PONCHO seed-applied insecticide emerges as a
common element in 2005 NCGA corn yield contest
Corn growers who took top
honors in the state and national divisions of the 2005
National Corn Growers
Association (NCGA) Yield Contest appear to have relied
on good weather and a common crop production management
decision for their winning ways. That key management
decision, which played a significant role in so many of this
year’s top corn yields, was the use of PONCHO®
seed-applied insecticide ( SAI) products on the hybrid seed
planted by a majority of the winners.
Seed-applied insecticides
have been in use for several years now and each year they
have shown up more and more in the winner’s column of the
NCGA contest. In last year’s contest, 98 state contest
winners used PONCHO on their winning entries. This year,
that number grew to 117 state winners. According to Paul
Holliday, product manager for
Bayer
CropScience, it’s not just in yield contest situations
where corn producers have recognized the value of
early-season protection from secondary insect pests and corn
rootworms. “Protecting the seed and young corn plants from
these pests helps ensure higher final stands and healthier
plants which can translate to more yield at harvest. We’ve
seen evidence of that in both yield contest results and
years of independent and company-run field research,”
Holliday says.
Sixty Percent of
All NCGA Winners Indicate PONCHO Use
In the 2005 NCGA contest, seven out of nine
national title winners indicated they had protected their
winning corn hybrid entry with PONCHO seed-applied
insecticide. Overall, 60 percent of the winners recognized
in the contest (307 out of the 512 who placed first, second
or third in state contests) used PONCHO on their winning
entry.
Holliday noted that the
increased use of hybrids with genetic or Bt resistance to
corn rootworm and corn borers has also led to an increased
use of the PONCHO 250 seed-applied insecticide. “Since the
Bt resistance doesn’t provide protection from many of these
early-season pests, seed suppliers and trait providers have
recognized the importance of protecting their valuable
genetics from this threat that can destroy or damage the
seed or seedling before the value of the Bt resistance trait
can be realized in the corn plant,” Holliday says. “That’s
why most of these hybrids are automatically being treated by
seed companies with the PONCHO 250 seed-applied
insecticide.”
Top Yield in
Contest Protected With PONCHO 1250
Many of this year’s NCGA winners indicated they had
used PONCHO 1250 for their insecticide protection management
program to get the broadest spectrum control of early-season
pests and labeled protection from corn rootworm larvae. In
fact, this year’s overall yield champion, Steve Albracht of
Double SA Farms in Hart, Texas, indicated that he had
protected his contest-winning yield of 351.6 bushels per
acre with PONCHO 1250 seed-applied insecticide.
“We’ve heard from many
growers in the southern corn growing states who won’t plant
corn unless it’s protected with PONCHO 1250,” Holliday says.
“They really like its strong performance against pests like
chinch bugs and billbugs, in addition to the corn rootworm
protection.”
Higher Yield
Potential Not the Only Advantage to Growers
Besides the seed and seedling protection that can
lead to better stands and higher yield potential, the other
benefit that corn growers have come to value highly about
the PONCHO seed-applied insecticide technology is the
convenience and time and labor savings over planter-box type
treatments or standard soil-applied insecticide products.
The PONCHO insecticide comes to the growers’ farms on the
seed and in the bag to eliminate the need for extra
equipment or product handling.
Corn growers have quickly
embraced the ease and convenience, along with product
performance, as strong reasons to purchase seed protected
with PONCHO. “The adoption rate of the seed-applied
insecticide technology by corn growers in the U.S. has been
phenomenal,” Holliday notes. Since the introduction of
PONCHO to the corn market in 2003, its market share has
rapidly grown to more than 40 percent of the U.S. corn acres
last year. That number is expected to grow to over 50
percent in 2006. “Few technologies, outside of glyphosate
resistant seeds, have had that kind of rapid adoption rate
by U.S. growers,” Holliday says.
With the performance
history of PONCHO 250 and PONCHO 1250, Holliday sees even
more potential for yield contest winners using PONCHO in the
2006 contest year. “The technology is accepted and proven,
and growers have clearly made PONCHO their choice over
competitive products in the marketplace. I think that means
good things for U.S. corn growers whether they compete in
yield contests, or just want to maximize the potential on
their corn acres,” Holliday says.
Bayer CropScience LP is
the U.S. business of Bayer CropScience, which has its global
headquarters in Monheim, Germany. Bayer CropScience, a
subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 5.8
billion (2003), is one of the world’s leading innovative
crop science companies in the areas of crop protection,
non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant
biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of
products and extensive service backup for modern,
sustainable agriculture and non-agricultural applications.
Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 19,000 and
is represented in more than 120 countries, ensuring
proximity to dealers and consumers.