Syngenta Thrive

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Agriculture contributes more than $220 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), but farming families comprise only 2% of the American population. They contend with volatile markets, regulations and environments to keep food on the table for the 98% who, on average, are at least three generations removed from agriculture.

The future of agriculture depends on united advocacy from individuals along with grower and trade organizations. Keeping agricultural issues at the forefront of policy negotiations and conversations in homes across the country requires farmers to become savvy storytellers and strong leaders in addition to their roles as entrepreneurs, educators and environmental stewards.

The Leadership At Its Best (LAIB) conference, organized by Syngenta, empowers agricultural leaders to represent the industry in Washington, D.C. and at home. LAIB celebrated its 40th year of advocacy education in 2025. Fifty representatives from 12 grower and trade associations learned skills like networking, media training and action advocacy leading up to change-making conversations on Capitol Hill. They were nominated by organizations like the American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association and American Agri-Women.

Becoming Strong Storytellers

This year’s LAIB attendees arrived in D.C. with stories to tell. They have intimate knowledge of the issues facing their operations and their nominating associations recognize them as leaders. The goal of LAIB isn’t to teach attendees what to say; it’s to equip them with the skills to share their experiences and advocate for change.

“It’s important that we tell our story and teach others to tell their stories to people that don’t know much about agriculture,” says Macie O’Shaughnessy, industry relations manager at Syngenta. “We challenge everybody to be vulnerable, work on their weaknesses, and share their strengths. We enable them to tell their stories and be fierce advocates.”

The conference kicks off with a day of intensive networking to encourage attendees to share their experiences outside their usual circles.

“The program has been phenomenal,” says Bill Parks, a Mississippi grower representing the American Farm Bureau Federation. “In a rural area like where I’m from, you can feel alone. Here, you talk to and learn from others like you, and it builds confidence.”

These conversations also help growers see the bigger picture of what’s happening on farms across the country. It’s critical that attendees examine issues from different perspectives and combine their voices to combat the challenges facing agriculture.

Key issues include access to technology, operational flexibility within restrictions, and regulatory challenges. While not unique to one region, crop or sector, representatives on the Hill may still be unfamiliar with them.

“Everyone here operates differently, but we agree on many key issues,” says Kole Pederson, a representative of the National Agricultural Aviation Association. “Being able to share perspectives here is so helpful. It allows subsectors of the industry to work better together.”

The Road to Capitol Hill

With years of experience and expertise, the folks at Syngenta engage their relationships to further collaboration. “We can advocate for all the details when we have multiple groups working together,” says O’Shaughnessy. “Our connections and networks elevate us.”

After a full day of building confidence and hearing from other voices in agriculture, the LAIB cohort attends sessions led by media and storytelling experts.

The first was led by Johnna Miller, senior director of media and advocacy training for the American Farm Bureau Federation. She shared best practices for working with the media, the ins and outs of soundbites, and how to make sure the most important parts of their messages make it on camera. Next, attendees learned from Aaron Putze, author, public speaker, and chief officer of brand management and engagement for the Iowa Soybean Association, about finding memorable ways to share their personal stories with legislators.

“I learned that representatives want to hear about our experiences, which helps them continue to make changes in the country,” says Janie Cornelius, sales support lead at Cornelius Seed representing the Independent Professional Seed Association. “In D.C., they don’t know what we’re experiencing in agriculture. Our stories can have huge impacts on farmers across the nation.”

Fortunately, attendees felt well-prepared to tell those stories after the week’s programming. “The session with Mr. Putze really helped me get my message together for my Capitol Hill meetings. He helped us dig deep into our own brains to pull those ideas out,” says Elizabeth Spruell, an Alabama grower representing American Agri-Women. “Now, I’m more capable of stepping in front of the camera and answering hard questions. At the same time, I’m representing and advocating for the industry I love so dearly.”

Beyond the Capitol

What’s next for the future of agriculture advocacy? All attendees leave LAIB with newfound confidence, storytelling skills, media savvy and lobbying experience. Many also have successful conversations with legislators under their belts.

“We send everybody home with a new network and many action opportunities,” says O’Shaughnessy. “One of the most powerful pieces is building that network between associations. These ag representatives are all already leaders, and leaders are always learning.”

