Four New ETQ fungicides from SipcamAdvan Broaden Control, Expand Use

Posted on May 21, 2013 by r.warren

(Durham, NC) SipcamAdvan expands its ETQ™ fungicide portfolio for season-long use with the addition of four new products. Echo Dyad ETQ, E-Scape ETQ, Eclipse ETQ and Sipcam Clearscape ETQ combine proven active ingredients with SipcamAdvan’s exclusive ETQ technology.

Echo Dyad ETQ contains chlorothalonil, E-Scape ETQ contains chlorothalonil and tebuconazole, Eclipse ETQ contains iprodione and Sipcam Clearscape ETQ contains tebuconazole. All incorporate SipcamAdvan ETQ technology to optimize turfgrass color, strength, density and consistency by protecting turf from UVA and UVB rays, heat and other stress factors.

“Our first ETQ fungicides were strictly chlorothalonil-based, but these new products contain additional active ingredients for season-long disease control,” George Furrer, director of specialty business for SipcamAdvan, said. “Professional turf managers benefit from an umbrella of protection encompassing the benefits of ETQ technology plus broader spectrum disease management and enhanced turf quality, while allowing adherence to annual use restrictions for chlorothalonil.”

Get more info on our web page at http://www.sipcamadvan.com/news/25-product-news/387-four-new-etq-fungicides-from-sipcamadvan

Soybean Test Plot Report

Posted on May 21, 2013 by r.warren

By: Margy Fischer, Farm Journal Machinery Editor and Test Plot Director

To learn more about soybean yield variation based on row spacing, Farm Journal Associate Field Agronomist Missy Bauer used a Case IH Early Riser and a Great Plains Yield-Pro planter to plant 15″, 30″ and twin-row replicated test plots.

The Farm Journal Test Plots were organized more than 20 years ago to study soybean row spacing. While the program has been expanded through the years to include corn and other agronomic management subjects, Farm Journal Agronomists Ken Ferrie and Missy Bauer still invest time and effort into soybean plots to answer farmer questions.

In 2012, in the eastern Corn Belt, Bauer conducted plots on soybean row spacing as well as methods for treating white mold and controlling soybean cyst nematodes. Ferrie also conducted a soybean cyst nematode test plot in central Illinois. These plots, like all Farm Journal Test Plots, were harvested with a calibrated yield monitor and grain carts with scale packages for accuracy.

Close the Canopy

The discussion of what row spacing is best for soybeans continues to be a hot topic as many farmers transition from more narrow rows to 30″ rows to use one planter for both corn and soybeans.

“It’s a trend being driven more by mechanics than agronomics, and there is a high percentage of acres going into 30″ soybeans,” Bauer says. “As a result, we thought it would be important to compare 15″ rows to 30″ and twin rows (8″ twins on 30″ centers). For the past decade, the standard row spacing was 15″ in the eastern Corn Belt.”

To evaluate yields by management zone, every Farm Journal Test Plot is harvested with a calibrated yield monitor and grain cart with scales.

At one of the test plot locations, Bauer’s crew used a Case IH Early Riser planter for the 15″ and 30″ soybeans and a Great Plains Yield-Pro planter for the twin-row soybeans. At the second location, the plot compared twin rows planted with the Great Plains planter to 15″ rows planted with the Case IH Early Riser planter and 15″ rows with a drill. A third location compared twin rows to 15″ rows planted with the farmer’s planter.

“We would expect the 15″ rows to allow for early canopy closure, which is especially beneficial in a dry year such as 2012, our first year for this study,” Bauer explains. “The 30″ rows were the slowest to close and in some soil types never did with the dry conditions and short plant heights this past year.”

In addition to canopy closure, row spacing affects branching of the plants—and there’s a compromise between early canopy closure and branching. “The 30″ rows had more branching followed by the twins then the 15″ rows. In the wider rows more sunlight reaches the lower canopy inducing more branching,” Bauer says.

But the trade-off of more branching wasn’t enough to make up for the penalty realized because the canopy did not close. For example, at the location that included all three spacings, the 15″ and twin-row soybeans yielded similar, but the 30″ soybeans yielded 2.5 bu. less.

“In a dry year, the successful establishment of soybean stands really come into play, which is why we also did a study looking at soybeans planted with a planter and a drill,” Bauer says. “Farmers probably don’t look at drill performance as closely as they should.”

