Innovation For A Bright Future
Helping farmers do the Biggest Job on Earth is Job One for scientists at BASF Agricultural Solutions. Helping to maximize yields and minimize challenges through innovation are vital to that mission. That’s why in 2020, BASF pledged to introduce 25 new products to the market by 2025.
To achieve such an ambitious goal, the company has invested heavily in research and development — nearly one billion dollars in 2022 alone. This level of commitment will continue as challenges like weed resistance, disease and insect pressure threaten the crop yields necessary to feed a growing world and sustain successful farm operations. The efficiency of those operations is also a major consideration, and BASF has developed digital tools to help farmers get the most from the time and money they spend. BASF has also created low-interest financing programs to help farmers and retailers make purchases for their businesses.
“Retailers are time-pressed as much as farmers, probably more,” says Kate Greif, senior marketing strategy manager at BASF U.S. Agricultural Solutions. “They want to ensure the farmers they work with get the best experience possible. Making recommendations for something for an entire season, that’s a big commitment. We want to make sure that we’re partnering with retailers so they can feel confident in their recommendations.”
Recent innovations range from yield-boosting seed varieties to crop protection products to digital tools that help retailers make more accurate recommendations. Greif gives special mention to several ground-breaking new products, including:
- Surtain™ herbicide, which will be the first solid encapsulated premix solution upon registration, allowing both pre- and post-emergence applications of a strong residual Group 14 chemistry. Corn growers battling weeds such as waterhemp, giant ragweed and grasses, especially in areas of known resistance, will have a powerful new tool to protect their yields.
- Nurizma™ insecticide offers a unique mode of action to protect corn plants from destructive, below-ground pests such as corn rootworm larvae, wireworms, white grubs and seedcorn maggots. With its high efficacy and low use rate, Nurizma delivers a much-needed solution to fight stubborn pests that reduce yields.
“Ag retailers and agronomists want to be sure they are providing the most effective, economical solution for their farmers,”
Greif says. “This whole industry revolves around making sure the farmer can be successful. That means finding new and innovative ways to help them solve their toughest problems.” Two more new introductions designed to solve significant challenges are Revylok™ fungicide and BASF cotton brands new trait system in Axant™ Flex Herbicide Tolerance Technology
REVYLOK SOYBEAN FUNGICIDE
Soybean growers are battling an ever-increasing range of yield-limiting diseases. Growers in the Southern U.S. have had an especially hard fight, losing up to 40% more bushels to disease than their Midwest counterparts. Some of those diseases, such as frogeye leaf spot, are becoming more
resistant to fungicides. BASF now offers a new, proven solution with Revylok soybean fungicide.
Revylok blends the power of Revysol® and Xemium®, two of BASF’s most effective active ingredients. Revylok helps provide fast plant uptake and long-lasting residual activity to give growers a reliable fungicide for unsurpassed disease control and resistance management. The rainfast formulation makes it ideal for use in wet, humid areas.
“We’re excited to bring this solution to the market,” says Joan Jordan, product manager, Soybean Fungicides, BASF U.S. Agricultural Solutions. “It’s been extensively tested, and we have significant data that shows it lasts longer than leading competitors. We’re outyielding untreated by over seven bushels per acre and leading the next leading competitor by over two bushels per acre.” Data from over 460 trials is available at www.revxfield.com.
AXANT FLEX HERBICIDE TOLERANCE TECHNOLOGY
Axant™ Flex Herbicide Tolerance Trait is a breakthrough trait technology in select FiberMax® and Stoneville® cottonseed varieties. It offers the first and only quadruple-stacked herbicide tolerant trait package in the cotton market, which uses three modes of action, Engenia® herbicide, glyphosate and Liberty® herbicide and anticipates the use of a fourth mode, Alite™ 27 herbicide in the future (pending registration with the U.S. EPA for use on cotton) for more effective control over resistant weeds. This limited release is great news for retailers and certified growers who have seen worsening weed resistance in cotton-growing areas.
Powered by proprietary new germplasm from BASF, Axant Flex Technology includes not only outstanding weed control, it also is bred to contain native traits that help control yield-robbing pests, like root-knot nematodes and reniform nematodes as well as tolerance to other diseases such as verticillium wilt and bacterial blight.
“Growers are always looking to push the envelope on yield potential, but the other component is how do we protect that yield potential,” says Justin Jones, cotton marketing manager, BASF U.S. Agricultural Solutions. “That’s what Axant Flex Technology is really bringing forward.”
In 2023, BASF conducted over 180 agronomic performance trials in various conditions and environments. Retailers who couldn’t see the results first-hand can get the trial data from their BASF representative. “When a grower sees a bag with Axant Flex Technology in 2024, it’s going to have three herbicide traits, numerous native traits and it’s going
to perform at the gin as well,” Jones says. “We have over 125 years of success in the cotton business. If we bring Axant Flex Technology forward in a Stoneville or FiberMax cotton bag, we trust it will represent that legacy and bring value to that customer.”
MORE INNOVATION ON THE WAY
These next-generation products join other 2024 releases designed to solve agricultural challenges and move the industry forward. More revolutionary solutions will follow in the coming years as BASF remains committed to investing in research and development. “We work in a biological ecosystem,” Greif explains. “It’s a state of constant change, so we need new innovations to solve those problems. BASF is there to help our partners solve them.”