Leaders are always teaching, too. The impact of the conference ripples to the nominating organizations and beyond. “I’m excited,” Janie Cornelius says. “Not only am I better able to tell my story, but I’m more prepared to step into a mentorship role. The skills I’ve gained here are going to help me develop others and grow myself.”

Though the most impactful lessons learned from LAIB varies between attendees, one thing is certain. This conference is only the jumping-off point.

“Leadership At Its Best opened my eyes to a larger network and agriculture across the country,” says Spruell. “Networking with individuals on their own journey through leadership helps me frame my own pathway and I’m excited for what’s next.”

For many, LAIB is a great reminder of the importance of getting involved with organizations. The time is right, Spruell says. “Farmers are the 2% growing food for the 98%. Our voice is small, but we can unify, arm-in-arm, to get the message across for our food and fiber security.”

And it’s easier than they would’ve thought. “Your voice matters,” says Parks. “I know now it’s as simple as finding your local organization or dropping by the Hill. Take it from a small-town farmer like me — You can make a difference, and that’s the honest truth.”

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As a potato grower, you’re likely no stranger to Colorado potato beetle (CPB). These small, striped pests have a reputation for wreaking havoc on potato fields across the country.

CPB consumes large portions of young leaf tissue. Without sufficient leaf canopy, photosynthesis slows down, leading to the plants drying out, wilting and ultimately losing their leaves. As beetles mature, the damage worsens, making it increasingly difficult for growers to save their crops.

If CPB gets ahead of you, they won’t just nibble at your plants — they’ll attack your bottom line. The good news is you can protect your crops with an effective three-step pest management plan.

Identify Colorado Potato Beetles

Adult CPB have distinct features that make them easy to differentiate from other insects. They’re oval-shaped, about 3/8 inch (10 mm) long, with a yellow-orangish body and 10 black stripes running down their wings. The larvae are smooth, humpbacked and reddish, reaching up to half an inch in length with two rows of black spots along each side.

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Larvae feed on potato leaf tissue.
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Feeding damage worsens as CPB mature.

Scout for Colorado Potato Beetles

Scouting is one of the best ways to stay ahead of a potential CPB infestation. Here’s how you can monitor your fields effectively:

  1. Scout early: CPB emerges from the soil when spring temperatures reach above 50 degrees Fahrenheit in early May. You should begin scouting for adult beetles before the seed is even planted.
  2. Watch for larvae: Inspect the undersides of leaves for clusters of yellow eggs. Larvae hatch within 4-14 days and immediately feed on plant leaves. Leaf damage initially appears as small holes, about 1/8” wide.
  3. Create an action plan: The moment you begin to see red, spotted larvae crawling around your leaves, that’s your cue to act before they take over.

Manage CPB and Combat Insecticide Resistance

CPB has built up resistance to over 50 different insecticide chemistries. Kiran Shetty, Ph.D., Syngenta technical development lead for potatoes, encourages growers to try a range of approaches to better control CPB and combat resistance.

  1. Manage field by field: Tailor your management plan to the location, crop and insect history of the field.
  2. Rotate chemistries: Overuse of insecticides can increase the tolerance levels of pests. Use one neonicotinoid seed treatment or soil application per season.
  3. Rotate crops: Growers should implement crop rotation between planting seasons, which can significantly reduce outbreak rates and maintain the effectiveness of pest control strategies.
  4. Make an action plan: Create a season-long management plan that uses complementary seed treatments and foliar insecticide applications.
  5. Use high-quality insecticides: Quality insecticides like Minecto® Pro are highly effective foliar insecticides that control CPB.

Colorado potato beetles aren’t going away anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean you have to let them take over your operation. By combining crop rotation, tailored field management and chemical rotation, growers can minimize CPB pressure and protect their yields.

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Winds bring more than fresh air and rain to corn and soybean fields; they can carry pests and pathogens into new areas. Most new-to-a-region diseases have been creeping into fields with the help of dust, spores or insects moving through the air.

Learning about new agronomic challenges before they hit your fields helps you know what to do once they show up. Regular scouting and a predetermined management plan will help you fight unwelcome emerging pathogens and protect your yield potential.