One of the common questions about row spacing is whether the yield advantage solely stems from the row width or is it also linked to the planters’ ability to uniformly seed compared with drills. We compared 15″ rows planted with the Case IH Early Riser to a drill at two locations and evaluated uniformity and consistency of stand. The planter provided more uniform spacing and emergence as well as more consistent stand counts when compared with the drill. The stand counts in the drilled plots varied on average by 38% or nearly 50,000 plants per acre, while the variation in the planter plots was only 7% and less than 9,500 plants per acre.

“However, at harvest the yields were comparable,” she says. “The lesson comes down to the economics of seed. The stand count that you actually achieve affects how much you’ll overseed your soybeans.”

Bauer challenges farmers to narrow the gap between planted seeds per acre and stand counts after emergence.

When White Mold Strikes

It’s common for the eastern Corn Belt (specifically southern Michigan, northern Ohio and northern Indiana) to have outbreaks of white mold. To learn more about the products on the market to control the disease, Bauer oversaw three test plot locations in 2012.

“Two of these plots were irrigated, and the third had a history of white mold,” she says. “We applied Contans, Cobra and Domark.”

Contans WG, a product from SipcamAdvan, contains fungal spores. Applied to the soil, Contans WG targets and controls Sclerotinia diseases. Domark is a fungicide labeled for suppression of white mold; application is suggested at R1 if the environmental conditions are conducive for the disease. The combination of Cobra at V5 and Domark at R3 is also labeled for suppression of white mold.

Corn Drought Easing Boosts Reserves Most Since 1960: Commodities

Posted on May 21, 2013 by r.warren

Corn inventories in the U.S., the biggest grower and exporter, are poised for the largest expansion since at least 1960 as production rebounds to a record from last year’s drought.

Stockpiles will surge 167 percent to 51.77 million metric tons (2.038 billion bushels) by next year’s harvest, according to the average of 31 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Output will rise 31 percent to 358.7 million tons this season, the survey showed. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says futures will drop to $5.25 a bushel in six months, 19 percent less than the $6.4875 traded on the Chicago Board of Trade today.

Corn Drought Easing Boosts Reserves Most Since 1960

U.S. shipments are retreating, with 55 percent less corn sold since the start of the season on Sept. 1, government data show. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Agco CEO Is Bullish on Farm Machinery Sales (Video)

May 2 (Bloomberg) — Martin Richenhagen, chief executive officer of Agco Corp., talks about the company’s global sales of agricultural equipment, the U.S. soybean and corn crops, and business in India. He speaks with Adam Johnson and Sara Eisen on Bloomberg Television’s “Street Smart.” (Source: Bloomberg)

After the worst U.S. drought since the 1930s drove prices to a record $8.49 in August, corn plunged 26 percent to join wheat and soybeans in bear markets, curbing global food costs. Futures are still almost double their average over the past two decades, enough to spur growers from Brazil to Ukraine to increase output and erode the U.S. share of exports.

“The U.S. will have substantially more supplies next year,” said Douglas Carper, the principal of Omaha, Nebraska-based DEC Capital Inc., a commodity trading adviser. “If we have anything close to the estimates, the corn market is headed substantially lower, perhaps sub-$4.50.”

Futures tumbled 7.1 percent since the end of 2012, the third-worst start to a year in at least a decade. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI (SPGSCI) gauge of 24 commodities fell 2 percent, while the MSCI All-Country World Index of equities advanced 10 percent. Treasuries returned 0.4 percent, a Bank of America Corp. index shows.

Production Boom

Domestic farmers plan to sow the most acres since 1936, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which updates its forecasts tomorrow. The additional supply of 84.84 million tons projected in the Bloomberg survey is more than the 27-nation European Union consumes in a year, USDA data show.

U.S. shipments are retreating, with 55 percent less corn sold since the start of the season on Sept. 1, government data show. Annual sales are forecast by USDA to be the lowest since 1972, which would be the biggest drop since at least 1960.

“We should see U.S. and world supplies expand and lower prices,” said Fiona Boal, the director of commodity research for Argonaut Management LP in New York, which oversees about $1 billion of assets. “Historically, $4 corn is a high price with these types of supplies.”

2013 cropping season off to record late start

Posted on May 21, 2013 by r.warren

MADISON

Farmers remain anxious and sidelined as the 2013 crop year continues to set records, all in the wrong direction.

As temperatures rose into the upper 80s and low 70s statewide for the first time in 2013, the April 29 “Wisconsin Crop Progress Report” said the amount of spring tillage completed is the lowest and oats are off to the latest start in the 30 years that Crop Progress data has been collected.

“Everyone is waiting,” the reporter from Clark County said in the document created with input from farm reporters and county ag agents around the state, while the Buffalo County reporter figured fieldwork wouldn’t start before May 6, a good 30 days behind last year.

