07/04/05 New grass herbicide on the way

Farm and Ranch July 4, 2005 Syngenta recently held three field days in the Pacific Northwest where it first publicly revealed the name for a new grass herbicide for cereal grains it hopes to have on the market in the spring of 2006. It's called Axial and the key grassy weeds it controls of special interest to Northwest wheat and barley producers are Italian ryegrass, wild oats and windgrass though it also controls several others. Axial is a Group 1 herbicide but is based on new chemistry and is called a "den" for Pinoxaden, compared to existing Group 1 products referred to as "fops" or "dims." Syngenta Brand Manager Brent Rockers, says that means Axial could be effective against some herbicide resistant biotypes. Rockers: "Our research trials show that where we have grasses in fields that may be showing resistance to one or two of the Group 1 products, that this product is working." But Rockers emphasizes the need for herbicide resistance management. Syngenta sales representative Ric Wesselman explains what Axial will provide his customers. Wesselman: "Probably three things there. The size of the crop and the window on the crop. The size of grasses, and not just one grass, across all grasses there is a wide window there. Crop safety. And the performance. This is a pretty quick product." Evaluations show Axial is safe on both wheat and barley even at twice the recommended rate. It has broadleaf tankmix flexibility, is rainfast in 30 minutes and has a very short half-life providing rotational crop flexibility. EPA approval of Axial is pending. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.