Corn Threats

Tar Spot

Tar spot has been moving across the Midwest for several years. While proactively managing it has become standard practice for Indiana farmers, those in western Iowa and Nebraska are just starting to see it.

“Once tar spot arrives, it overwinters on crop residue and infects corn in cool temperatures between 60- and 70-degrees Fahrenheit, high humidity and prolonged leaf wetness,” says Dean Grossnickle, Syngenta technical development lead based in central Iowa. “It usually isn’t noticeable until after tasseling when scouting is uncomfortable.”

Tar spot, named for the small black spots on leaves that don’t rub off, can significantly reduce yield. What should be done when it moves in?

“Take a deep breath — it is manageable,” says Grossnickle. “We’ve learned that a proactive treatment with Miravis Neo or Trivapro fungicides at the tasseling stage provides protection against tar spot through most of the grain fill period.”

He adds that an overlapping residual fungicide application two or three weeks later can sometimes increase potential yield under heavy pressure, though the results aren’t consistent. Burying crop residue can help, but exposed spores can easily blow in from neighboring fields.

Corn Stunt Disease and Corn Leafhopper

Corn stunt disease is a bacterial disease moving north from Texas and Oklahoma into Kansas and Nebraska. As the name suggests, it stunts plant growth and ear development. Solutions have yet to be discovered.

Corn leafhopper, an insect native to Central America, spreads bacteria as it feeds on corn plants. They reproduce quickly, with multiple generations each season, according to Oklahoma State University Extension. Bugs can travel several miles during their lifespan, with females laying eggs on corn leaves. Entomologists are still learning where they overwinter.

“As with other bacterial diseases like Stewart’s wilt, if you find a resistant hybrid, plant it,” Grossnickle recommends. “Insecticides can control corn leafhoppers, but treatment thresholds will be different for disease management compared to leaf damage.”

Planting corn early, before insect populations increase, may also reduce disease impact.

Unexpected Visitors Surprise Corn Growers

Weather can bring unexpected pathogens to a region, says Dalton Webster, Syngenta ASR for eastern Iowa. In 2024, an early hurricane blew Southern rust as far north as Iowa and Wisconsin in late July and early August, which unfortunately gave the pathogen time to establish and cut corn yields.

“Southern rust won’t overwinter, but 2024 is an example of the need to watch for unexpected problems,” Webster says. “Fortunately, both Trivapro and Miravis Neo protect against rust and a variety of other diseases, so solutions for unexpected issues often align with strategies to manage tar spot, gray leaf spot and other diseases.”

Soybean Threats

Red Crown Rot

In soybean fields, the soilborne pathogen causing red crown rot (RCR) appears to be spreading throughout Illinois. It has also been confirmed in a few Indiana and Missouri counties, and surrounding states are on the lookout. Initial symptoms can easily be mistaken for sudden death syndrome (SDS).

“Soilborne pathogens can be spread easily by wind and equipment,” Webster says.

Crop rotation and planting soybeans early may help manage RCR, but early planting increases the risk for SDS. Saltro® fungicide seed treatment helps suppress RCR, and it can help protect early planted soybeans against SDS as well.

Target Spot

Grossnickle notes that target spot, usually found in the south, appears to be a growing issue in the Midwest.

“As soybean traits and genetics have changed, it seems we’ve selected for varieties with more susceptibility to target spot,” he says.

It can attack any part of a soybean plant, thriving in 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures with frequent rainfall or irrigation, especially in continuous soybeans. Residue management and practices that promote drier leaves, like wide rows, can reduce risk. Both Miravis® Neo and Miravis Top soybean fungicides also help manage target spot.

Revisiting Soybean Cyst Nematode

Though not considered an emerging pathogen, Webster notes a renewed industry focus on soybean cyst nematode (SCN).

“As growers put more focus on raising soybeans, aiming for yields of 90 to 100 bushels, SCN is getting more attention as a yield-limiting factor,” he says.

Seed companies are developing more varieties with Peking genetics, the less common source for SCN resistance. This allows farmers to rotate both crops and resistance sources to reduce SCN pressure. At the same time, crop protection companies have been developing nematicide seed treatment options.

“We know Saltro can help protect soybeans in combination with resistant genetics,” Webster says. “ADEPIDYN technology, the active ingredient in Saltro, affects the same pathway in a fungus or a nematode, shutting down energy production at the cellular level.”