As it stands, some of the growing season has already been lost the reporter from Langlade County observed, while the Crawford County report said the forecasted rain might significantly delay corn and soybeans plantings and reduce yield potential.

“Farmers are beginning to get apprehensive about how late it is getting and they have not gotten anything planted yet,” the Washington County reporter shared.

When the week closed out Sunday, April 28, at 7 a.m., only 4 percent of spring tillage had been completed, breaking the previous record low of 9 percent on that date in 2011. It’s a far cry from the 56 percent of spring tillage farmers had polished off last year or the five-year average of 36 percent.

By the end of last week, a mere five percent of oats had been planted by week’s end, breaking the previous record low of 7 percent in 1993. Last year, farmers had 77 percent of the state’s oat crop planted by April 28, while the five-year average stands at 51 percent.

Over the past 10 years, five years have fallen below the 10-year average on April 28 of 55 percent. Farmers had 14 percent planted in 2011, 17 percent planted in 2008, 50 percent planted in 2007 and 43 percent planted in 2003.

The report noted that this year, no oats had been planted in the northwest, north central, west central and southeast districts by April 28, while 1 percent had been planted in the northeast, central and east-central districts. The southwest district had 14 percent planted, while the south central district led the list with 18 percent of oats in the ground.

Planting was delayed in parts of southern Wisconsin by low soil temperatures and wet field conditions, the report said, and water pooling up in wheat and hayfields remained a concern. In Buffalo County, the extensive ponding will probably affect alfalfa, the reporter shared.

The week did offer more days suitable for fieldwork with 1.4 days of good weather, up from the 0.1 percent and 0.0 of the two weeks before. But, although temperatures rose in general, snow fell in northern Wisconsin in the middle of the week and frost remains in places.

Barron County reported pockets of frost in some fields, while Chippewa County sports the occasion snow pile in shaded areas. The Vilas County reporter said the snow is starting to melt there, while fence rows in Eau Claire County still hold snow.

More warm dry days are needed to jumpstart this growing season, the report said, noting farmers statewide are waiting anxiously for conditions to improve.

Across the reporting stations, average temperatures for the week were marked at normal to 5 degrees below normal. Average high temperatures ranged from 54-59 degrees, with La Crosse topping 74, while average low temperatures range from 32-38 degrees, with Eau Claire dipping to 24 degrees and Green Bay and La Crosse to 27.

“We are waiting for warm weather to arrive,” the reporter from Door County observed.

Precipitation totals for the week ranged from 0.02 inches in Madison to 0.7 inches in Eau Claire. Topsoil moisture levels averaged 71 percent adequate, 4 percent short and 25 surplus, while subsoil moistures now average 71 percent adequate, 17 percent short and 11 percent surplus.

Muscle ADV Packs Powerful Punch

Posted on May 17, 2013 by r.warren

(Durham, NC) SipcamAdvan recently introduced Muscle® ADV, a new fungicide delivering a forceful punch to foliar and soil-borne diseases found in peanuts, soybeans and cucurbits. Muscle ADV is the evolution of two proven and powerful fungicides, Tebuconazole and Chlorothalonil , combined in a versatile pre-mix.

“Growers said they wanted a complete fungicide that offered a broad spectrum of protection,” shared Brent Sapp, SipcamAdvan’s Southeast Account Manager who works closely with peanut growers across the South. “The Chlorothalonil in Muscle ADV gives them multi-side mode of action, while the Tebuconazole delivers both preventive and curative activity.”

In peanuts, Muscle ADV has been proven to be effective against early and late leaf spot, rust, white mold, southern blight, Rhizoctonia , as well as other diseases. It controls powdery mildew in cucurbit crops. Among soybeans, Muscle ADV delivers preventive control of rust, anthracnose, frogeye leaf spot, Cercospora leaf blight, diaporthe pod and stem blight, and others.

SipcamAdvan anticipates Muscle ADV will be quickly adopted by growers seeking an anti-resistance tool for yield robbing diseases, while also addressing their return on investment (ROI) concerns.

For more information about these and other herbicides and fungicides available at SipcamAdvan, visit www.sipcamadvan.com.

Turf exorcism FEATURES – DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Posted on May 15, 2013 by r.warren

SipcamAdvan’s family of ETQ products provide the stress management and turf protection mentioned in this article on anthracnose disease.

As a golf course superintendent, I battled forms of anthracnose that I believed were the work of the Devil – out to make sure that my turf suffered and to ensure my life was a living hell.

