Label updates timely as hot weather beckons

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With hot, dry conditions likely in spring, the label updates for Transform® WG insecticide, from Corteva Agriscience, will help growers to control aphid pests much later, in crops such as canola and cereals.

Aphids can be very damaging, and also act as vectors for disease, and are of particular concern in hot, dry conditions often encountered in spring.

Corteva Agriscience Customer Technology Specialist, Chris Brown, said new changes to the Transform WG insecticide label allow growers to control aphids later in the crop.

Transform is widely used across a range of crop types and the new change will allow growers to target pests, such as aphids, much later in the season.

Corteva Agriscience Customer Technology Specialist, Chris Brown, said in the past growers have used Transform early to control Green peach aphid and other aphids in canola.

He said the new registration meant they could now control Cabbage aphid later in the crop as well.

“Some of the older chemistries no longer control aphids so you are looking at a new option that will actually control the pest.”

“Transform WG is a locally systemic product so when applied to the leaf surface, it has good translaminar activity and moves through the leaf to the underside.”

“This will control aphids that are hiding underneath the leaf surface. Local systemic activity means Transform will move to new growth, providing protection in canola and cereal plants as the crop grows.”

“It's a very important rotational partner with new chemistry coming onto the market also that controls Green Peach and other aphids in canola.”

Mr Brown said in the past Transform® WG could only be used through to full bloom in canola, which could be hard to determine if the crop was ripening at different stages.

He said the new label meant Transform® WG could be used up to 14 days prior to harvest.

“Growers should monitor their crops and look for early flights of pests. Go early and try and knock down the numbers before they get a chance to do damage.”

“You can apply one Transform for aphids before you apply a different mode of action. If need be, you can go back with the second Transform, but you need a breaker in the middle.”

Transform is used over a range of broadacre and horticultural crops and has been tank mixed with a wide variety of fungicides, insecticides and foliar nutrients.

“We've never seen any incompatibilities with other products,” Mr Brown said. “You can be very confident when mixing Transform and other products.”

He said Transform could also be used as part of an Integrated Pest Management program as it was quite soft on key beneficials in crops.

“Beneficial insects provide almost another spray if you can maintain their population. Transform can knock out the initial populations of aphids and, then hopefully, the beneficials will build to a number where they can prevent further spraying.”

This year Transform was also registered to control aphids in forage brassicas. While it controls sucking insects, it can be paired with Success Neo which takes out Diamondback moth and Heliothis.

The ability to add Transform to Success Neo gives growers a broad-spectrum range of products to take out serious pests in forage brassicas while maintaining beneficial insects.

It gets them away from the older, more resistant harsher chemistry they've used in the past.