Southwestern Ranchers Get New State-of-the-Art Tool in Rangeland Restoration
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INDIANAPOLIS — Southwestern ranchers plagued by pricklypear cactus now have a new, more effective, faster-acting herbicide control option from Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont.
The new herbicide MezaVue™ provides early visual signs of activity and a faster, higher level of control than the product used now in most aerial applications on pricklypear. Given those advantages, Corteva Agriscience experts call MezaVue “the new standard for pricklypear control.”
With three active ingredients, MezaVue is absorbed more thoroughly and causes a distinct yellowing of pear pads within three to four months of application. With the old aerial standard (Tordon® 22K herbicide), absorption was slower and yellowing could take a year or longer, depending on environmental conditions.
Pricklypear cactus is notoriously slow to show symptoms and die. With aerial applications of the old standard, the entire process could take three years or more. With MezaVue, herbicidal activity is noticeably faster.
“Faster symptoms with MezaVue herbicide deliver a peace-of-mind benefit that the herbicide is working,” says Jillian Schmiedt, range and pasture product manager for Corteva Agriscience. “Faster control means native grasses are able to respond sooner to get rangeland back into production. And, the more cactus you control, the more of that area you open to grazing.”
MezaVue™ herbicide also is gentler on oversprayed, non-target oak trees. In West Texas aerial trials, oaks have tolerated MezaVue better than existing options, and recovered from any effect sooner.
Pricklypear is associated both with loss of grazing and animal health problems, says Dr. Charlie Hart, a rangeland ecologist and market development specialist for Corteva Agriscience.
University researchers have documented that during drought pricklypear density can increase 25 percent to 30 percent each year while other plants decline. At that rate, pricklypear density doubles every three years.
Pricklypear is susceptible to MezaVue almost any time of year when the air temperature is above freezing and the plant can be adequately covered with herbicide. Aerial applications have been most effective as the plant finishes its growth cycle in late summer and fall before new pads have hardened. That’s typically August through October. Where the cactus is mixed with mesquite, aerial applications may be more effective when mesquite is dormant so foliage won’t intercept the herbicide before it reaches the cactus. That’s typically February through April.
The recommended broadcast rate of MezaVue is 32 ounces per acre. The herbicide should be carried in 20 gallons total volume for ground application or 5 gallons by air. For individual plant treatments, the recommended herbicide concentration is 1 percent.
“We know how effective this herbicide is, but coverage is still the key,” Hart says. “The herbicide has to reach the pricklypear plant to work. As an individual plant treatment, efficacy with this product has been near 100 percent in our trials.”
About Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont
Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont (NYSE: DWDP), is intended to become an independent, publicly traded company when the previously announced spinoff is complete by June 2019. The division combines the strengths of DuPont Pioneer, DuPont Crop Protection and Dow AgroSciences. Corteva Agriscience™ provides growers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry — including some of the most recognized brands in agriculture: Pioneer®, Encirca®, the newly launched Brevant™ Seeds, as well as award-winning Crop Protection products — while bringing new products to market through our solid pipeline of active chemistry and technologies. More information can be found at www.corteva.com.
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™®Trademarks of Dow AgroSciences, DuPont or Pioneer and their affiliated companies or their respective owners. MezaVue and Tordon 22K are federally Restricted Use Pesticides. MezaVue is not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions. ©2018 Dow AgroSciences LLC
Contacts
Kacey Birchmier
Corteva Agriscience™
Agriculture Division of DowDuPont
515-535-6149
kacey.birchmier@dupont.com
John Wallace
J. Wallace Communications
817-488-7668
john@jwallacepr.com