Anthracnose is a common scourge on the minds of many superintendents. As we enter a new spring in the northern hemisphere, there are many things to consider so we can limit the chances of this disease showing up. Note that anthracnose is primarily a disease affecting Poa annua and creeping bentgrass – both cool-season grasses – putting greens in particular although incidents of warm-season hosts being affected are being identified. Many genetic enhancements, primarily to creeping bentgrass, have made the turf plant more resistant to anthracnose pressure. However, the facts support a sound management program is the best defense against this disease.

It was early in my career and, like many others, clueless as to how to handle it most effectively since the reports from academia were conflicting, to say the least. Some of us tried every mode-of-action pesticide we could to get a handle on the disease because the reports were saying if you have it, you have to treat it…period. Inheriting a slew of old pesticide technologies, my course hadn’t seen the likes of anthracnose due to the residual effects of some very potent pesticides formulated decades ago. All of these I gladly gave up to the EPA amnesty collection program. We had no desire to use outdated or past pesticides that were no longer being made or were proven harmful to the environment. That one decision led to new ailments my turf hadn’t seen when environmental stresses heightened early in my career. But with regard to knowing how to handle anthracnose, how things have changed.

Anthracnose basically has two forms. One is the not so lethal foliar form that discolors turf, but can be treated fairly effectively with fungicides labeled for its control. The other, basal rot anthracnose, hollows out all life in the plant down through the crown and at the key junction where lower plant stems meet the crown. If anthracnose has matured to this level in your turf, control is typically not a viable option on the affected plants, and most efforts are more effectively aimed insuring the surrounding turf does not get infected. Since anthracnose attacks Poa annuamore severely than other common species, particularly on putting greens, many will over-seed with creeping bentgrass or simply perform cultural practices that allow Poa annua to establish from its viable seed bank in the soil. If I had a nickel for every course that believed they were making progress through over-seeding efforts where Poa annua was primarily coming in… One good thing about Poa is you can always expect it to return if you do the right thing to insure it does. Overseeding is typically pretty effective despite the fact that we are not seedingPoa.

In early turfgrass courses, we learn that a committed program to sound practices beginning with the proper turf species and sound irrigation, cultural and fertilization practices is the best defense against ailing stresses on our turf. Of all the diseases, this statement is not as important as it is with the control of anthracnose. It is controllable through sound practices, especially those affecting the nutritional uptake and movement through the turf plant. In nearly every anthracnose episode, there is some tie to a condition that is limiting the delivery, availability and movement of nutrients into the plant. I’ve seen again and again how not-so-sound practices affected the movement of water, air and nutrients through the soil, and this almost always leads to increased episodes of disease. At the very least, it always leads to a lack of desired turf performance.

Colletotrichum graminicola (400X), causal agent of anthracnose diseases.

Remember, managing stresses and diseases or any other non-desirable influence on turfgrass performance is simply a checks-and-balances system. If the ailment or stress outweighs the plant’s ability to tolerate it, then we will see non-desired results. This will lead to the need for increased pesticide applications, some of which may be very costly as the interval and rates typically increase when we have unexpected outbreaks of disease pressure.

So how do we limit the need for unexpected pesticide applications? Better yet, how do we improve the performance of our turf and limit the chances for anthracnose showing up? A sound program has never been more important than it is with the control of Anthracnose. This is particularly the case as the spring season progresses. Last year, many experienced anthracnose outbreaks, and the industry rumor was that anthracnose “strains” were getting stronger. That was not the case. As many experienced unusual weather patterns that basically led to early spring growth activity – some areas experiencing spring growth in later winter – the plant’s biological clock started earlier than usual. In nearly every situation where the management of the turf did not meet the early growth, there was a void left in the plant, particularly a nutritional void.

Two things should always match the growth of turf. One includes cultural practices like topdressing and irrigation management where we match the organic deposits of turf by diluting with sand (or removing with cultivation alternatives) or replace water that is being removed by plant activity. The other includes nutritional inputs. Turfgrass has an internal clock that does not operate by the calendar. Root growth begins when the soil starts to climb just above freezing in the north (about 10 degree F warmer for warm-season grasses), then the need for nutrition exponentially gets greater with each passing day. Since turfgrass is typically grown in high-sand environments – on putting greens in particular – there is not a huge buffer of nutrients waiting to be picked up from the soil. In addition, the roots are not overly extensive early on and therefore do not cover a lot of soil area to pick up necessary nutrients that are present.

Basal rot hollows out all life in the plant down through the crown and at the key junction where lower plant stems meet the crown.

Therefore, more damage can be done to both cool- and warm-season grasses early in the growing season than many imagine. This damage can lead to disease issues later on, especially anthracnose (again primarily on cool-season turf), which is just waiting to thrive as soon as the turf is injured in some way (like cultivation practices or poor mowing practices).

