Awaiting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration approval for the 2001 growing season, a new formulation of Touchdown herbicide from Zeneca Ag Products will eliminate any concerns about yellow flash and other crop tolerance problems you may have in Roundup Ready corn and cotton. The yellow flashing was a concern for a few no-tillers in Roundup Ready soybean fields last year that were treated with the former Touchdown 5 product or some other glyphosate products.

Chuck Foresman, Zeneca’s North American technical business lead for non-selective herbicides, says the new formulation combines a glyphosate compound with a balanced adjuvant delivery system called IQ Technology that eliminates yellow flash concerns. The new combination should also improve spray delivery and retention with glyphosate, the active ingredient in both Touchdown and Roundup.

Zeneca studies indicate that when applied alone, 15 percent of glyphosate is utilized by the plant 24 hours after application. Utilization increases to 25 percent when an adjuvant is added to the glyphosate. However, Bill Beutke, North American market lead for Touchdown, says the new Touchdown formulation with adjuvant delivery provides nearly a 50 percent level within 24 hours after application.

Once this new formulation is registered, Touchdown will be approved for use over Roundup Ready corn, soybeans and cotton for all burndown applications. The new label is expected to include 170 weeds controlled over a broad range of crops. Usage rates and pricing should be comparable to Roundup Ultra, says Foresman.

Zeneca is also testing a new corn herbicide called mesotrione that…