CropLink

Last year commercialization of the new broad-spectrum nematicide called Acceleron NemaStrike ST was halted after some workers involved in the manufacturing process experienced rashes when their skin came into contact with the product, says Brent Craig, North America Seed Applied Solutions Revenue and Product Optimization Lead
for Bayer CropScience.

Bayer, who acquired Monsanto this fall, plans to offer Acceleron NemaStrike ST as a premium seed treatment for corn, cotton and soybean for 2019 planting. Craig said it will come with some strong messaging to wear chemical resistant gloves, long-sleeved shirt, long pants and socks and shoes while handling.

Tioxazafen, the active ingredient in NemaStrike, represents a new class of nematicides that is reported to affect the worm’s mitochondria, which is the energy factory of cells.

Matt Foes, a Sheffield, Illinois, farmer and agronomist, planted a 13-acre NemaStrike trial as part of a Monsanto grower program in 2018.

“This area has a long history of corn on corn. These river bottoms can vary from sand to heavy black soil. We know nematodes are present, but they can be patchy within the fields and difficult to detect during testing,” Foes says.

He explains this year’s strip trial of about 10 replications didn’t show a statistical yield difference. However, he plans to try the nematicide more broadly in 2019. “We know that in heavily infested areas, nematodes can rob 6 to 8 bushels per acre from corn yield,” he says.

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