BASF Canada on Monday issued an “urgent notice to growers” in which the company provided a list of new “agronomic recommendations” for users of its three imidazoline (“imi”) Group 2 herbicide lines.

“We all know that certain environmental conditions can delay the breakdown of herbicide residues in soil. But this year is different,” BASF Agricultural Solutions Canada’s technical solutions manager Jeff Bertholet wrote in the email notice, referring to widespread drought across Western Canada.

“Our research shows that in seasons where there has not been an adequate amount of rainfall throughout the season to facilitate herbicide breakdown in the soil, injury to more sensitive rotational crops is likely to occur.”

The current product labels for Odyssey, Solo and Viper herbicides already include lists of “follow crops” that may or shouldn’t be planted following a crop year in which the imi chemicals were applied.

However, Bertholet wrote last week, the research points to “a high degree of risk of injury for sensitive crops, such as canola, durum wheat and canary seed.”

BASF thus recommends growers in the dark brown, black, grey or grey wooded soil zones whose fields received less than 125 mm of accumulated rainfall between June 1 and Sept. 1 this year should not plant canola, durum wheat or canary seed in 2022 if they applied Solo ADV, Solo Ultra or Viper ADV on those fields in 2021.

In those same four soil zones, growers who applied Odyssey NXT, Odyssey Ultra or Odyssey Ultra NXT in 2021 should not seed durum or canary seed on those fields in 2022.

Also, if they applied Odyssey NXT, Odyssey Ultra or Odyssey Ultra NXT on those fields in 2020, they should not grow non-Clearfield canola on those fields in 2022 either. Clearfield seeds are bred for tolerance to imi herbicides.

Meanwhile, growers who farm in the brown soil zone and whose fields got less than 125 mm of accumulated rainfall between June 1 and Sept. 1 this year — and those who received less than 15 mm of rainfall in any of the months of June, July or August this year, regardless of total accumulated rainfall in that three-month period — should not plant canola, durum wheat or canary seed in 2022 if they applied Solo ADV, Solo Ultra or Viper ADV on those fields in 2021.

Also in the brown zone, under the same moisture conditions, growers who applied Odyssey NXT, Odyssey Ultra or Odyssey Ultra NXT in 2021 should not seed durum or canary seed on those fields in 2022.

Also, if growers in that zone applied Odyssey NXT, Odyssey Ultra or Odyssey Ultra NXT in 2020, they should not seed non-Clearfield canola on those fields in 2022.

A company representative noted in an email response to GFM Wednesday that the company has sent out similar notices in previous growing seasons with limited rainfall.

Given this summer’s drought and heat, though, “the risk of crop injury in 2022 is the most extreme that we have observed, and we think that injury is no longer just a risk but a high probability,” the company said.

‘Not supporting’

Due to the “extreme risk of crop injury” in those cases, BASF “will not be supporting” canola, durum or canary seed as follow crops for the 2022 season “if these recommendations are not followed,” the company said in its notice to growers.

In other words, the company said later, if a grower chooses to ignore or not follow its recommendations after receiving the notice, he or she “will not be eligible for coverage under our product performance assurance policies.”

Growers whose fields “meet or exceed the necessary rainfall requirements as outlined in our notice” would still receive support under those policies similar to previous years.

Furthermore, BASF said, growers in dry regions still can seek support if need be for “labelled rotational crops not listed in the notice of risk” — crops such as, say, spring wheat or barley.

Solo ADV is an imazamox herbicide, while Odyssey NXT is a combination of imazamox and imazethapyr. Viper ADV combines imazamox with bentazon, the Group 6 active ingredient in Basagran. Odyssey Ultra, Odyssey Ultra NXT and Solo Ultra combine their respective actives with sethoxydim, the Group 1 active ingredient in Poast.

On its imi herbicide labels, BASF has said “certain environmental conditions” such as drought, excessive cold and extremes in soil pH may delay breakdown of herbicide residues in soil, leading to “increased potential for injury to succeeding crops to occur.”

