Brad Allen

As you prepare to apply fungicide to protect crops and optimize yield, it’s important to ensure your application process is as effective as possible. Here are six tips from the experts at FBN® to help you maximize your next fungicide application :   1. Be specific in fungicide selection When selecting a fungicide for your needs, choose an active ingredient that gives the best performance rating for the disease you are trying to control. For example, Group 3 fungicides, such as Propicon 3.6EC , are considered to be a curative fungicide. Alternatively, applications with a Group 11 Fungicide, such as Azoxystrobin 2.08 , can help create a protective barrier before plant diseases are present. 2. Plan crop timing carefully  Timing is critical for fungicide applications. Apply too early and the crop misses the benefits of disease resistance; apply too late and it can be difficult to control diseases that are already present.  Research from the University of Kentucky revealed the ideal fungicide application timing for optimal corn yield response is between tasseling and silking (VT - R1)¹. Soybeans receive the most benefit around the R3 stage during pod formation². 3. Be strategic with application timing For optimal fungicide absorption, time foliar fungicide application with cooler temperatures and the presence of dew on leaves². For example, an early morning application is preferable compared to the mid afternoon because leaves grow increasingly dry over the course of the day as temperatures rise.  4. Reduce phytotoxicity with selective tank mixing  Fungicides aren’t always great tank mixing partners. Incompatibility, or the physical prevention of pesticides from mixing together in a spray solution, can lead to reduced effectiveness or even phytotoxicity. This is typically caused by the combination of pesticides used, water impurities or water temperature.  To avoid this risk, follow the label for watchouts on what should and shouldn’t be mixed with the particular fungicide you are planning to apply.   5. Increase water volume Fungicides need to get full coverage of the plant they’re being applied to, especially on corn. To ensure maximum coverage, opt for a higher rate of water such as 15-20 gallons of water per acre. Always read and follow label instructions before making an application.  Also remember that using quality water when spraying is key to maximizing your chemical and improving results on the ground.  6. Boost effectiveness with crop nutrition products and adjuvants  To strengthen crops, improve spreading and increase plant uptake. Crop nutrition products and adjuvants can be great additions to your crop protection plan.  Use Atarrus ™  to maximize plant health and energy as crops transition from a vegetative to reproductive stage. By enhancing photosynthesis, nitrogen assimilation and root growth, Atarrus can protect against late season stress and to help maximize yield. Consider adding IN-Zorb™ ADV , a plant safe, aquatic safe, nonionic surfactant designed to enhance coverage and plant absorption. By reducing the surface tension of droplets, In-Zorb ADV enables more uniform spreading during sprays. (This surfactant does not include APE or NPE, both of which have been associated with Arrested Ear Syndrome). To reduce off-target drift, try FieldGrip™ DRA . A high-concentrate emulsifiable deposition aid and drift management adjuvant, FieldGrip DRA can be used with most pesticides and spray nozzle types . Its APE-free formula is designed for use with herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. Shop for crop protection products With an incredibly diverse crop nutrition product portfolio, FBN Direct® has the plant health products you need this season. Shop conveniently anywhere, anytime online or through the FBN® mobile app with transparent list prices and delivery direct to your farm.  Sources: https://www.kygrains.info/blog/2019/7/7/time-for-foliar-fungicide-application-decisions-in-corn https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/how_to_get_the_most_out_of_your_fungicide_sprays Copyright © 2014 - 2022 Farmers Business Network, Inc. All rights Reserved. The sprout logo, “Farmers Business Network”, “FBN” and “FBN Direct” are servicemarks, trademarks or registered trademarks of Farmer's Business Network, Inc. FBN Direct products and services and other products distributed by FBN Direct are offered by FBN Inputs, LLC and are available only in states where FBN Inputs, LLC is licensed and where those products are registered for sale or use, if applicable. If applicable, please check with your local extension service to ensure registration status. Nothing contained on this page, including the prices listed should be construed as an offer for sale, or a sale of products. All products and prices are subject to change at any time and without notice. Terms and conditions apply. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS. It is a violation of federal and state law to use any pesticide product other than in accordance with its label. The distribution, sale and use of an unregistered pesticide is a violation of federal and/or state law and is strictly prohibited. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any information provided on this page or which is provided by us in any form. It is your responsibility to confirm prior to purchase and use that a product is labeled for your specific purposes, including, but not limited to, your target crop or pest and its compatibility with other products in a tank mix and that the usage of a product is otherwise consistent with federal, state and local laws. We reserve the right to restrict sales on a geographic basis in our sole discretion. You must have a valid applicator license to use restricted use pesticides. Please consult your state department of agriculture for complete rules and regulations on the use of restricted use pesticides, as some products require specific record-keeping requirements. All product recommendations and other information provided is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for consulting the product label or for specific agronomic, business, or professional advice. Where specific advice is necessary or appropriate, consult with a qualified advisor. Neither Farmer's Business Network Inc. nor any of its affiliates makes any representations or warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or any information contained in the material and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.

