Bayer CropScience introduces Stratego YLD fungicide for next-generation yield bump

Bayer CropScience has combined a top-performing strobilurin with a new triazole technology for the corn and soybean fungicide market. The result is Stratego® YLD fungicide (active ingredient: trifloxystrobin + prothioconazole), and it’s ready to give growers a next-generation yield bump through superior protection of a broad range of diseases.

Growers can earn $140 back per gallon when they buy Stratego YLD by March 15, 2011, or get great financing through Farm Plan™, such as zero percent fixed interest1 as part of the new Innovation Plus™ program from Bayer CropScience.

Stratego YLD is not just a formulation upgrade from Stratego fungicide, explained product manager Randy Myers.

"It is a new formulation, but what makes Stratego YLD different is the fact that it has new chemistry in it,” Myers said. “It’s got a new triazole chemistry, which brings added breadth to the activity spectrum and allows it to do a much better job of ensuring the most return on investment.”

Broad-spectrum activity is an important feature to consider when selecting a fungicide, Myers said. Gray leaf spot is generally regarded as public enemy No. 1, but many other diseases are also yield reducers.

"What helps Stratego YLD stand out from the pack is activity against these other diseases,” Myers said. “It’s very good against gray leaf spot. However, it’s the activity it brings against the various rusts – especially Southern rust – and anthracnose that improves stalk quality and helps Stratego YLD stand out from the competition.”

Trial results to date have been encouraging, Myers said. In side-by-side corn trials in 2008-09, Stratego YLD applied at the typical timing between growth stages VT to R2 demonstrated a 13.9 bu/A yield bump over untreated acres and 7.1 bu/A more than Headline® fungicide. In soybean trials, the advantage was 3 bu/A over untreated acres.

The benefits of an early season application of Stratego YLD on corn are also clearly evident. Around the V5 growth stage when herbicides are often sprayed, Stratego YLD can be mixed with Laudis® herbicide, Ignite® herbicide, or glyphosate. In testing, early season diseases were controlled, and the pressure from several later season diseases was suppressed, resulting in improved stalk strength and more complete top-to-bottom plant protection. In 69 total trials in 2010, a single application of Stratego YLD at V5 outyielded checks by an average 9.1 bu/A.

Stratego YLD provides improved yields because the product has been formulated to move uniquely in the leaf. Its redistribution properties allow it to provide sustainable, long-lasting disease protection. From the inside, the fungicide protects plants as it penetrates leaves and moves systemically throughout. From the outside, it binds to the surface of the leaf and diffuses in and on the waxy layers.

The formulation change also upgrades Stratego YLD from an emulsifiable concentrate (EC) to a suspension concentrate (SC). This gives growers an easy-to-use formulation at rates as low as 4 fl oz/A and excellent compatibility with most other crop-protection products.