Croptalksummer2012

CropTalk

Volume 21 | Issue 3

What’s new with Bayer CropScience products

InVigor hybrids evolving to maintain their status as Canada’s #1 canola performer E

ach year growers challenge themselves to grow a higher yielding canola crop, and with the help of InVigor® canola hybrids, they are often able to exceed their expectations.

For more than 16 years, Bayer CropScience has been continually refining its InVigor lineup – improving its profile and adapting it to meet the changing needs of Canada’s canola growers. Today the LibertyLink® system is the leading herbicide tolerant system in the marketplace.

“InVigor hybrids today are the foundation of many canola growers’ annual cropping plan,” says Blaine Woycheshin, Manager, Oilseed Crops – InVigor Seed for Bayer CropScience. “They are the products that growers know will provide early season vigor and give them the yields they expect – even when conditions are tough.”

The latest addition to the InVigor hybrid lineup is InVigor Health L156H, launched for the 2013 growing season. Sold exclusively through Cargill and select independent retails this hybrid offers those who choose to grow a specialty canola higher yield and higher returns with a simple program. As part of the InVigor Health series, it produces a healthier oil with high oleic content, low levels of saturated fat and no trans fat — and yields at 138% of checks. The 2013 InVigor hybrid lineup will include: InVigor L150. This hybrid yields at 143% of checks and is the first hybrid to repeat as top yielder in the WCC/RRC coop trials. Grown on the most acres of any canola in Canada in 2012!

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InVigor L130. This is an early maturing hybrid that reaches maturity two days earlier than the average of the checks with yields at 136% of checks.

InVigor L120. This is an early maturing hybrid suitable for all growing zones with yields at 134% of checks. With an average of over three days earlier maturity than the average of the checks, it can make all the difference in a short or difficult growing season.

InVigor 5440. This consistent performer with yields at 135% of checks offers superior lodging resistance and delivers an easy harvest and a high quality canola crop.

InVigor L154. Available exclusively from InterAg retailers in Western Canada, this mid-maturing hybrid has superior lodging resistance and yields at an impressive 141% of checks.

InVigor L159. This new experimental hybrid is suitable for all growing zones and has exceptional yield potential at 140% of the checks. Distribution is limited.

InVigor L135C. This is the first InVigor hybrid with clubroot resistance, a growing concern for farmers in certain areas with clubroot. With yields at 138% of checks, three days earlier maturity than the average of the checks, it is suitable for all growing zones that have clubroot presence.

In the future, researchers with Bayer CropScience have been researching new innovations to expand and improve upon the existing InVigor lineup. Growers can expect to hear more about this continued innovation from InVigor for 2014 and beyond. CT The checks used for comparison are 46A65 and Q2

A Newsletter from Bayer cropscience

Liberty herbicide’s unique chemistry helps keep resistance away

T

here’s not a grower across Canada who wouldn’t choose to delay, or keep herbicide resistance out of their fields. The management issues and yield concerns are very real, now with glyphosate resistance identified for the first time in Western Canada last year. For canola growers, one way to keep resistance at bay is by rotating

in Liberty® herbicide.

For use on all LibertyLink canola hybrids, Liberty is the only Group 10 herbicide on the market, making it the go-to product for chemical rotation.

Liberty’s unique mode of action prevents weeds from detoxifying ammonia, a natural product of plant metabolism. When ammonia builds up to

a critical point, the weeds die. Liberty is the only herbicide that works this way, so Liberty’s herbicide class is unique within Canadian agriculture.

By utilizing multiple herbicide modes of action in their cropping plans, growers can effectively delay the onset of resistance. Other resistance management strategies include crop rotation, ensuring weeds are controlled throughout the season to reduce the weed seed bank in the field, and growing a competitive crop through proper seeding rates and optimal fertilizer placement.

While glyphosate is a critical tool for Western Canadian farmers, the current over reliance on the chemistry can only increase the potential for further resistance to develop.