As you start to think about using fungicide and insecticide applications this year to combat disease and pests, you’ll want to consider the best ways to get the most out of your application. The last thing you want is yield loss.  Let’s look at the 7 things to know before applying insecticides and fungicides:  1. Know your heat Insect development can be tied to growing degree days (GDD). Growing degree days are a measurement of heat accumulation over time.(1) This is helpful in years where days are hotter than previous years and result in an acceleration of insect pressure and more opportunities for pests to affect yield potential by causing damage to roots and foliage. The GDD for 1st generation adult bean leaf beetles are 1,212 degree days.(2) Knowing the degree days can help develop increased awareness and scouting practices as your farm gets closer to these critical GDD. Did you know that you can see growing degree units by uploading your planting data and unlocking this feature on your FBN® account?  2. Scouting for Confidence Increase your confidence in making timely fungicide and insecticide applications with a quality crop scouting program. Typical crop scouting of walking fields every 7 days will help to see patterns of increased pest or disease pressure. Knowing the economic threshold of specific pests can build confidence in when the time is right to make an insecticide application. 3. Curative or Preventive? Fungicides can be segmented into two camps. Curative or Preventive. Preventive activity happens when the fungicide is present in the leaf tissue but before initial infection occurs. Applications with a Group 11 Fungicide such as Azoxystrobin 2.08 can help create a protective barrier before plant diseases are present.  A curative fungicide stops the early growth of the fungal pathogen after infection, the first step of the disease cycle, has occurred. Most curative fungicides are also preventive if applied prior to infection. Despite their name, curative fungicides will NOT cure a plant of the disease. They are not effective against advanced disease cycles. A Group 3 fungicide such as Propicon 3.6EC   is considered to be a curative fungicide. Azoxystrobin 2.08 and Propicon 3.6EC can be tank mixed together to provide a one tank mix solution that's both preventive and curative. 4. Inspect what you expect Do you know how much yield potential you saved from yield robbing pests and diseases this year? Uploading your harvest yield data to your FBN account will help you inspect and overlay many features to better understand crop performance. 5. The right time is the best time The performance and benefits of a fungicide application such as Azoxystrobin 2.08 and Propicon 3.6EC are optimized at ideal times in crop cycle. Soybeans for example would be in the R3 stage to get the most benefit. (3)  Consider adding Lambda-Cy 1EC   to your fungicide application. Insect feeding creates an entry point for fungal diseases to spread, so if you’ve got bugs, hammer them at the same time by adding an insecticide to your tank mix and keep them from spreading into other fields. 6. Optimize your Tank Mix Make the most of your fungicide and insecticide applications by using adjuvants and crop nutrition products. Adjuvants help increase performance of the product through multiple functions. Insecticides need to be applied on contact while the key component of fungicides is to be absorbed into the plant. Farmers First™ adjuvants can help aid in coverage and absorption. Find the right adjuvant pairing to your crop protection products with the Farmers First Adjuvant Guide.   Many growers leverage the fungicide application with the use of Nourish Vitals™ which aids in plant uptake.  Learn more about the complete lineup by downloading the Farmers First Crop Nutrition Product Guide . 7. Leverage your plan Growers have many choices today where to purchase their inputs. Knowing ahead of time the products you need gives you flexibility to ensure you are making the best purchasing decision for your operation. FBN has many tools to leverage the network of over 43,000 growers, including transparent list prices. Did you make a purchase from your local retailer? Upload the invoice to FBN to unlock pricing transparency and see what the current market price is for the products you are searching. Shop for Crop Protection Products Find the products you need at FBN Direct®. We have a diverse crop nutrition product portfolio to provide product options for growers like you to support plant health. Sources: https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/growing-degree-days-insect-pests https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/bean-leaf-beetle https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/cropnews/2011/07/effect-spraying-fungicides-r1-or-r3-soybean Copyright © 2014 - 2022 Farmers