Farm Director, KC Sheperd, is talking with BASF Technical Marketing Manager Kim Tutor about fungicide options for farmers.
“BASF is committed to bringing marketing solutions to help growers solve everyday problems,” Tutor said.
While Tutor’s main focus is on fungicides for corn and wheat, she also talked about some options for soybeans.
“In general, this season in the Midwest, it was really hot and really dry,” Tutor said.
While not many producers saw disease during the season, Tutor said there were “pockets” that received more moisture than others. Where there was more moisture, Tutor said, there was disease.
There are three things you need for disease, Tutor said, including the host, the pathogen, and the right environmental conditions.
“This year was the perfect example of that,” Tutor said. “All it took was just a little bit of humidity or a little rain, and that map started to light up like a Christmas tree.”
While it can be easy to wait and see if the disease comes, Tutor said it is important to have preventative applications ready beforehand. Fungicides are not only for disease control, Tutor said, but they also help mitigate environmental stress.
“We never know what kind of stress our crops are going to experience, but they are going to experience something,” Tutor said.
BASF fungicide products help promote better gas exchange, root growth, cooler canopy temperatures, and more.
“You are going to get all of those environmental stress mitigation factors, those improvements in growth efficiency, you are going to help those plants continue to photosynthesize, which ultimately drives yield and ensures growers get a return on their investment,” Tutor said.
Tutor also talked about some application options BASF offers for winter wheat in Oklahoma. Click the LISTEN BAR above the story to hear the full conversation!