Regardless of the unwelcome pathogens — both expected and unexpected — that move into your neighborhood this season, connect with your local Extension, Syngenta reps, and neighbors to share the knowledge and tools to protect your crop yield.

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Over the last 45 years, the number of reported resistant biotypes has increased rapidly worldwide, and according to The Center for Integrated Pest Management’s Pesticide Stewardship, resistance to one or more of 25 herbicide families has been observed in more than 65 weed species in the United States.

Grass weeds pose a particular challenge to cereal growers. In addition to directly competing with the crop for water, light and nutrients, grass weeds can cause lodging and seeds can contaminate harvested grain. Ten wild oat plants per square foot can reduce barley yield by 18% and wheat yield by more than 24%.

Tumbleweeds like Russian thistle and kochia also pose serious threats to yield. Spring cereals are particularly susceptible to infestation — Russian thistle can cause yield losses of up to 50% in heavy infestations. Kochia can cause near-complete crop failure and mean losses in sorghum have been reported at 62%. Increasing incidence of herbicide resistance can make controlling weeds more challenging and increase the risk of losses.

Regional Choices for Grass Weed Control in Cereals

Cereal growers have an ally in their fight against resistance. Axial® brand herbicides are high-performing chemistries that deliver consistent results, with two options to target grass weeds: Axial Bold and Axial Star.

Both Axial Bold and Axial Star are postemergence herbicides that offer broad control of grass weeds, including tough wild oat and foxtail populations as well as kochia. U.S. growers have shown their enthusiasm for Axial brands from Minnesota to Washington, with North Dakota leading in converts to both Axial brand products.

Axial Bold contains two active ingredients for control of pervasive grass weeds including barnyardgrass, Italian ryegrass and wild oat. Axial Bold is optimized for tank mixing, making it compatible with broadleaf herbicides for more efficient knockdown of mixed weeds and less grass antagonism.

Axial Star provides industry-leading control of mixed-grass and kochia, with tank-mix flexibility to tailor weed control solutions to each field’s specific needs.

Tank-Mix Partners Enhance Cereal Weed Control

Talinor® herbicide is as an ideal tank-mix partner with Axial brand products because it controls more than 45 tough broadleaf weeds in wheat and barley including kochia, mayweed, chamomile and Russian thistle, as well as those resistant to ALS-inhibitor, synthetic auxin and glyphosate herbicides. With two active ingredients and two effective modes of action, Talinor knocks down weeds the first time, and offers a wide application window, from the two-leaf to pre-boot stage of the crop.

Service and support for the Axial brands and Talinor are available. To provide direct access to local in-field support, including free resistance testing, find your rep at SyngentaUS.com/Rep-Finder.

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The right practices can help you get the most out of your herbicide application. We’re illustrating the “5 Rs” for weed control to help maximize herbicide efficacy.

An infographic showing details of the "5 Rs" of herbicides: the Right residual, the Right rate, the Right time, the Right nozzles, and the Right droplet size. There is an image and a description of each explaining the impact on herbicide applications and getting the most out of herbicides.

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Know which early-season diseases to look for and create a careful scouting plan to confirm them and assist you in managing them long-term. Red crown rot (RCR) is becoming a more common early-season soybean disease that is tough to diagnose because it’s often mistaken for other diseases, like Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) or brown stem rot. Learning how to tell if you’re dealing with RCR will help you manage your crop and set you up to preserve your soybean yield.

Understanding Red Crown Rot

Caused by the soilborne fungus Calonectria ilicicola, RCR historically was a Southern disease threat, but it was first confirmed in Illinois in 2018. Since then, it has been found  in more counties in southern Illinois, western Kentucky, southern Indiana and a few counties in Missouri.

One of the most distinctive signs of an RCR infection is brick red fruiting structures at the base of the soybean plant; but unfortunately these reproductive structures are not always visible. RCR also causes yellow-speckled spots on leaves in the canopy. Because it’s a soilborne disease, farm machinery and tillage can move the disease from field to field if the machinery isn’t properly cleaned in between uses. The pathogen can easily move from an infected field to an uninfected field.

