AgWired

Bayer CropScience announces the 2015 approval and registration of DiFlexx™ herbicide by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The strength of dicamba is evident, as is the need for a reliable crop safener. In 2013 trials, dicamba controlled 97 percent of broadleaf weeds in corn. That’s why corn growers will appreciate DiFlexx, which brings together dicamba and the highly effective CSI Safener.

DiFlexx controls tough weeds such as Palmer amaranth, waterhemp, ragweed and lambsquarter. It also manages more than 100 annual and perennial weeds, including those resistant to glyphosate-, PPO- and ALS-based herbicides. A fit in both pre- and post-emergence programs, DiFlexx has a wide window of application, from burndown to V10, for ensuring complete broadleaf weed control and flexibility. DiFlexx is tankmix compatible with Corvus® or Balance® Flexx herbicides from burndown to V2, and post with Laudis® or Capreno® herbicides for an extra mode of action on broadleaf weeds.

As the next innovation in crop safeners, the CSI Safener in DiFlexx enables corn plants to better withstand herbicides, which can lead to increased root growth and plant health. The same safener has a history of successfully minimizing crop response, as it has been part of the Corvus and Balance Flexx herbicide forumulations. The safener enables DiFlexx registration for field corn, field corn grown for silage and seed corn, and it can also be used on fallow croplands.

Compared to Status® herbicide, another safened dicamba product, DiFlexx offers many advantages, including: a liquid formulation, pre and post application window, and the ability to safen amide products and the use of MSO or COC in late post applications. DiFlexx also causes less brace root fusing and provides better standability. DiFlexx safens other ALS and HPPD chemistries as well.

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Every year, more than 1.7 million honey bee colonies are brought to California’s Central Valley to pollinate the vast expanses of almond orchards. Many bees arrive in the fall when little is in bloom to escape their native cold temperatures in anticipation of the world’s largest pollination event. Prior to and after the almond orchard’s bloom in late winter and spring, there is a shortage of food to help the bees survive. Bees’ food consists of nectar and pollen gathered from blooming plants. To help address the pre- and post-bloom food challenge, Bayer CropScience is giving $100,000 to Project Apis m., a nonprofit organization dedicated to better bee health through its work with growers. Project Apis m. will use the funds to provide seed mixes to growers in California and Washington who have agreed to plant cover crops for honey bees before and after almond bloom and other key seasons. The project will help build a healthier bee population to support crop pollination nationwide as bee colonies are transported to other states for other growing seasons.

“This initiative is a direct response to the lack of adequate forage needed to keep honey bees healthy and thriving,” said Jim Blome, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience LP North America. “In 2015, Bayer CropScience is committed to research and partnerships that will make a positive impact on honey bees.”

Bayer’s expanded partnership with Project Apis m. will complement its joint field research projects conducted on fence rows near almond orchards at Bayer’s Western Bee Care Technology Station in Fresno, California. Findings from Bayer’s research with Project Apis m. show that forage plantings also can have benefits for growers. If growers allow forage plantings adjacent to fields, rather than planting from fence row to fence row, they can reduce the loss of irrigation water, better manage soil quality and weeds, and help support wildlife, including pollinators. Local growers and landowners will plant the provided seeds on land with crops and on nearby plots to help ensure direct benefit to them and nearby bee colonies.

“With funding from Bayer, Project Apis m. will be able to work with growers to plant more acres of honey bee habitat right where it can be accessed by honey bees before the almond crop’s first bloom around Valentine’s Day,” said Christi Heintz, executive director of Project Apis m. and liaison to the Almond Board of California’s Bee Task Force. “Additionally, with Bayer’s help from its Fresno Research Station, we know the best plant species and mixes to use to feed bees and save them from starving.”

Project Apis m. will work with almond and other growers to get commitments for cover crops that will be planted in Fall 2015.