Why Arable Scotland is a great place to see Corteva’s innovations first-hand

Corteva is looking forward to exhibiting at Arable Scotland this year to show Scottish growers the breakthrough innovations Corteva Agriscience offers from its crop protection, seeds and biologicals portfolio.

Corteva's research and development pipeline is dedicated to delivering products which fit into the diverse needs of the modern farmer – be they grassland, arable or mixed.

Scottish growers are having to constantly evolve to deal with the challenges and opportunities in front of them; some brought about by regulatory changes, others by changing consumer expectations, environmental considerations, or simply a personal desire to do things differently.  

Visiting Corteva’s stand at the show will help farmers to understand how its products can help.

There will be a chance to talk about Corteva’s newest cereal fungicide, Univoq, which Corteva expects to be used extensively across the country in what has been – at the time of writing at least – a high disease pressure year.

Over the past two seasons, Univoq has proven its ability cure existing Septoria infections whilst also offering persistent protection against future threats which, coupled to reliable rust control, has resulted in reliable yield benefits.

In 2022, trials showed again that 1.25L/ha Univoq fungicide demonstrated an advantage over 1.0L/ha Revystar XE^® worth £50/hectare to growers, assuming a wheat price of £200/tonne.

Visitors to the stand can also find out more about new innovative seed hybrids from Pioneer.

Corteva has grown plots of PT303 Protector Sclerotinia^® – the first ever OSR hybrid to offer built-in tolerance to sclerotinia. It topped the 2021-22 AHDB Recommended List, and, in the following year’s independent trials, demonstrated its consistency with a gross output of 104%.

PT303 offers a suite of genetic protection against sclerotinia as well as resistance to Turnip Yellows Virus (TuYV), light leaf spot, and phoma.

When sclerotinia infection levels are 25% or above the severity of the disease in PT303 is reduced by up to 75%.

Farmers can also find out how Corteva is expanding its biological portfolio.

BlueN is one of Corteva’s first major products in its biologicals portfolio. A nutrient efficiency biostimulant, it contains a natural bacteria, Methylobacterium symbioticum, that will fix nitrogen from the air and converts it to ammonium in the plant.

Approved for use in a wide range of crops including grassland, BlueN provides a sustainable, alternative source of nitrogen that reduces dependency of nitrogen uptake from the soil and ensures the plant has access to nitrogen all season long.

With the clock ticking towards environmental target deadlines, Corteva has cemented its position as a global leader in the rapidly-expanding biologicals market closing the acquisitions of Symborg, an expert in microbiological technologies, and Stoller, one of the largest independent companies in the biologicals industry. 

But while we look to the future, Corteva’s long-standing active ingredients continue to play an important role on farms.

Arylex active controls a range of difficult broadleaf weeds including cleavers, cranesbill and fumitory in winter and spring cereals. Part of a new structural class of synthetic auxin herbicides, Arylex manages weeds that have proven resistant to other modes of action.

Products containing the Arylex active, namely Pixxaro and Zypar, have superior efficacy at low dose rates, remaining effective in challenging weather conditions as their activity is not influenced significantly by temperature, unlike most growth regular herbicides.

They’re suitable for use within a wide spray window and there are no restrictions on following crop rotations, making it convenient to sow a variety of common, autumn-sown rotational crops and catch crops in cereals. 

With sustainability in mind, labels for clopyralid-containing products used on grassland have been updated to detail restrictions to stop residues ending up in manures and compost which might be used where sensitive plants are grown.

Products covered by the previous MAPP numbers, and which are already on farm, can be used until 31 October 2023, but as peat-based composts are being phased out, manure is more likely to be leaving the farm of production for use elsewhere.

Corteva products including Thistlex, Leystar and Shield Pro will be affected by the label update, which Corteva’s experts will be more than happy to answer questions about at Arable Scotland.