By Blake Jackson
Willard Agri Service provides agricultural services across Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region. Kent County, Maryland farmer and custom applicator E.J. Paniere quickly noticed a difference in his burndown herbicide application.
“I ran probably 300 acres of tank mix with SATCHUR8 that first day,” Paniere recalls. “I'd been all the way around the first field and sprayed a couple of other ones and when I came back to the first field, I could see right to the line, full coverage.” Impressed by the results, E.J. immediately contacted his Willard Ag Farm Performance Advisor, Jamie Kimbles.
“I said, ‘Jamie, I can actually see, right to the end of the boom, where I’ve sprayed with the wetness of the plant.’” For E.J., this meant the herbicide would adhere longer to the weeds, improving overall control. “It holds that chemical on their longer and that’s a good thing. Where I used SATCHUR8 this past year, it meant a lot less respraying.”
Kimbles notes that E.J.’s experience reflects the typical impact of SATCHUR8. “When I go back and scout our fields after using it, I’m seeing a lot less weed pressure,” Paniere says.
“And that was the main issue we were out to fix, is just having to go back and respray all these problem weeds either from breaks in residual control or incomplete kill of the weeds following post emergent applications.”
SATCHUR8 is part of the Willard Farm Performance System (FPS), a suite of tools, products, and services tested extensively to support farmers’ productivity.
“SATCHUR8 is a great example of what we are working to do for farmers with FPS. When we avoid resprays, that's real money. And it's real money that goes back into the pockets of our farmer customers,” says Mike Twining, Willard Vice President of Innovation.
Larry Fiene, agronomist and SATCHUR8 formulator, adds, “It also makes pre-emerge herbicides last longer. Residual weed control is lasting longer because the active ingredient is being retained in the soil upper profile longer. In side-by-side trials, the SATCHUR8 tank mix lasted four to six weeks longer than the standard herbicide application.”
“We had fewer resprays this year for problem weeds than we’ve ever had," Kimbles said. "And I would attribute that to the SATCHUR8. It’s always got to be a win-win for the growers and for us, and that’s what we get with SATCHUR8.”
Photo Credit: gettyimages-zoomtravels
Categories: Pennsylvania, Business, Crops