New Pest Control Products for Soybean Producers

I do not intend to use this forum to promote any particular product, but rather I intend to inform soybean producers of new products that are or soon will be available for them to use in their operations. Such is the subject of this article that presents a brief summary about two new pest control products.

Lucento, a fungicide from FMC, is labeled for application to soybeans to control numerous diseases–including frogeye leaf spot (FLS), Cercospora leaf blight, and target spot–that can adversely affect the Midsouth soybean crop. It contains Bixafen (Group 7–SDHI, medium to high risk of resistance development according to FRAC ) and Flutriafol (Group 3–DMI, triazole, medium risk of resistance development) fungicides. Click here to access the Lucento label.

According to FMC, Lucento combines one of the most systemic triazoles (i.e. Flutriafol) with the SDHI fungicide Bixafen to provide effective control of labeled diseases under heavy disease pressure. The active ingredients exhibit both acropetal (upward toward the apex) and translaminar (through the leaf from one surface to the other) movement to provide both curative and preventative disease control. Its major strong point is its activity on diseases such as FLS that have developed resistance to strobilurin (Group 11–QoI’s) fungicides. Click here for results from 2018 Iowa research (Dr. Daren Mueller) where Lucento was included in evaluations and showed good activity against FLS. Like results were obtained from fungicide evaluations in Ohio (Dr. Anne Dorrance).

Caveat: Lucento’s active ingredients do not represent new modes of action that are not presently available in other fungicide mixes [Click here (Table 2) for other fungicide mixes that contain 3 + 7 fungicides]. Rather, the Group 7 fungicide in Lucento is a new fungicide not available in other mixes. Also, unlike other premixes that contain 3 + 7 components, it does not contain a Group 11 strobilurin component. Since its components do not represent new modes of action, care should be taken to not overuse any of the fungicide mixes that contain components with these modes of action in order to protect these chemistries from resistance development in targeted pathogens.

Trunemco is a nematicide management seed treatment from Nufarm that has been submitted to the US-EPA for registration (thus, no label yet). It is expected to be launched in the US in 2019 pending its successful registration. The product, a combination of a biochemical and microorganism [Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) inducer—cis-Jasmone (2-Cyclopenten-1-one, 3-methyl-2-(2Z)-2-pentenyl-) at 0.88% and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain MBI 600 at 1.00%], is touted to defend against a broad spectrum of nematodes. It has a low toxicity profile, which improves product handling safety for growers/applicators and reduces environmental risks. Its MOA is listed as “induced systemic resistance, protective colonization”. It is stated to have impact on the expression of seven key defense genes in plants, including soybeans. It is compatible with other seed treatments.

Caveat: I cannot find information about which nematode species this product is purported to control/manage in soybean fields, or what its efficacy is against those unknown nematodes. It is assumed that information will be contained in the forthcoming label.

Again, the contents of this article are meant to inform growers of these forthcoming new pest control products, and in no way endorses their use or effectiveness in lieu of other products or management options.

Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, Feb. 2019, larryheatherly@bellsouth.net