Now that the first confirmed case of glyphosate-resistant kochia was announced in Southern Alberta in 2011, it must act as a wake up call to all growers to re-evaluate their own herbicide rotations. By using Liberty on their canola, growers can save glyphosate for where it’s needed most, and this can be done without sacrificing weed control, yield or the bottom line. CT

Compare the incomparable InVigor To see how InVigor is performing in a field near you visit our Demonstration Strip Trial (DST) results online at InVigorResults.ca What makes our DSTs a great source of credible information?

• Grower managed, using their equipment and practices • All DSTs are replicated twice within the same field for maximum validity of results

• DST numbers are compiled from all growing regions and soil zones to provide the most accurate performance • All DSTs are monitored to ensure all crop applications (herbicide, fungicide, insecticide) and swathing are completed at the most appropriate time to ensure optimal yield and oil content • Hybrids/varieties are only compared to one another when grown at common sites • Rigorous attention to trial methodology by Bayer CropScience Market Development Specialists ensure quality trial results

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CropTalk Calculating your ROI Calculating your fungicide return on investment is not only easy, it’s also a great way to gauge the success of your application.

1. Compare your fungicide treated yield vs. the yield you received from an untreated test strip to calculate your yield advantage ($/bu).

2. Multiply your yield advantage by the current commodity price (in $/ac.) to see your $/ac. benefit.

3. Subtract your application costs (both fungicide and application in $/ac.)

4. Then multiply by the total number of acres you planted EXAMPLE Based on current commodity prices, application costs and the +8.4 bu./ac. advantage Prosaro® has averaged over the past four years, here is what your ROI could look like on 1000 acres of wheat.

BENEFIT - APPLICATION COST x ACRES = ROI 8.4 bu./ac. x $7

$17/ACRE PRODUCT + $4/ACRE APPLY

1000 ACRES

$37,800

*This calculation is based on the +8.4 bu./ac. Prosaro advantage from Market Development Trials performed from 2008–2011 and a product price of $17/ac. and application costs of $4/ac.

Sclerotinia Risk Alert on FarmZone.com is now live B

ayer CropScience and The Weather Network have partnered to create an online Sclerotinia Risk Alert tool for Canadian canola growers. The tool monitors real-time environmental conditions that affect the development of sclerotinia and provides a risk rating by location.

Favourable conditions for sclerotinia infection include prolonged periods of rain, humid conditions and warm temperatures ranging from 15-25 degrees both before and during flowering. Other risk factors that contribute to the prevalence of the disease include the number of years since the last canola or broadleaf crop rotation, the severity of disease from the previous host crop, current crop density and the presence of the disease-causing spores during flowering.

Now, canola growers can have another tool to help their spray decision by simply visiting FarmZone.com to view the level of risk in their area. Because the sclerotinia risk rating fo r each area is located just below the corresponding 24 hour forecast, it’s as easy as checking the weather. CT

C

hoosing to apply a fungicide means betting on the odds. In the past, growers took into account weather patterns and disease history before deciding whether or not they should spray.

As disease has become more widespread and control measures have improved growers are seeing it pays to spray.

“Growers are starting to realize that a fungicide application becomes even more important to use on their best, healthiest looking crops because of the

26 | Farm Forum | Summer 2012

incredible potential those crops represent,” says Graham Hastie, Manager of Cereal Fungicides, Insecticides and Seed Treatments for Bayer CropScience.

“Our research has shown that growers are seeing some amazing returns on their investment when they include a fungicide application as part of their cropping plan. Not only are the yields increasing, but the quality of their seed is better than ever before. And this is the case in wet or dry, warm or cool seasons.”

Bayer CropScience has compiled four-years of results from its fungicide demonstration strip trial program to look at the return on investment from the application of its cereal fungicides, Folicur® EW and Prosaro. These trials were spread across soil zones, experienced different disease pressure and varying weather conditions. In virtually every trial, no matter what the disease pressure or weather, there was still a positive return on investment.

PHOTOs (left) genesis studio; (opposite page) bayer cropscience

The proof is in the numbers – it pays to spray

A Newsletter from Bayer cropscience

Not all fungicides are created equal T

oday the evidence is clear – the underlying disease pressure across Western Canadian fields means that a seasonal application of a fungicide is a prudent investment.

