Sights set on stewardship in 2019

How growers can make stewardship a priority next season

 

Going into 2019, there will be New Year’s resolutions aplenty. Whether it’s spending more time with family, returning to the gym or making healthier choices, we’ll all be looking for ways to make 2019 our best year yet. For growers, those resolutions can even extend to the work they do in the field. The start of a new year is the perfect time for growers to recommit to advancing stewardship on their operations. While the first thing that often comes to mind regarding stewardship involves best practices for spraying, an equally important aspect of stewardship is leveraging various technologies to manage weed resistance.

 

Continue spraying smart

 

For many growers, spraying herbicides is top of mind when hearing the word “stewardship,” and for good reason. Committing to best practices when applying a herbicide not only helps ensure efficient weed management, but also helps preserve the relationships growers have with their neighbors.

 

Factors that can impact on-target herbicide applications include wind, temperature inversions, tank mixes and even nozzle selection, to name a few. Being mindful of these factors and following the label are just two ways growers can be strong stewards of products such as Liberty® and Engenia® herbicides. Additionally, keeping an open dialogue with neighbors is critical to maintaining relationships and building mutual respect with other growers, regardless of the seed variety or herbicide platform they’ve chosen in 2019.

 

For many growers, these best spraying practices may seem like old hat. But like a favorite, weathered baseball cap, this hat isn’t one they’ll want to leave on the hook in the coming season. Being a good steward will help ensure that this critical technology is available for generations of growers to come.

 

Proactively manage weed resistance

 

Like best spraying practices, managing weed resistance is also critical to supporting the next generation of farmers. With aggressive weed pests becoming increasingly resistant to various herbicide technologies, it’s more important than ever for growers to get ahead of resistance by incorporating multiple modes of action in their crop protection plan.

 

For example, growers should leverage three to four modes of action in their preemergence herbicide plan for the 2019 growing season to extend residual control and prevent the development of resistance. Another step to help growers reduce the risk of increasing herbicide-resistant weeds is diversifying their herbicide applications and using herbicides with different modes of action pre- and postemergence.

 

This could mean using a product such as Zidua®  PRO herbicide, which employs Group 2, 14 and 15 modes of action, in your preemergence application. Depending on their seed trait, growers can then follow with a postemergence application of Liberty or Engenia herbicide.

 

While not every New Year’s resolution will stick it out through 2019, it’s critical that a commitment to stewardship across the industry does. Prioritizing stewardship is not only an investment in the future of farming, but in the future of one’s individual operation.

 

To learn more about advancing stewardship in 2019, growers can connect with their BASF Tech Service Rep or read more here.

 

Always read and follow label directions.

 

Zidua PRO, Liberty and Engenia are registered trademarks of BASF.

 

About BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division
With a rapidly growing population, the world is increasingly dependent on our ability to develop and maintain sustainable agriculture and healthy environments. Working with farmers, agricultural professionals, pest management experts and others, it is our role to help make this possible. That’s why we invest in a strong R&D pipeline and broad portfolio, including seeds and traits, chemical and biological crop protection, soil management, plant health, pest control and digital farming. With expert teams in the lab, field, office and in production, we connect innovative thinking and down-to-earth action to create real world ideas that work – for farmers, society and the planet. In 2017, our division generated sales of €5.7 billion. For more information, please visit www.agriculture.basf.com or any of our social media channels.

 

About BASF
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The more than 115,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of €64.5 billion in 2017. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at www.basf.com.