A new fungicide for cereal growers

Farm and Ranch April 9, 2009 Bayer CropScience's fungicide Prosaro was introduced into the U.S. this year for cereal grain growers. Randy Myers, Bayer CropScience fungicide portfolio manager, says that wherever Prosaro has been registered elsewhere in the world its use has just skyrocketed. Myers: "It is a very significant introduction this year because it is the broadest spectrum fungicide that growers, no matter where they are, can have access to. It controls head diseases, leaf diseases, all the important problems growers have. As far as foliar diseases, Prosaro can be the answer." Myers says Prosaro is a combination of two active ingredients. One was is in Folicur, the other Proline. Myers: "The reason they are so complementary is that because they work differently in the plant and on the plant. One of the AI's goes into the plant very, very quickly. When you make the application, usually you have been out scouting and you see some evidence of disease and you need to hit that disease that is present very fast. And one AI gets in the plant tissue very quickly and starts shutting down the fungus. The other active ingredient goes in more slowly but it redistributes itself across the leaf surface. So you get better coverage and longer residual activity. So it is a one-two punch that creates this broad spectrum activity product that nothing else has been able to rival." Texas A&M did a multi-year, multi-site study of the effectiveness of current chemistry on rust. Myers: "And the conclusion that was drawn by the researchers was that Prosaro was better than any of the chemistry currently available. I love that presentation that was made." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.