Syngenta has asked the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve a label expansion, called HiFlex, for its corn herbicides that contain bicyclopyrone: Storen, Acuron, Acuron Flexi and Acuron GT. The company expects approval in time for the 2027 growing season.
If approved, the change would double the maximum amount of bicyclopyrone a grower may apply each year, giving more room for overlapping residual herbicide programmes, in which one product is laid down before the weeds emerge and another follows to keep later flushes in check.
"Growers have told us they want flexible programs that allow them to better position active ingredients throughout the season based on their weed pressures and management practices," said Mark Kitt, a technical product lead at Syngenta. He said the new label would allow Storen, Acuron or Acuron Flexi before emergence followed by Acuron GT after emergence, a sequence the current labels do not permit.
The expansion would also raise the highest rate allowed in a single application. Storen would go up to 3.1 quarts per acre from 2.4, an increase of 29 percent; Acuron Flexi to 3 quarts per acre from 2.25, 33 percent more; and Acuron GT to 4.5 pints per acre from 3.75, 20 percent more.
The proposal is still under review, and nothing changes on the current labels until the EPA registers it. For corn growers fighting hard-to-control weeds, the practical question will be whether the extra flexibility fits their own weed pressure and resistance management plans.
Photo: Zeynel Cebeci / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Global Agriculture
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