USA Report: Fueling The Fuel Market
19 December 2008 Crop protection sales in the US have shrunk by some US $2.5 billion over the past several years — down from a high of US $9 billion in the late 1990s. But that downturn will most likely be reversed this year, with the projected crop acreage gains being heralded for 2007.
In fact, very few things in US ag may look the same this year as they did last year. There’s a new player in town — one that just months ago was barely anything more than wishful thinking; a speculative fiction. But now, all that has changed. Biofuels has become a reality, and present a rapidly growing stream of demand that have pushed crop prices to levels that are causing tremors through the entire industry. The rules have changed, and while there are a lot of unknowns, there is just as much optimism that the 2007 season will be one for the ages, and possibly a sign of things to come.
Of Corn And Pests
In light of better commodity prices, growers are going to have to look at their hybrid selection and crop protection choices differently than they have in the past, says Pat Steiner, corn herbicide product manager, Syngenta. “For instance, if they’re looking at corn, I think yield is a much more important aspect than it’s ever been in the past. Typically, it’s been constrained much more by the cost side of things than I think it will be this year.”
In his travels, Steiner has found US growers facing complex business decisions for 2007 that they’ve never faced before. “It becomes a corn and bean discussion, and changing that rotation is not necessarily a simple thing,” he says. For instance, Steiner heard Ohio and Michigan growers describing rootworm at serious levels in 2006. “So as they change their corn/bean rotations, they’ll even have to deal with things like what to do about insect control if they go to corn-on-corn.” Then too, cutworm hit damaging highs, thanks to milder weather, early flight, and early-season green material just ready for egg-laying.
Soybean Rust Still Quiet
While limited areas of the South were hard-hit by rust in 2006, fields to the north did not see the disease until late in the season, and Midwestern Extension specialists were not overly concerned about yield loss. Dr. Wayne Pedersen, emeritus plant pathologist with the University of Illinois, predicted rust may be a problem in his state in 2007 if there’s a mild winter in the southern US and a wet spring in Illinois.
As soybean rust took over the spotlight in the past two years, chemical companies have risen to the call, scrambling to market helpful controls. “Some companies have really re-channeled their R&D dollars towards more fungicide and insecticide discovery versus herbicides,” says Aaron Locker, product manager with FMC.
Herbicide Challenges
Herbicide resistance, particularly to glyphosate, continues to increase across the country and breakthrough chemistries to combat resistant weeds are hard to come by. But chemical manufacturers are rising to the occasion with creative alliances and product mixes. With shifts in acreages to consider alongside potential changes to crop protection programs, 2007 could be a complex year for US growers.
Bayer and Syngenta report that in the Eastern Corn Belt, growers may need to figure last year’s cutworm infestations in their herbicide programs. Moth flight occurred sooner than expected in 2006 and lots of green tissue was available for them to feed on because of the lack of snow cover. Spring application of a burndown product could diminish havens for damaging populations in 2007.
How does the 2007 glyphosate resistance outlook compare with 2006? “I think we’re on the front end of much more severe issues cropping up on us as we go forward,” says Chuck Foresman, senior technical brand manager, herbicide resistance, with Syngenta. Six glyphosate-resistant weeds have been confirmed in 16 states, he says. The newcomers are Palmer pigweed and waterhemp, added to the previously discovered horseweed, common ragweed, Italian ryegrass, and rigid ryegrass.
“Growers have run into problems with stacked resistance to different modes of action,” explains Foresman. For example, waterhemp across the Midwest could have ALS resistance and PPO resistance on top of glyphosate resistance. “Then we have no alternative, no way of controlling that weed postemergence in the crop,” he says.
Two of the steps that US growers will be advised to make in 2007 include application changes and varying product types.
Experts recommend making burndown and preemerge applications. Manufacturers emphasize the use of preemergence residual herbicides in both corn and soybeans. “In our 2007 technology use guide, we’re recommending growers use a residual if they have dense stands of difficult to control weeds,” says Rick Cole, corn technology development manager at Monsanto.
“In corn, preemerge treatments eliminate or reduce early weed competition to increase the chance for better yields and delay the postemergence application of glyphosate for optimum weed control timing,” says Dave Downing, herbicide product manager at Makhteshim Agan North America (MANA).
Jeff Carpenter, soybean product manager with DuPont says, “Recent Doane’s data shows that currently 55% of the glyphosate-tolerant corn receives a preemerge residual treatment, but only 25% of glyphosate-tolerant soybean production. Will residual use quickly grow in the soybean business to address weed shifts? Every 1% growth in the soybean number brings approximately 700,000 acres of residual-herbicide market potential to retailers.”
Another key will be mixing up chemistries used. For soybean growers in Roundup Ready systems, this approach can be a challenge. Some have been applying glyphosate alone for up to 10 years on the same fields. While simple -— and in the past, effective — this puts “incredible selection pressure out there,” says Foresman.
“Often the general feeling on resistance is, ‘If I don’t have the problem yet, I’m not going to put any additional money to try and protect against a future problem,’” agrees Bill O’Neal, technical product manager, Impact herbicide, with AMVAC.
Chemistry Collaboration
Many lament the lack of new molecules, as the last totally new chemistry to come along was in 1998, with the discovery of the HPPD class (which can’t be used in soybeans). But chemical companies are working hard in other ways to make mode-of-action diversification easier. They’re teaming up to introduce new premixes and revisiting some older chemistries that have proven effective in the past.
