While you can rely on a number of new technologies for controlling pests in your no-tilled soybeans, this might be the year to focus more attention on disease concerns.

 

During the recent National No-Tillage Conference, representatives from Syngenta Crop Protection and Bayer CropScience spelled out the latest pest control ideas for no-tilled soybeans.

 

Mike Weber says no-till soybean growers shouldn’t worry as much about insects and should instead focus their attention on disease management. “This is where higher profits will be earned,” says Bayer’s senior technical service representative from Indianola, Iowa.

 

 

For disease control in no-tilled soybeans, Leon Hunter says timing is critical to gain a yield advantage. Research indicates fungicides applied on  1/4- to 3/4-inch pods on the fourth node and above provide the most effective timing, says the Syngenta tech rep from Belleville, Ill.

 

For control of most diseases, Quadris is a broad-spectrum fungicide that features a novel mode of action to provide significant yield and crop quality improvements. It should be broadcast at a rate of 6.2 ounces per acre in at least 10 gallons of water, and preferably with 25 to 20 gallons per acre, explains Hunter. 

 

He says most diseases that Quadris readily controls are already found in fields prior to soybean planting. To gain control of both insects and diseases during the critical reproductive stage, Hunter says, no-tillers are tankmixing the fungicide with 2.56 ounces per acre of Warrior insecticide.

Bayer’s new SoyGard with Protégé soybean seed-treated fungicide combines two ingredients…