New For Your Spray Program

Find out what’s newly registered for use in peanuts and what is in the pipeline for future use.

By Amanda Huber

Before planning a fungicide program, University of Georgia Extension plant pathologist Bob Kemerait says to remember three things.

“You must be timely. If you get behind or you don’t start on time for whatever reason, it will be very difficult to catch back up. So do your best to stay on time.

“After that, stay on time as best you can whether it is a 14-day interval or as much as 28 days.”

Kemerait says the third item to remember is to make sure you get good coverage with the fungicide.

“Those factors are as important as what fungicide you use.”

New Fungicides

As for research trials, Kemerait says on-farm and small-plot trials have shown Excalia from Valent to be as good or better than other fungicides available for white mold.

“That doesn’t mean that you need to get away from what you’re doing, but my goal is to let you know the opportunities for an improved management program in 2021. You need to ask yourself, ‘Was my 2020 fungicide program what you needed it to be?’ If not, maybe you can add in a new product and make changes that would be something to consider.

“Excalia has been an outstanding white mold material.”

Auburn Extension plant pathologist Amanda Strayer-Scherer also worked with the product.

“We’ve gotten some good research results with Excalia. In terms of white mold, it doesn’t always have the best control, but when you incorporate it into a standard program and tankmix it with another white mold product, you should get some pretty good results on white mold.”

Herbicides On The Horizon

University of Georgia Extension weed specialist Eric Prostko is quick to remind producers that there are no silver bullets to be found for peanut weed control. There are also very few herbicides in the pipeline. Two that he has been working with are Brake and Vulcarus.

“The registration for Brake is likely in the next year, but there are a few more items that need to be addressed before that happens,” he says. “In 2020, I looked at a standard Valor program and a standard Brake program. All I did was substitute Brake for Valor. The Brake program provided comparable control to the Valor program.”

Prostko says it is still too early in the process to know if Vulcarus will make it to the peanut market.

“As this is the last herbicide in development for at least five years, I encourage you to pay particular attention to herbicide-resistance management.” PG

Fungicides Now Available

■ Excalia (inpyrfluxam) is a Group 7 (SDHI) fungicide for white mold to be used at rates of 2 to 4 fluid ounces per acre. Preharvest interval is 40 days. An additional fungicide for management of leaf spot must be mixed with Excalia. ■ Velum (fluopyram) is a Group 7 (SDHI) nematicide to be used at a rate of 6.5 to 6.84 fluid ounces per acre for the sup- New from Valent, pression of nematodes. Velum, unlike Velum Total, does not Excalia has good contain imidacloprid for thrips control. Growers who use Velum must choose an additional product for thrips control. results against white mold. ■ Provysol (mefentrifluconazole) is a Group 3 (triazole) fungicide for leaf spot to be used at rates of 5 fluid ounces per acre and will likely be tankmixed with products like

Excalia and Convoy to provide control of leaf spot and white mold diseases. Preharvest interval is 14 days. ■ Mazinga ADV (tetraconazole + chlorothalonil) is a Group 3 + Group M5 fungicide premix for leaf spot control at a rate of 32 fluid ounces per acre. Preharvest interval is 14 days.

Herbicides In The Pipeline

■ Brake 1.2 L (fluridone), from SePRO, has been under evaluation for use in peanut weed control programs since 2013. In UGA field trials, Brake has provided good to excellent residual control of Palmer amaranth. Brake will not be a stand-alone product and will be tankmixed with other residual herbicides. Current research goals for Brake are fine-tuning application rates, tankmixes and investigating peanut variety tolerance. Brake has a mode of action that is currently under utilized in row crops (Weed Science Society of

America Group 12, PDS inhibitor). Brake is not registered for use in peanuts at this time. ■ Vulcarus 4.17SC (trifludimoxazin), from BASF, is a new soil-applied residual herbicide that provides control of many broadleaf weed species including Palmer amaranth and

Florida beggarweed. Peanut research with this herbicide began at UGA in 2018. Although trifludimoxazin is a WSSA Group 14 herbicide (PPO inhibitor), similar to Cobra,

Reflex, Valor and Ultra Blazer, it may be more effective on PPO-resistant weeds due to a different enzyme-binding configuration. At this point, it is too early in the development stage to determine if trifludimoxazin will make a successful transition into the commercial peanut herbicide market.