Business Network, Inc. All rights Reserved. The sprout logo, “Farmers Business Network”, “FBN” and “FBN Direct” are servicemarks, trademarks or registered trademarks of Farmer's Business Network, Inc. FBN Direct products and services and other products distributed by FBN Direct are offered by FBN Inputs, LLC and are available only in states where FBN Inputs, LLC is licensed and where those products are registered for sale or use, if applicable. If applicable, please check with your local extension service to ensure registration status. Nothing contained on this page, including the prices listed should be construed as an offer for sale, or a sale of products. All products and prices are subject to change at any time and without notice. Terms and conditions apply. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS. It is a violation of federal and state law to use any pesticide product other than in accordance with its label. The distribution, sale and use of an unregistered pesticide is a violation of federal and/or state law and is strictly prohibited. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any information provided on this page or which is provided by us in any form. It is your responsibility to confirm prior to purchase and use that a product is labeled for your specific purposes, including, but not limited to, your target crop or pest and its compatibility with other products in a tank mix and that the usage of a product is otherwise consistent with federal, state and local laws. We reserve the right to restrict sales on a geographic basis in our sole discretion. You must have a valid applicator license to use restricted use pesticides. Please consult your state department of agriculture for complete rules and regulations on the use of restricted use pesticides, as some products require specific record-keeping requirements. All product recommendations and other information provided is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for consulting the product label or for specific agronomic, business,or professional advice. Where specific advice is necessary or appropriate, consult with a qualified advisor. Neither Farmer's Business Network Inc. nor any of its affiliates makes any representations or warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or any information contained in the material and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.

Every season crops are planted with hopes of reaching their genetic yield potential. Nearly every year, plants struggle to reach this potential due to many external factors outside of a grower’s control. Growers do have control of supplementing their crops with products to help support plant health that ultimately can help minimize these yield robbing events. FBN® has a quality lineup of crop nutrition products that are made to help support plants throughout the growing season.   Here are 7 ways crop nutrition products can prevent yield loss. 1. Soil nutrient efficiency Nutrients and fertilizers applied alone can be tied up in the soil and unavailable to be utilized by plants. Use Inhabit Boost™ to improve nutrient  availability through the growing season to prevent any tie up or losses. Inhabit Boost is a micronized, humate-based source of stable soil carbon that requires less product at a lower rate than standard humic and fulvic products. It works faster to efficiently store and deliver soil nutrients and fertilizers, as well as help increase water utilization. Inhabit Boost tank mixes well with most fertilizers (A jar test is recommended).  Use Rate: 32oz/acre or 1 qt/40 gal Timing: Pairs well with normal soil applied fertilizer applications. 2. Safe, efficient foliar nitrogen source In-season plants can become deficient in nitrogen. A program seeking to address this deficiency and to maximize yield will want to use Inhabit N™ to supplement these nitrogen deficiencies. Inhabit N is a nitrogen source complexed with micronized, humate-based source of stable carbon that helps efficiently deliver nitrogen into the plant tissue. Use Rate : 32oz - 128 oz /acre  Do not apply concentrated, see label for dilution instructions Timing: Early vegetative through to late reproductive. 3. Root growth & nutrient acquisition Root growth is critical for acquiring nutrients and water uptake. Enhance this root growth with Atarrus™ . Atarrus is a soy protein-based peptide complex that contains a lateral root promoting peptide that signals root growth when foliar is applied as well as allowing the plant to more efficiently uptake soil nutrients.  