But growers need to take a good look at the chemistry they use, or they could make the situation worse, instead of better.

“The goal is to keep disease out of your fields and to protect the flag leaf and head for optimal yield and grade,” says Graham Hastie, Manager of Cereal Fungicides, Insecticides and Seed Treatments for Bayer CropScience. “But if the wrong fungicide is applied at the wrong time, what appears to be a high yielding crop can be significantly downgraded due to mycotoxins in the grain. Fungicides Prosaro and Folicur EW from Bayer CropScience give growers the flexibility to tackle the diseases that can reduce their bottom line.”

Both Prosaro and Folicur EW are triazole-based fungicides that can be used to reduce fusarium head blight (FHB), and as a result the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON), which can be toxic to livestock and result in lower quality grain. Both products have a wide window of application and combat both leaf and stem disease. Studies have shown that fields sprayed with triazole-based fungicides have higher yields and reduced rates of DON when compared to the untreated check.

Many industry sources confirm a Bayer CropScience study proving that fungicides from the triazole family provide FHB suppression and effective DON reduction.

Conversely, the same studies highlight that fungicides from the strobilurin family can actually increase DON levels in cereals when applied at head timing. Fungicides like

When applied at head timing, Prosaro had the highest return, regardless of whether or not fusarium head blight (FHB) was present. Already proven performers against outbreaks of FHB, both Folicur EW and Prosaro applications also resulted in better grain yield and quality.

Both the 3⁄4 rate and full rate of Folicur EW provided a strong return on investment when applied at the flag leaf.

On wheat, even when disease pressure was zero-low, there was a 3.5-5.8 bu./ac. gain with the application of a fungicide. That increased to up to 9.9 bu./ac. if the pressure was higher. Barley crops saw more than 7 bu./ac. gain over the untreated check, depending on product used and application timing.

Stratego®, Headline® and Twinline™ (used to control powdery mildew, septoria, rust and other diseases), can dramatically increase DON levels even if combined with a triazole chemistry, if applied at head timing.* “The theory is that removing the non-mycotoxin producing fungi at the head of the plant can effectively reduce competition for FHB, allowing the DON to flourish,” says Hastie. “While the greening effect from strobilurins can increase grain yield, it also keeps the moisture content high in the kernels, which is an ideal condition for DON formation.”

Growers should consider timing, along with disease history when choosing a fungicide product. As with most fungicides, the best results come from application prior to infection, or in the very early stages of disease development.

If disease is not managed with the right product, it can have a devastating impact on both yield and seed quality “In the past, one of the toughest decisions growers made was choosing to use a fungicide even when their crop looked good,” says Hastie. “Growers today have seen proof that they get a solid return on investment from a fungicide application because disease is now present across all growing regions in Western Canada. However, if disease is not managed with the right product, it can have a devastating impact on both yield and seed quality.” CT *Source: Halley & Arens, North Dakota State University, 2011

Disease flourishes in moist conditions but even in areas of low moisture, there was a noticeable increase in yield. Under growing conditions with less than 85% of normal moisture, there was a 1.4-4.2 bu./ac. difference, and that advantage grew to 10 bu./ac difference in areas of high moisture.

“A quick calculation will show you that based on 1,000 acres, on average growers have a return on investment anywhere from $34,400-$48,200 depending on the product applied, the rate applied and the application timing,” says Hastie.

“Our products have been proven effective given all disease scenarios in Western Canada and result in big returns that growers really can’t afford to pass up.” CT

Full details of the DST trials are on the Bayer CropScience website at BayerCropScience.ca/ItPaystoSpray.

The results are broken down by province for localized results. You can also read about the experiences of growers who have used Prosaro at at BayerCropScience.ca/GrowersTalk.

Always read and follow label directions. Folicur®, InVigor®, Liberty®, LibertyLink®, Prosaro® and Stratego® are trademarks of Bayer. Bayer CropScience is a member of CropLife Canada.

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