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U.S. growers using PONCHO seed-applied insecticide turn in impressive NCGA Yield Contest performances
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
March 2, 2006

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.

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