Use Rate : 16 oz /acre Timing: Early vegetative through to late reproductive. Download the FBN Crop Nutrition Guide 4. Nitrogen assimilation Once the plant is up and growing it needs to expend energy to make use of applied Nitrogen and assimilate it into the plant in the form of chlorophyll, amino acids and,eventually, into proteins. Atarrus™ contains the 18 essential amino acids in an already usable peptide form to reduce the plant nitrogen demand and supplement in season plant energy. It also contains amino acids essential to Nitrogen assimilation into the plant such as glutamic acid, enabling more efficient nitrogen conversion within the plant. Use Rate : 16 oz /acre Timing: Early vegetative through to late reproductive. 5. Chemical stress Plants need to expend a lot of energy to metabolize different types of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides that can have negative growth and yield impacts. Atarrus™ contains 18 essential amino acids in peptide form that provide supplemental energy to help the plant better metabolize chemicals to minimize any negative damage from chemical stress. Atarrus is best used as a preventative product prior to stress but may be applied following stress to help the crop bounce back faster.  Use Rate : 16 oz /acre Timing: Early vegetative through to late reproductive. 6. Weather stress The impact of weather events such as being too hot, too wet, too cold, or too dry requires the plant to generate energy to get through those stressful periods. During this process of diverting energy to combat stress, yield potential is lost. Atarrus™ provides the plant with supplemental energy and tools to signal plant health to prevent negative impacts from weather stress such as too much or too little heat or moisture.  Use Rate : 16 oz /acre Timing: Early vegetative through to late reproductive. 7. Address deficiencies with nutrient antagonism Plants need a balanced package of micro and macronutrients to address any potential late season yield limiting deficiencies as well as prevent antagonism by overapplying any single nutrient that may tie others up. Nourish Vitals™ contains 4 micronutrients and 6 macronutrients essential for plant growth at a balanced ratio to help address in season needs while preventing this unwanted nutrient antagonism. In doing so, this provides a broad spectrum approach to address any late season yield limiting nutrient deficiencies.  Use Rate : 32 oz /acre Timing: Early vegetative through to late reproductive. Shop for crop nutrition products  Find the products you need at FBN Direct®. We have a diverse crop nutrition product portfolio to provide product options for growers like you to support plant health. Copyright © 2014 - 2022 Farmer's Business Network, Inc. All rights Reserved. The sprout logo, “Farmers Business Network”, “FBN” and “FBN Direct” are servicemarks, trademarks or registered trademarks of Farmer's Business Network, Inc. FBN Direct products and services and other products distributed by FBN Direct are offered by FBN Inputs, LLC and are available only in states where FBN Inputs, LLC is licensed and where those products are registered for sale or use, if applicable. If applicable, please check with your local extension service to ensure registration status. Nothing contained on this page, including the prices listed should be construed as an offer for sale, or a sale of products. All products and prices are subject to change at any time and without notice. Terms and conditions apply. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS. It is a violation of federal and state law to use any pesticide product other than in accordance with its label. The distribution, sale and use of an unregistered pesticide is a violation of federal and/or state law and is strictly prohibited. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any information provided on this page or which is provided by us in any form. It is your responsibility to confirm prior to purchase and use that a product is labeled for your specific purposes, including, but not limited to, your target crop or pest and its compatibility with other products in a tank mix and that the usage of a product is otherwise consistent with federal, state and local laws. We reserve the right to restrict sales on a geographic basis in our sole discretion. You must have a valid applicator license to use restricted use pesticides. Please consult your state department of agriculture for complete rules and regulations on the use of restricted use pesticides, as some products require specific record-keeping requirements. All product recommendations and other information provided is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for consulting the product label or for specific agronomic, business,or professional advice. Where specific advice is necessary or appropriate, consult with a qualified advisor. Neither Farmer's Business Network Inc. nor any of its affiliates makes any representations or warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or any information contained in the material and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.