That potential, the company said, is a property of herbicides that persist in soil and depend on soil microbial activity and non-microbial processes such as hydrolysis to break down.

The product labels for Solo ADV and Viper ADV on BASF’s website still say durum, canary seed or non-Clearfield canola, among some other crops, can be grown safely as follow crops in the year after those products were applied.

The Odyssey NXT label, meanwhile, says studies show crops that may be safely planted in the year after an application include durum and canary seed as well as spring barley, spring wheat, chickpeas, field corn, lentils, dried field peas, soybeans, oats, Clearfield canola and Clearfield lentils.

On the same label, however, the wait to seed flax, non-Clearfield canola or non-Clearfield sunflower is two years following Odyssey NXT application, in almost all regions of Western Canada.

The label exception is the Peace region of Alberta, where the recropping interval for those three crops is “a minimum” of 34 months — and growers there first need to run a field bio-assay a year ahead of time, to confirm “normal growth.”

Corteva, whose imi herbicide Ares SN is a combination of imazamox and imazapyr, has similar text about “certain environmental conditions” on that product’s label.

For Ares — a brand BASF sold to Corteva in 2019, along with the Clearfield Canola Production System — the label now posted on Corteva Canada’s website calls for two years after application before planting non-Clearfield canola, durum, flax or sunflower.

The same label says crops such as canary seed, chickpeas, field peas, field corn, Clearfield canola, lentils (including Clearfield), spring wheat (including Clearfield) or spring barley may be planted one year after application of Ares.

‘Unprecedented’

Concerns about imi herbicide carryover in Prairie crops have been aired in previous dry years.

In a March 2019 article on Cargill’s website, company agronomist Amy Chomyshen reported canola growers in her central Saskatchewan region saw “delayed, weak” canola seedlings in the spring of 2018 in fields where imi herbicides were applied in 2017.

During the relevant three-month period in 2017, the region “did not receive much, if any, rainfall” and the dry season caused the herbicides to carry over to the following spring without breaking down, she wrote.

She thus recommended growers who sprayed imazamox on pulses in the dry 2018 season plan on seeding those fields to a cereal crop or Clearfield canola the following spring.

The breakdown process for most herbicides — including but not limited to the imis — is “primarily driven by microbial degradation within the soil,” BASF said via email Wednesday. “Microbial populations require a hospitable soil environment with moist, warm soils to break down herbicide residues.”

Thus, in seasons where growers experience drought, injury may be seen in “more sensitive” crops seeded the following season — even when the label directions for recrops are followed — as product labels “are not developed under extreme environmental conditions.”

And in a “historically unprecedented” year such as 2021, BASF said, for herbicides with “persistent characteristics,” it may be necessary to extend the label-listed rotational crop options by a year when “adequate herbicide degradation would not have occurred.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

— Article updated Sept. 22 to include comment from BASF.

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The Delaware-based agribusiness, under the name Corteva, Inc., is scheduled to begin “when-issued” trading on the NYSE on May 24, and “regular way” trading on June 3, under the ticker symbol “CTVA.”

DowDuPont — the holding company formed in 2017 by the merger of Dow and DuPont — announced Wednesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has declared Corteva’s registration statement effective, and that the DowDuPont board of directors has approved Corteva’s spinoff.

“This milestone marks the completion of all the regulatory requirements for us to separate into a leading pure-play independent agriculture company on June 1,” Corteva CEO James Collins said in a release.

“Corteva Agriscience is well positioned to drive long-term value for shareholders as we leverage our balanced portfolio and robust innovation pipeline to deliver the complete solution farmers need to maximize yield and profitability,”

The spinoff calls for each current shareholder in DowDuPont to receive one share of Corteva common stock for every three shares of DowDuPont common stock they hold.

