, sclerotinia is present in 90% or more of the fields surveyed in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

“The fact is that the presence of sclerotinia inoculum is pretty much a given everywhere, so it doesn’t matter if you didn’t have a problem with it last year, or

WHAT’S NEW WITH BAYER PRODUCTS

Fungicides need to deliver disease protection and increase yield potential

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

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ungicide application in cereals is as much about timing as it is about what product to use.

And when it comes to timing, do you keep the flag leaf clean to maximize its grain filling capacity, or do you wait until the head has emerged and protect it against fusarium head blight (FHB)?

“We’ve conducted over 160 growercooperated demonstration strip trials (DSTs) over more than 10 years across Western Canada to help answer this question, and we’ve found that a fungicide application at head timing (T3 timing) is optimal for spring cereals,” says Jon Weinmaster, Grower and Channel Marketing Manager with Bayer. “These trials clearly demonstrated that head timing provided protection to the flag leaf and against FHB infection in the grain to give growers the best yield increase and protection from DON.”

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As to fungicide choice, Weinmaster is confident about what Prosaro® XTR fungicide can do. “Fungicides need to protect against disease, but ultimately we strive to make sure our Bayer fungicides increase yield potential, and Prosaro XTR delivers,” he says, explaining that, with two fungicide active ingredients, Prosaro XTR provided an average yield increase of 5 bu./ac. over untreated wheat in both 2017 and 2018 Bayer replicated grower co-operator DSTs1. If you pencil it out that’s a solid return on investment even at low commodity prices.

Prosaro XTR also contains mefenpyr-diethyl, a unique ingredient that helps plants more efficiently handle abiotic stresses that can affect yield potential. “It sets Prosaro XTR apart from the competition,” says Weinmaster.

“In our Bayer grower-cooperated DSTs, we didn’t only compare to untreated,

we compared Prosaro XTR to the key competitor and the yield benefit results were consistently in the favour of Prosaro XTR applied at heading 1,2,” says Weinmaster.

“We’re so confident that we’ve put together the Prosaro XTR Yield Guarantee Program.”

For growers participating in the Prosaro XTR Yield Guarantee Program, Bayer guarantees that Prosaro XTR fungicide will out-yield Caramba® fungicide in their qualifying wheat and barley fields, and if it doesn’t, we’ll pay for up to 160 acres of Prosaro XTR purchased. Growers can ask their Bayer Representative for complete offer details.

Participation is limited to a maximum of 300 qualifying growers selected in Bayer’s discretion. Further terms and conditions apply and can be viewed at cropscience.bayer.ca.

Source: 7 Bayer grower co-operatedreplicated wheat DSTs (2017 – 2018). Your results may vary according to agronomic , environmental, and pest pressure variables.

Source: 7 Bayer grower co-operated replicated barley DSTs (2017-2018). Your results may vary according to agronomic , environmental, and pest pressure variables.

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WHAT’S NEW WITH BAYER PRODUCTS

The 2019 BayerValue Program.

Now with more ways to save than ever.

The 2019 BayerValue™ program has never been bigger or better. With new seed trait technologies, more ways to qualify and the largest selection of participating products, you’ve never seen a BayerValue program like this before.

In fact, when you buy Bayer products such as Luxxur®, Olympus™ and Pardner® herbicides, you’re eligible to receive extra savings on Bayer fungicides including Delaro®, Proline® and Prosaro® XTR. Plus, with new qualifiers like TruFlex™ canola with Roundup Ready® Technology and Acceleron BioAg™, Western Canadian growers can save up to 18% on their favourite Bayer products.

Learn how to maximize your savings at cropscience.bayer.ca/BayerValue or by contacting your local retail.

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