Having been in the U.S. market for four years, Belchim is looking to grow its footprint with one of its newest products, Tough 5EC, a selective herbicide approved for use in corn, chickpeas and mint.
The team at Belchim is positioning Tough 5EC to unlock effective control of herbicide resistant weeds as part of a tank mix with glyphosate, HPPD herbicides, and atrazine. This herbicide is especially effective on broadleaf weeds: pigweeds, palmer amaranth, waterhemp, kochia, common lambsquarters, and black nightshades.
“In areas of resistance, we are giving extra control to help farmers have a new tool to control those resistant weeds,” says Tom Wood, General Manager, Belchim USA. “It’ll get the weeds you won’t have control of otherwise.”
As Wood explains, this group 6 herbicide increases the activity of free radicals in the weed and destroys cell membranes. When combined with HPPD herbicides which reduce the weed’s ability to detoxify these free radicals, a synergy is created that results in increased control and faster weed death. TOUGH is a pyridate-based contact herbicide with a wide window of application.
“Tough brings a speed to kill the weed and get a complete kill of that plant,” he adds.
Belchim expects double the sales in 2022 vs. the first year in the market in 2021.
“Last year, we put enough in the channel to cover 300,000 acres of corn,” he explains. “The corn herbicide market is one of the toughest to get into, but we are working on getting our product into the channel and increasing our visibility.”
For retailers, he wants to share two things.
“We have supply. And we haven’t raised our prices since last year,” Wood says.
He continues, “This is another tool in your integrated weed management program. And Tough 5EC is a highly effective herbicide against resistant weeds.”
Application rates for corn are 8 ounces per acre with a 15 gal. of water minimum.