DowDuPont on June 1 will also rename itself DuPont de Nemours, Inc., doing business under the name DuPont.

The new DuPont will operate the two companies’ combined specialty chemical product operations. Dow and DuPont’s combined materials science divisions, which were spun off in March, now operate under the Dow name.

Corteva’s operations in Canada include seeds, sold under the Pioneer and Brevant brand names, with herbicide-tolerant trait systems including Enlist, Optimum GLY, SmartStax and, since February, Clearfield.

Corteva’s roster of crop protection chemicals in the Canadian market includes, among others, herbicides such as Enlist Duo, Lontrel, Frontline, Grazon and Tordon; insecticides such as Lorsban and Delegate; seed treatments such as Lumiderm, Lumisena and Lumivia; and fungicides such as Acapela and Nova.

Worldwide, the Corteva agriculture segments have booked combined annual net sales of over US$14 billion in recent years. Their combined EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for 2018 came in at US$2.05 billion. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The crop protection arm of the German chemical company said Wednesday it wants to move the Canadian head office “closer to customers” after closing its deals last year to buy a “range of businesses and assets” in the sector from Bayer CropScience.

The move is to include “reorganization of several roles” within the head office, the company said.

“The strategic decision to move our headquarters west will amplify our ability to walk alongside Canadian farmers as they look to deliver sustainable agricultural solutions both today and, in the future,” Jonathan Sweat, BASF Ag Solutions’ vice-president for business management in Canada, said in a release.

That said, the company will “maintain its presence” in both Western and Eastern Canada.

BASF’s canola, cereals and pulse business will operate out of the new headquarters in Calgary, while its corn, soy, horticulture, and specialty products portfolio “will continue to be run from the east.”

BASF Ag Solutions’ leadership team will also “continue to span the country” with “key roles” in Calgary and Mississauga as well as in Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg.

In the wake of its takeover last year of U.S. seed and ag chem firm Monsanto, Bayer sold off several major assets to BASF including its traits and breeding for soybeans, cotton and canola.

Significantly for the Canadian market, that included the Liberty (glufosinate ammonium) herbicide business and LibertyLink and InVigor traits, a seed processing facility in Lethbridge, chemical formulation and distribution facilities in Regina and a seed breeding centre in Saskatoon. Those deals alone saw about 300 Bayer employees working in commercial R+D, breeding and production in Canada transfer to BASF.

BASF also bought Bayer’s Poncho, ILeVO, VOTiVO and COPeO seed treatments, its Nunhems global vegetable seeds business, its research and development platform for hybrid wheat, its canola-quality juncea research and its Xarvio digital farming platform.

BASF also reached a deal earlier this year to sell its Clearfield herbicide-tolerant canola system and imazamox/imazapyr herbicides to DowDuPont’s Corteva Agriscience.

Canada’s Competition Bureau had ordered BASF to find a buyer for the Clearfield business, as a condition of its approval for BASF to pick up the LibertyLink system. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Corteva, the merged seed and chemical business of Dow and DuPont, announced Wednesday it has closed a deal to buy the Clearfield system, including its herbicide-tolerant canola trait and related imidazolinone herbicide chemistry, for an undisclosed sum.

German chemical giant BASF had been seeking a buyer since June 2018 for the Clearfield business, as a condition for Canadian regulatory approval of BASF’s separate deal for Bayer CropScience’s LibertyLink system.

“This bolt-on acquisition strengthens Corteva Agriscience’s already established position in Clearfield canola seeds and traits and positions us well to deliver a holistic trait and herbicide solution to growers,” Rajan Gajaria, Corteva’s executive vice-president of business platforms, said in a release.

Corteva had previously licensed the Clearfield trait for use in both its Pioneer and Brevant (formerly Nexera) seed brands. The company said Wednesday this deal will allow it to expand its position to include outlicensing of the Clearfield trait to other seed companies in both Canada and the U.S.