A comparison photo showing the main symptoms of Red Crown Rot. On the left is a close up of the red fruiting structures at the base of the plant; on the right is the yellow spotting of the canopy that infected plants see.

“Red crown rot devastates yield by destroying the root system until there’s just nothing left,” says Dale Ireland, Ph.D., Syngenta technical product lead. “RCR absolutely destroys the root system’s ability to uptake moisture and nutrients. There’s next to no yield in those early infected plants.”

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Red crown rot absolutely destroys the root system’s ability to uptake moisture and nutrients. There’s next to no yield in early infected plants.

Dale Ireland Technical Product Lead at Syngenta

The symptoms of RCR often resemble those of SDS, which is caused by a different pathogen – Fusarium virguliforme. “We believe that RCR may be more widespread than what people realize, since its presentation of yellow-speckled spots on the leaves are currently primarily associated with SDS,” says Ireland.

Another similarity between SDS and RCR is that soybean cyst nematodes (SCN) can exacerbate infections from both diseases. SCN also destroys the crop’s root system, opening the root system and creating more opportunity for either RCR or SDS to infect the roots.

If you suspect RCR, collect a sample and send to your local state Land Grant University diagnostic lab for analysis/confirmation. Don’t play plant pathologist — trust the experts at your local university.

Preserving Soybean Yield

No rescue treatments for RCR exist, but prevention and containment can help. If you suspect RCR, clean equipment thoroughly between fields or work areas with known infections last to prevent spreading the pathogen. Red crown rot thrives in temperatures between 77-86 degrees Fahrenheit so planting earlier can help prevent early infections. Another option is rotating to a non-host crop like corn and/or wheat for two years to break the RCR cycle.

One of the most effective ways to combat an RCR infection is using a seed treatment like Saltro® fungicide seed treatment, powered by ADEPIDYN® technology. Saltro has a 2(ee) label for the suppression of RCR in seven states: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee.

“Saltro has direct activity against Calonectria. It’ll effectively reduce the growth of Calonectria on the developing soybean root so the plant can potentially yield more,” says Ireland.

Syngenta supports a FIFRA Section 2(ee) recommendation for Saltro for suppression of Red Crown Rot in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee. Please see the Section 2(ee) recommendation to confirm that the recommendation is applicable in your state. The Section 2(ee) recommendation for Saltro should be in the possession of the user at the time of application.

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Ben Price, AFM, Farmers National Company, is the 2024 Professional Farm Manager of the Year after standing out as an innovative and dedicated leader in the farm management profession. As Clayton Becker, president of Farmers National Company, noted, “There is just no one more committed to providing the value and solutions our landowners know and expect.”

Price developed a passion for agriculture while growing up on his family’s sixth-generation farm – one of the oldest in Iowa. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural business from Iowa State University, equipping him with a solid foundation in business, economics and agricultural sciences. Price joined Farmers National Company in 2008 where, through the help of great mentors, he has continued to expand his deep knowledge of farm management.

“I pair my clients with available resources to improve their farms and protect it for future generations,” Price says. “I care about them and their farm.”

Price understands first-hand that every farm represents a legacy. Through hard work and skill, he earns the trust of his clients and helps them protect their farms for future generations.

Watch the video below to learn about Ben’s award-winning success story.

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Reducing soybean stress is one of the steps you can take to help maximize potential yield. This strategy protects the seedlings during their most vulnerable stage, which helps to improve the early season health and yield potential of your soybean crop.

How Does Stress Impact Soybeans?

There are two basic types of soybean stress: biotic and abiotic. Biotic stress is a biological type of stress, like a plant pathogen or insect pest. Abiotic stress is triggered by the environment, including cold, hot, wet and dry conditions. Both biotic and abiotic stressors reduce the growth rate of the soybeans, which in turn reduces yield potential.

“Ideally you don’t want any stress during the early vegetative growth stage since the soybeans have about as much biomass growing above ground as they do below ground,” says Dale Ireland, Ph.D., Syngenta technical product lead. “Any time early growth is slowed down, it also slows the root development rate. During early shoot and root development, slowing the root development rate nearly always leads to lost root size potential that won’t be regained in reproductive growth stages. During hot and dry weather during mid growing season, plants with less rooting will shed more flowers which leads to fewer pods and lower yields.”

