AgroPages-Monsanto developed 2016 Roundup Ready PLUS® Crop Management Solutions-Agricultural news

When it comes to protecting crops from pests like weeds and insects, there’s no silver bullet. Fortunately, today’s farmers have many options.

Through collaboration with leading university experts, agronomists, grower groups and industry partners, Monsanto developed its 2016 Roundup Ready PLUS® Crop Management Solutions recommendations, announced recently. Additions to last year’s platform include a new, first-of-its-kind tool to fight tough-to-control and herbicide-resistant weeds, as well as new incentives for farmers looking to fight insect pests in their corn crops.

“The collaborative educational efforts on best management practices – particularly in the area of weed control – are paying off for growers,” said Austin Horn, Monsanto’s Crop Protection Systems Marketing Manager. “In a year in which farmers are looking to be even more efficient with their inputs, the recommendations, incentives and education provided by Roundup Ready PLUS Crop Management Solutions can help growers maintain clean fields and maximize yield potential.”

For the last eight years, Monsanto has joined with universities, grower groups and other stakeholders to emphasize the importance of diversified weed management practices (DWMPs.) One part of a diversified approach, the use of effective overlapping residual herbicides, has become a critical practice for controlling weeds. The Roundup Ready PLUS platform recommends tank-mixing residual herbicides with glyphosate to provide farmers a multiple-sites-of-action (SOA) option for tough-to-control and glyphosate-resistant weeds.

Last year, more than 70,000 farmers participated in Roundup Ready PLUS. The platform was first introduced in fall of 2010, and that year, Monsanto research showed the use of residual herbicides in soybeans was 33 percent. By 2012, 55 percent of soybean farmers applied a residual herbicide in soybeans. In the 2015 growing season, that number had grown to 70 percent.

The 2016 updates include recommendations and incentives for growers planting Roundup Ready 2 XtendTM soybeans. Although Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans and Bollgard II® XtendFlex® cotton are tolerant to both glyphosate and dicamba herbicides, the use of dicamba herbicide over the top of Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans and Bollgard II XtendFlex cotton is not currently approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and remains in late stage of EPA review. Pending approval, Roundup Ready PLUS recommendations include the in-crop use of products other than dicamba to control weeds. Once approved, the Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System will offer growers a vital tool for managing tough-to-control and glyphosate-resistant weeds.

Partners in the Roundup Ready PLUS incentives program include AMVAC, FMC, Syngenta and Valent.

Additions to the Roundup Ready PLUS 2016 incentives are:

Warrant® Ultra Herbicide – Soybean and cotton growers have a new, first-of-its-kind option in 2016 with Warrant Ultra Herbicide, a premix of microencapsulated acetochlor and fomesafen. Warrant Ultra Herbicide is the only premix on the market to formulate microencapsulated acetochlor with fomesafen, and provides two sites of action for residual weed control. Fomesafen also provides an additional postemergence SOA for broadleaf weeds such as waterhemp and Palmer amaranth, offering a useful herbicide resistance management tool when used in the Roundup Ready® system.

Capture® LFR® - Capture LFR, from FMC, controls seed and seedling pests such as wireworm, cutworm, grubs, armyworm, seed corn maggot and common stalk borer. Growers earn incentives when they use the recommended rate along with a Roundup brand agricultural glyphosate herbicide in corn. Capture LFR joins FMC’s Hero® insecticide and Monsanto’s own Precept® Insecticide, a restricted use pesticide, as incentivized insecticides.

For more information on Roundup Ready PLUS recommendations and incentives, visit RoundupReadyPLUS.com.

Roundup Ready PLUS Platform Background

The platform known today as Roundup Ready PLUS began as Cotton Performance PLUS in 2008. Cotton Performance PLUS was a revolutionary platform that provided cotton farmers incentives to use residual herbicides, including competitor products, in their weed management program. In the 2011 growing season Roundup Ready PLUS evolved to include weed management recommendations and incentives in cotton, soybeans and corn. For the 2015 growing season, the platform was expanded to include insect-management incentives. Products endorsed in Roundup Ready PLUS have been proven to perform as part of Roundup Ready® cropping systems, and farmers are incentivized for using them.

Take Action

Take Action is an industry-wide partnership between university weed scientists, major herbicide providers and organizations representing corn, cotton, sorghum, soybean and wheat farmers to help them manage herbicide-resistant weeds. The Take Action effort encourages you to develop a proactive strategy to manage herbicide-resistant weeds that incorporates a diverse set of controls. To find out more about how you can take action, visit http://www.takeactiononweeds.com/, or contact your local extension office.