Many times, we have discussed the need to stay on top of the game when it comes to those issues that would rob your crops of what they need to be successful. Nowhere is this more important than when we talk about dealing with the ?billion-dollar pest?, corn rootworm. Bayer is ready to launch their newest weapon in the fight against rootworm and other corn pests, and they just cleared one of the final hurdles to making that happen.
Bayer has developed their third generation of corn rootworm traits, SmartStax? PRO. At the end of January, Bayer received a safety certificate for import and feed use from China?s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. This marked the final hurdle for the commercial introduction of the product.
Chris Souder is with Bayer. He says that by getting this final approval, farmers will now have access to SmartStax? PRO. He talks about what this means for farmers in the future when working to control corn rootworm.
Souder explains why they needed Chinese approval of the product to move forward.
Souder says it is important, especially in places like Iowa where we saw some increased rootworm pressure last year, to have multiple tools at your disposal to combat the pests in your field.
SmartStax? PRO is not a one-trick pony by any means. While it goes after corn rootworms. It also protects your fields against a whole host of other yield-robbing pests. Souder talks about the other protections it offers.
Bayer intends to run trials around the country, this year, to finalize their data before release for the wide release coming for the 2022 growing season.
Souder says the third generation of SmartStax? technology continues Bayer?s commitment to offering the best technologies available to producers.
