Bayer CropScience expanses production capacity of Liberty® herbicide in US

Bayer CropScience is celebrating significant capacity expansion at two facilities critical to producing its herbicide, Liberty® (glufosinate-ammonium), the chemical component of its leading weed control system for LibertyLink® corn, cotton, soybeans and canola.

Bayer has invested $500 million globally in Liberty supply over the past few years, including a $50 million expansion of its Muskegon Charter Township manufacturing plant, which will greatly enhance its production capabilities. These initiatives supplement investments already made in recent years to ensure Liberty supply will meet demand for the 2016 season.  In addition, Bayer recently broke ground on a $200 million facility in conjunction with Evonik* of two chemical manufacturing units in the Mobile, AL area. The units will produce precursor materials for use in the production of Liberty herbicide.  Construction of both projects is expected to take approximately two years with the startup of production beginning in mid-2017.

Globally, Bayer is on a path to double production capacity of Liberty. 

Liberty herbicide is used with the LibertyLink trait in cotton, soybeans, corn and canola to allow growers to spray Liberty in-crop for nonselective post-emergence control of even the toughest weeds, including Palmer amaranth, giant ragweed, waterhemp and marestail.  Liberty herbicide with the LibertyLink trait is the preeminent weed management system with a different chemistry and unique mode of action to offer superior control of a broad spectrum of resistant and tough to control weeds.

Liberty has experienced tremendous growth with the explosion of LibertyLink traited acres.  Now over 50 million acres have the LibertyLink trait and this is expected to more than double in the years to come.  This growth is stemming from the superior control growers experience with Liberty, but also the growing resistance to other herbicides on the market.

“Resistant weeds are one of the greatest challenges growers are facing today,” said David Tanner, herbicide product manager for Bayer CropScience.  “Managing weed resistance requires an integrated approach and a full tool box that allows farmers to use multiple effective herbicide technologies.  Expanding capacity of Liberty will ensure that the best tools for weed management are available when growers need them the most.”

The Roots of Resistance

Herbicide resistance stems from the continual use of single herbicide. The site of action (SOA) within that singular herbicide, applied again and again to weeds, begins to exert tremendous “selection pressure” on the weed, shifting the resistant populations within a field.

Researchers within the scientific community—including Bayer CropScience—are actively pioneering new methods of combating herbicide resistance. Leading edge research even includes mapping the genetic codes of weed biotypes to better understand and respond to evolved resistance. As always, stewardship practices combining herbicide diversity and integrated weed management are an effective means of countering the evolutionary impact of weed resistance.

Bayer CropScience developed its Respect the Rotation initiative to popularize three of the most effective steps for herbicide diversity. Some of the most important practices include the following:
 
Rotate Crops – Crop rotation is a key component of the Respect the Rotation initiative, enabling herbicide diversity through the application of different herbicide modes of action across multiple crops.
Rotate Herbicide-Tolerant Traits – Herbicide-tolerant traits allow producers to use over-the-top herbicides without harming crops.
Use multiple effective herbicide Modes of Action (MOA) – Use tankmix partners and multiple MOAs during both the growing season and from year to year to reduce the selection pressure of a single MOA. The more a single herbicidal mode of action is used on a field, the more selection pressure is applied to the targeted weeds, increasing the likeliness of resistant biotypes.