Designed to mitigate abiotic stress in row crops, Agrauxine’s Smartfoil is a plant nutrition product first introduced in the U.S. in 2018.
With even more extensive testing in Arkansas and Tennessee this past year, the company says they are finding a sweet spot for product performance particularly in the mid-south.
“Particularly in later planted soybeans which encountered drought and stress during the important reproductive stages, we saw a nice response,” says Vince Wertman, Technical Sales Manager. “In some cases we saw a 10 to 1 or even a 15 to 1 return on investment.”
The field tests demonstrated how Smartfoil allows the plants to secure more flowers and retain more pods.
The liquid product is designed for foliar application. Smartfoil is labeled for many row crops: soybeans, corn, cotton and peanuts . Depending on the crop and conditions, Wertman says the product can be applied once or twice as part of a tank mix . Application rates are 1 quart/acre. The suggested retail price is $10/acre.
Smartfoil tank mixes with almost anything—and that’s where we like to place it, to ride along with a fungicide, nutrition product or insecticide,” he says.
How It Works
Smartfoil reduces the perception of the abiotic stress and amplifies metabolic responses during the critical stages of development. It provides a trifecta of protection at the genomic, cellular, and physiological levels.
“We improve tolerance to abiotic stress. It’s about holding on to the yield components we’ve made—hold on to the fruit set—and power through the time when conditions aren’t favorable,” Wertman says.
As an example, it blocks the physiological responses a plant may have due to drought stress. And it helps plants maintain their cellular structures under drought stress with the relevant water content. So when water is available again, the plant has the ability to use the water.
Wertman says a biological product that provides this function is a unique tool in the market to bring to farmers. Flowering is critical as it can impact up to 40% of yield potential in soybeans.
“It really differentiates Smartfoil from other foliar products that offer a broader response,” he says.
Smartfoil features yeast fermentation metabolites and has a two-year shelf life.
Smartfoil is OMRI listed for organic growers.
