US EPA granted emergency use exemption for Dow’s Transform insecticide

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted an emergency use exemption for Transform WG insecticide. Dow AgroSciences announced that the Section 18 label — upon the request of each state — was granted for certain counties in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee for the control of tarnished plant bugs in cotton.

Transform is a fast-acting insecticide from a proprietary, new class of chemistry that controls tarnished plant bugs. Sulfoxaflor, the active ingredient in Transform, provides cotton growers with an effective new resistance management tool.

"University representatives from the Midsouth have thoroughly researched Transform and are confident it would be a valuable addition to the cotton industry,” says Brian Timmerman, portfolio marketing leader for Dow AgroSciences. “It offers the effective control of tarnished plant bugs necessary to protect cotton yield and increase profit potential.”

"Transform has very good efficacy against tarnished plant bugs,” says Angus Catchot, Ph.D., Extension entomologist with Mississippi State University. “In almost every trial we’ve conducted, Transform has performed as well as the best products currently available, and in most cases, it’s better.”

Rogers Leonard, Ph.D., professor of entomology at the Louisiana State University AgCenter, echoes that statement.

"If we compare the efficacy of Transform to many of the currently available standards, it is equal to or superior to all of the products that we have used the last several years,” Leonard said.

In addition to effective control, Transform WG insecticide offers a compilation of features that will further benefit cotton growers. It controls tarnished plant bugs at a very low use rate while maintaining most beneficial insects and not flaring aphids or mites. Transform also can be applied by either air or ground and offers residual control equal to or better than market standards.

An Economically Destructive Pest

Tarnished plant bugs are especially prevalent in the Midsouth and can cause serious damage to a cotton field. According to research presented by Mississippi State University, 50 percent of all cotton acres in the United States were infested with tarnished plant bugs in 2011. An average of greater than 4 percent of cotton was lost due to tarnished plant bugs in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Controlling tarnished plant bugs has become increasingly difficult in recent years as resistance to neonicotinoids, pyrethroids and organophosphates develops. The unique chemistry of Transform, which belongs to the new Group 4C class of insecticides, offers producers a valuable rotational tool.

"It’s been a long time since we’ve had a new mode of action specifically for tarnished plant bugs,” Catchot said. “Our producers are very excited that Transform is available.”