Today’s elite commercial soybean lines are known to naturally abort up to 80% of the flowers they produce. Biotic and abiotic stressors influence this flower shed, largely. However, the more equipped that plant is to handle any stressors it may encounter, the more likely it is to retain more of those flowers and produce a higher potential yield.

Why is Plant Health Important for Yield?

Plant health refers to the overall health and vitality of the crop including how well the plant grows and how much yield it produces. “Be sure your neighboring plants are as uniform to each other as possible up and down the row. This is ideal for maximizing your variety’s genetic yield potential,” Ireland says. “With a uniform leaf canopy, your soybeans are able to optimize light capture and access more nutrients and water, which increases stress tolerance.”

How to Protect Your Soybeans from Stressors

From the moment your soybean seeds are planted, they are exposed to a variety of biotic and abiotic stressors. Crop protection measures, such as a broad-spectrum seed treatment and foliar fungicide application, are key to keeping soybeans safe and protected. When your soybeans are protected from stressors with a seed treatment, you are setting them up for a successful growing season by giving them the best chance for healthy development.

Ireland recommends Saltro® fungicide seed treatment to keep your soybeans healthy. “Saltro gives you increased confidence that when you put that seed in the ground, no matter what Mother Nature has in store for you, you’re going to get as healthy and uniform of a stand emerging as you can,” he says.

Saltro provides protection from Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), robust soybean cyst nematode protection and red crown rot suppression. In addition to the powerful protection, Saltro also enhances plant health and crop stress recovery due to MagniSafe™ technology, “One of the strongest aspects of MagniSafe technology is that it decreases plant stress recovery time. In other words, plants recover from stress predictably more quickly,” explains Ireland.

Even in the absence of known pest pressure, Saltro delivers benefits like increased root and shoot mass, which adds up to healthier and stronger plants, and higher yield potential.

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Seed treatments paired with properly timed herbicide and fungicide applications should be high priorities for managing your winter wheat crop, according to T.J. Binns, Syngenta agronomic service representative in west central Kansas. Consistency is the key for a successful season, which pays off for those who don’t drastically change their plans based on early-season weather.

“In ’23 – ‘24, the winter was extremely dry, so a lot of people gave up on the crop,” Binns says, noting that some growers didn’t put down any herbicide or fertilizer, believing it was futile because the crop was going to fail. But, as grain fill came in, rain and cool temperatures did, too.

“Then the problem these growers faced is that they had thin wheat and no herbicide,” he says. “We ended up with some weedy messes out there; they were doing a preharvest treatment to get the weeds burned down below the head so they could harvest.”

The lack of winter herbicide also topped-up the weed seed bank, a liability for growers who plant their wheat stubble back to corn and milo in the spring.

Be Nimble Without Dropping Your Weed Control

In the southern U.S. wheat belt, weather is a big variable. Likely scenarios should be included in growers’ crop plans, Binns says.

“When making a plan around weather, I suggest growers make a best-case, likely-case and worst-case scenario — for example, if it rains a lot, rains an average amount, or doesn’t rain at all — then think through how they can adapt and still be successful,” Binns says. Through every scenario, weed control is a must, he notes.

“Even if it doesn’t rain, weed control is important for this season and for all following crops,” he says. “Think through it and make the application at the correct time, instead of being reactive to weather.”

Axial® Star herbicide controls both annual grass and broadleaf weeds in spring wheat, winter wheat and barley, and provides rotational flexibility the following season. Axial Bold herbicide delivers improved consistency and broad-spectrum control of top grass weeds including wild oat, yellow foxtail, Italian ryegrass, green foxtail and barnyard grass.

Don’t Let Excessive Moisture Rot Your Wheat

Healthy roots are the key to fighting insect and disease pressure in the soil and producing more foliage above ground. However, moisture and temperature make the roots vulnerable to rot just as they’re getting established. Protection against fungal diseases should be top of mind, which is why CruiserMaxx® Vibrance® Cereals seed treatment is available for protection from early-season pests, including Fusarium rot.

“That’s what the seed treatments are there for — to prevent those diseases from infecting the plant early on,” Binns says.