One chemistry that’s making a return this year is sulfentrazone, pre-mixed with cloransulam-methyl in the new product Sonic. “This is really a re-release, because sulfentrazone has been out of soybeans for the past three years,” says Nate Miller, Dow AgroSciences product manager.
FMC will be marketing the same pre-mix as Authority First DF, “designed to provide soybean growers a clean start and a resistance management tool for both ALS- and glyphosate-resistant broadleafs,” says Aaron Locker, FMC product manager.
Soybean growers will have another new preemerge product in the form of Prefix from Syngenta, available in co-pack form, which contains metolachlor and fomesafen. One premergence premix giving old favorites new life contains metolachlor, atrazine, and the safener benoxacor — Bicep II at Syngenta and Parallel Plus at MANA.
Valent has improved its classic clethodim herbicide, releasing Select Max, which has faster, more complete uptake in grassy weeds, including volunteer corn, says Elsa Zisook, marketing communications manager.
The Seed Game
The shift to additional corn area also is affecting the US seed market. To further its commitment to the renewable fuels market with parent company Syngenta, Garst Seed is beefing up its past offering of 12 ExtraEdge hybrids to 20 for 2007. These hybrids exhibit grain characteristics suitable for dry grind ethanol production.Syngenta is conducting field trials on a proprietary corn amylase output trait targeting increased efficiency and output of ethanol facilities. The projected launch in the US is 2008, one example of how ethanol is driving the further development of genetic trait stacking.
“We are expecting customer demand for triple-trait seed corn to increase by more than five-fold in 2007,” says Doug Gloystein, general manager of NC+ Hybrids, Inc. In 2007, NC+ will offer YieldGard Plus with Roundup Ready Corn 2, which provides all-in-one control of corn rootworms, corn borers, and other insects and broadleaf and grass weeds. Three new triple-trait corn products have been added to its lineup, including a limited amount of YieldGard VT Triple. The VT stands for Vector-Stack Transformation or VecTran, a technology that allows for a more precise insertion of traits.
Monsanto, too, is having a banner year in corn seed sales, especially of its proprietary triple-stack product combining Roundup Ready herbicide tolerance, YieldGard Corn Borer insect protection, and YieldGard Rootworm insect protection. “The early order activity for our triple-stack products is unprecedented, and half of the orders we’ve received so far are for triple-stack DEKALB and Asgrow hybrids,” says Carl Casale, executive vice president for Monsanto’s North America commercial business.
Triple-stack hybrids also are key to DuPont subsidiary Pioneer Hi-Bred International’s 2007 lineup. Of its 86 new corn hybrids, 26 feature a triple-stack offering of Herculex XTRA (rootworm stacked with corn borer control) insect protection and Roundup Ready Corn 2.
| Herbicide Product Changes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crop | Product | Company | Active Ingredient | ||
| Corn | Autumn | Bayer | idosulfuron | ||
| Corn | Breakfree | DuPont | acetachlor + atrazine | ||
| Corn | Impact** | AMVAC | topramazone | ||
|
Corn |
Makaze | Loveland/ United AgriProducts | glyphosate | ||
| Corn | Status | BASF | dicamba + diflufenzopyr + isoxadifen (safener) | ||
| Corn | Stout | DuPont | nicosulfuron + thifensulfuron methyl | ||
| Soybeans | Authority First | FMC | cloransulam-methyl + sulfentazone | ||
| Soybeans | Canopy** | DuPont | chlorimuron-ethyl + metribuzin | ||
| Soybeans | Canopy EX** | DuPont | chlorimuron-ethyl + tribenuron methyl | ||
| Soybeans | Makaze | Loveland/ United AgriProducts | glyphosate | ||
| Soybeans | Prefix | Syngenta | metolachlor + fomesafen | ||
| Soybeans | Select Max | Valent | clethodim | ||
| Soybeans | Sonic | Dow AgroSciences | choransulam-methyl + sulfentazone | ||
|
Note: Check labels for application timing — fall, preplant, premerge, or postemerge. |
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Other Corn Choices
Topping the triples in stacks is Mycogen Seeds’ Quad-Stack hybrid, combining Herculex XTRA Insect Protection, Roundup Ready, and LibertyLink technology. Syngenta’s seed affiliates will offer AgriSure RW hybrids to protect against corn rootworms. Recently approved by EPA, the hybrids either contain a single rootworm trait or the double-stacked AgriSure GT/RW, which adds glyphosate tolerance.
NK Brand Seeds has added six new corn hybrids with Herculex 1 Insect Protection to target Western bean and black cutworms and treated with Cruiser Extreme 250 for additional early season insect and disease protection.
New Soybean Options
The demand and higher premiums for healthier oils is driving soybean grower interest in Vistive low-linolenic seed. NC+ Hybrids, Inc. is offering six varieties this year, and working with elevators to serve as collection points.
Pioneer’s 20 new soybean varieties focus on protection from diseases and insects, including soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Phytophthora root rot, and sudden death syndrome (SDS). Nineteen contain the Roundup Ready gene.
Garst will offer both Garst and NK brand soybeans from Syngenta. The 25 new varieties includes resistance to SCN and Phytophthora root rot and tolerance to SDS, and iron clorosis. NK Brand Seeds is adding 13 new varieties to its lineup.
Mycogen will be the exclusive distributor of Atlas brand Roundup Ready soybeans.
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