While foliar anthracnose typically shows up in summer months, basal rot anthracnose can be found in any season of the year and has even been found to be active underneath snow cover. Much work has been done and proven in recent years to support what we have seen in the field around the world…that anthracnose is directly related to nitrogen and other nutrient availability in the turf, as well as the overall conditioning of the turf. In other words, if your nutritional program is limiting or primarily depending on uptake from soil reserves of key nutrients like nitrogen, or if you have injured turf from dull mowers, mechanical or other physical damages, you could be a prime candidate for an anthracnose outbreak. On the flip side, if you have a nutritional delivery system that meets the day-to-day needs of turf and you have a sound system that insures sharp mowers and limited physical damage to the turf plant, you greatly reduce anthracnose outbreaks.

Read Full Article – HERE

SipcamAdvan Announces Two New Herbicides for Early Season Application

Posted on May 3, 2013 by r.warren

(Durham, NC) SipcamAdvan has expanded its popular Stalwart family of products to include two new herbicides that provide early-season weed control for a variety of Glyphosate, PPO and ALS resistant weeds. Stalwart® MTZ is a metolachlor and metribuzin pre-mix for use on potatoes and soybeans; while Stalwart® Xtra Lite is a safened pre-mix of metolachlor and atrazine for use on corn.

“Stalwart MTZ is effective because it fights weeds during the critical germination stage, protecting early crop growth from competition for moisture, light and nutrients,” explains Giovanni Mattaini, Agriculture Product Manager with SipcamAdvan. “The difference is seen in the quality of the potatoes and soybeans, as well as the yield.”

Stalwart Xtra Lite contains the same proven ingredients of its sister product Stalwart Xtra, but with a reduced amount of atrazine that makes it ideal for a planned two-pass program for corn. It can be applied before or after planting, but before weeds emerge in all tillage systems.

Wild Weather Causing Record Planting Delays

Posted on May 3, 2013 by r.warren

Unusually-cold spring weather is causing new concerns for Iowa’s delayed planting season; the 2012 drought depleted the nation’s reserves making this year’s crop a crucial one for global market exports, biofuel production and livestock farmers, according to the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF).

“The nation’s farmers, biofuels makers and grain exporters will all be affected if another crop falls short of expectation,” says IFBF economist Dave Miller. “But, if the weather turns around and our record corn and soybean acres see record yields, that would likely swamp grain markets and drive down prices for crop farmers; we’re in an unusually crucial situation this year.”

Miller added, “Are we standing on the edge of a cliff? With another short crop, we can’t adjust exports down much further…therefore, where would the next adjustment come from? We saw the first contraction in biofuels production in seven years, because of last year’s drought. Exports have also been a point of adjustment in past major crop shortfalls; all these things send ripple effects through our entire industry and that means consumers could feel it, too.”

Read full Article – HERE

SipcamAdvan Is Proud To Announce Two New Herbicides for Early Season Application

Posted on May 2, 2013 by r.warren

SipcamAdvan Adds New Cold Storage Facility

Posted on April 26, 2013 by r.warren

(DURHAM, NC) SipcamAdvan announced this week that they have partnered with Arctic Cold Storage to add a cold storage facility in Canton, Michigan. This site will expand SipcamAdvan’s ability to serve growers and distributors in the Midwest with Contans® WG fungicide just in time for the Spring planting season. The first delivery of Contans WG arrived in Canton on April 25.

Soybean and dry bean growers throughout the Midwest choose Contans WG to treat their soil prior to planting to control sclerotia build-up. Sclerotia is responsible for white mold, which can destroy edible bean yields. Even when white mold isn’t visible above ground, sclerotia can be wreaking havoc in the soil below.

The additional storage facility in Canton not only extends pick-up and delivery options for Contans WG, but it also ensures that SipcamAdvan can keep up with increased demand for this unique product. While traditional foliar fungicides are applied after the white mold has already appeared, only Contans WG is applied before planting in order to stay a step ahead of white mold.

“This is an extremely busy time of year for growers, distributors, everyone,” explains Scott Peterson, Agricultural Sales Manager at SipcamAdvan. “If we can save them time and money by bringing the product they need that much closer, that is what we will do. “

About SipcamAdvan

SipcamAdvan is owned by the Sipcam-Oxon Group, an Italian company recognized worldwide for its formulation and manufacturing expertise. SipcamAdvan uses a distribution-focused marketing strategy to provide traditional chemical and biorational products to the agriculture, turf and ornamental markets. The company is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.