Once the plants are up, stripe rust and Fusarium head blight (FHB) are a fungal-disease duo that requires targeted fungicides and two different application timings within roughly ten days. Stripe rust comes first, blown in from warmer climates, producing spores that embed in the plant’s leaves and inhibit photosynthesis. Spraying for rust at flag leaf is the goal.

“If you lose your flag leaf, you’re losing a lot of your photosynthetic ability to fill the head,” Binns says. For stripe rust, he recommends Trivapro® fungicide for its preventive and curative protection and long-lasting residual control.

FHB is the most economically devastating wheat disease in the U.S. and Canada according to the Crop Protection Network, in part because the inoculum is already present in field residue.

“Fusarium head blight infects the crop later, while the wheat is blooming,” Binns says, noting that free moisture, whether rain or heavy dew, is what introduces the fungus to the grain head. “That’s why a preventive application is really important, because if you wait until you see it, you’re already infected and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Miravis® Ace fungicide is Binns’ choice against FHB thanks to its active ingredient ADEPIDYN® technology. Miravis Ace offers long-lasting disease control to protect even the tillers that haven’t flowered yet, and it delivers plant-health benefits that support improved grain quality and increased potential yield long after spraying.

In addition to a tricky climate and significant disease pressure, growers in many western states are contending with kochia, a persistent and increasingly resistant weed. Binns says Talinor® herbicide is a good postemergence option later in the season. Talinor is also an ideal mix partner with Axial brand herbicides for one-pass grass and broadleaf weed control and can be applied from the crop’s two-leaf to pre-boot stage.

Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan

Overall, Binns advises wheat growers to make a plan and stick to it, even if conditions aren’t optimal. And if conditions become extreme, review the scenarios in your plan.

“Last year, the growers who treated their crop like they normally would did very, very well with yield,” he says. “The most important thing is to not panic. Proper planning and assorted crop protection products will get you through.”

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Below-ground pests like seedcorn maggots usually strike early in the season. By the time they’re detected, it’s often too late to salvage your pulse crops. However, with effective prevention strategies, you can protect your fields from planting through emergence, ensuring a healthy start.

How Seedcorn Maggots Impact Pulse Crops

Seedcorn maggots are the larvae of adult flies that resemble common houseflies with dark gray bodies, black legs and transparent wings. In late April, adult flies lay their eggs in the soil where they hatch into small, pale maggots about 1/4 inch long within 2 to 4 days. The maggots’ lifecycle lasts 2 to 3 weeks.

These maggots move easily in cool, wet conditions, feeding on developing seed and seedlings. This can lead to stunted plant development and impact pulse crop yield potential. Adult flies prefer fields with decaying vegetation or high organic matter, making untilled fields more vulnerable to infestation. Fields with a history of infestations are more susceptible to future damage from seedcorn maggots.

A close-up photo of wireworms against a dark background.
Seedcorn maggots are pale larvae that reach about 1/4 inch in length.

Seedcorn maggots harm young pulse crops by feeding on the seed germ and burrowing into seeds, eating the inside and leaving behind empty shells. They also feed on the stems of the seedlings, weakening and wilting the plants — sometimes leading to plant death.

This damage creates bare spots in the field, prevents seed germination and reduces plant emergence. No rescue treatments are available, so it’s too late to save affected crops once seedcorn maggots are established.

How to Prevent Seedcorn Maggots

Check for seedcorn maggots when preparing to plant your pulse crops. As you scout, look for eggs in the soil. Seedcorn maggot eggs appear as small, brown cylinders resembling tiny footballs. Early detection can help prevent an infestation before it affects your crop.

To avoid a seedcorn maggot infestation, consider delaying planting until the soil dries out and warms up. These pests thrive in cool, moist conditions, so warmer, drier soil conditions are less favorable for maggot development. Additionally, planting treated seeds can suppress these pests and be an effective preventive measure.

Coming Soon: A New Option to Suppress Seedcorn Maggots

A new seed treatment featuring the active ingredient isocycloseram is coming soon for use on cereal and pulse crops. This seed treatment will help suppress seedcorn maggots and other belowground pests and will be lethal to wireworms, helping protect crops from early-season damage. Isocycloseram will belong to Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC) Group 30, which will act through contact and ingestion and has no known cross resistance to other insecticides.

Be the first to learn more about isocycloseram.

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