The deal also gives Corteva the Clearfield system’s imazamox/imazapyr herbicides, which BASF has sold under the brand name Ares, and its imazamox herbicides sold under the Tensile brand in Canada.

Thus, Corteva said, it gets “the full canola system to offer to its customers and potential licensee partners in these important markets.”

Unlike the LibertyLink system, which now goes to BASF, and the Roundup Ready herbicide-tolerant traits now owned by Bayer, Clearfield canolas are considered non-GMO.

However, Clearfield is known to command only a fraction of the herbicide-tolerant canola seed market share held by the other two systems.

As BASF said Wednesday in a separate statement, its divestment of the Clearfield system is in response to the consent agreement it entered “to eliminate any potential concerns of the Canadian Competition Bureau” regarding BASF’s LibertyLink deal last summer.

BASF’s deal for LibertyLink business — which itself stemmed from Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto in early June — “would have substantially lessened or prevented competition in the supply of canola seeds and traits by reducing rivalry between the LibertyLink and Clearfield trait systems,” the Competition Bureau said at the time.

Farmers, the bureau said last summer, would likely see the “loss in rivalry” translate to higher canola seed prices, higher canola herbicide prices and “increased payments related to the use of Clearfield intellectual property.”

The bureau had said it was also concerned BASF’s acquisition of LibertyLink would have “blunted” seed companies’ incentive to keep investing in breeding Clearfield canolas, resulting in “a loss of choice for growers.”

The bureau’s agreement with BASF was “necessary to protect competition and innovation in this important industry following Bayer’s recent acquisition of Monsanto,” interim commissioner of competition Matthew Boswell said at the time in a release. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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BASF, developer of the Clearfield Production System, on Monday announced a new “evergreen,” or open-ended, version of its Clearfield Commitment, available for growers to sign starting this fall ahead of the 2015 growing season.

The evergreen commitment, which requires growers’ signature one time only for each Clearfield crop, replaces the previous commitment process involving yearly or multi-year commitments, the company said Monday. “This means that growers who sign a commitment in 2015 will not be required to sign again in the future.”

Growers now have until July 9, 2015 to sign and submit the new Clearfield Commitment forms for next year, the company said.

“The new commitment not only streamlines the process for growers and makes it easier to grow Clearfield crops, but ensures trait integrity to optimize yields and helps to drive further innovation in the industry,” Chris Vander Kant, the Clearfield marketing manager for Mississauga-based BASF Canada, said in a release.

For Clearfield wheat, the evergreen commitment will be a “retailer-specific” agreement, BASF said, so a grower who’s previously signed a Clearfield Commitment must sign the new commitment with his or her Clearfield wheat retailer.

A grower signing an evergreen commitment for Clearfield canola, wheat or sunflower crops will not have to register his or her acres each year, BASF said.

For Clearfield lentils, however, a grower signing the evergreen commitment will first need to sign a “final” commitment that requires reporting of Clearfield lentil acres each year going forward.

A grower who uses farm-saved seed for either Clearfield lentils or Clearfield wheat will also have to submit a Clearfield Confirm-test each year, to ensure “trait integrity” for Clearfield herbicide tolerance, BASF said.

In those cases, the company added, Clearfield seed testing will still be handled free of charge through accredited labs in Western Canada.

For Clearfield canola and sunflowers, however, the evergreen commitment will still require growers to use Clearfield certified seed to plant a single commercial crop — meaning the crop, once harvested, can’t be “brown-bagged” for future crops or sold to other growers. The annual Clearfield Commitment fee will also still apply.

BASF said Tuesday it would also continue to invest a “portion” of Clearfield lentil herbicide sales revenue back into lentil development through the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC), when matched with a signed commitment.

Launched in 1995 starting with canola, the Clearfield line of crops is tolerant to the imidazolinone family of herbicides and is developed using conventional breeding methods, thus recognized as non-transgenic. — AGCanada.com Network

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