ILeVO

Over the past few decades, soybean growers around the United States have faced a challenge to their crops – Sudden Death Syndrome – which is dependent on early-season moisture, but when it hits, is devastating to their crops. Bayer CropScience has developed a product that they have named ILeVO® seed treatment. Bayer claims it is the first product to provide breakthrough protection for soybean seedlings from the fungus that causes Sudden Death Syndrome.

SDS is present in all major soybean-growing regions and continues to adapt into new geographies, causing massive destruction to soybean growers' crops. Once a field is infected, SDS is there to stay. From 2009 to 2011, it is estimated that SDS caused annual yield losses of 42 million bushels per year, proving itself to be a voracious threat to soybean growers. Bayer product manager, John Carlson: "ILeVO® is the first and only seed treatment product for soybean growers that controls nematodes and sudden death syndrome. We just got registration and will be available for growers in the planting season of 2015. We are extremely excited because we were developing this product as just a broad based fungicide but found out it has a very specific attribute that controls the fungus Fusarium virguliforme which is the specific strain that causes sudden death syndrome. It also has nematode activity. We are calling this a blockbuster. You don't get those very often in the soybean market. It controls two of the top four yield robbing pests that face soybean growers today."

SDS is present in all major soybean-growing regions and continues to adapt into new geographies, causing massive destruction to soybean growers' crops. Once a field is infected, SDS is there to stay. From 2009 to 2011, it is estimated that SDS caused annual yield losses of 42 million bushels per year, proving itself to be a voracious threat to soybean growers .