Basic HTML Version
to change to allow farmers better access
to the products.
Bayer CropScience has had Ethrel
on the market for some time, and BASF
has a product called Cycocel Extra.
Both are more widely used in the
horticultural industry, although Ethrel
is also registered for use in cereals
and Cycocel Extra for use on winter
wheat. Because of their narrow window
of application and other limitations,
neither has been widely promoted to
western grain growers. In fact, Ethrel
is not readily available across Western
Canada because timing of application
is so critical that the company requires
producers to sign a liability waiver
before they can access the product.
lant growth
regulators (PGRs)
may be the next
big wave of crop
management tools helping farmers
to increase cereal crop yields and
profitability, but the products that have
been widely used in Europe and other
parts of the world for decades still have
to earn their stripes in Canada.
It’s not that they don’t work to
reduce and strengthen crop stature
and therefore help to reduce lodging.
It’s a question of whether the growing
conditions here are suitable, whether
crop management is up to the rigours of
the specific timing for application, and
whether regulations and attitudes need
Syngenta, which alreadymarkets
cereal crop PGRs in the U.S. (a product
called Palisade) and Europe (Moddus),
is conducting research on a similar
trinexapac-ethyl-based product inCanada.
In the meantime, Engage Agro, based
in Guelph, ON, may have the most
exciting news on the PGR front. It hopes
to have a product, Manipulator, registered
for use on Canadian cereal crops in mid-
2014 and available for producers in 2015.
Based on a different active ingredient
than other products, Manipulator is said
to be more user friendly. It is effective at
a wider temperature range, has a much
wider window of application and can
effectively be used in tank mixes with
many herbicides.
Propermanagement is the key to plant growth regulator success
by Lee Hart • Photography by steve larocque and sheri strydhorst
Spring
2014
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