Glacier FarmMedia – BASF will change the base seed treatment for InVigor canola hybrids next year out of an “abundance of caution,” says a senior company official.
The announcement follows a string of farmer complaints this spring about establishment issues in their InVigor stands.
The company will remove Vercorace, debuted this year as a broad-spectrum fungicide and flea beetle control, and release a seed treatment package centred on Syngenta’s Helix Vibrance for next year.
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Flea beetle and cutworm control product Lumiderm will still be available as an optional seed treatment and the company also plans to debut Buteo start, launched in 2020 by Bayer for additional flea beetle control, said Brent Collins, BASF Canada head of seeds and traits.
In June, BASF released a statement acknowledging the reported InVigor issues. The same statement announced that the company had formed a team to find the source of the problem. That investigation continues.
Only “certain geographies” and “certain hybrids” were impacted, said Collins.
“There’s so many parameters that we still can’t completely pinpoint what the root causes are, because we believe there’s a number of elements,” he said. “We believe the best probability of having a successful InVigor experience in 2023 will be to migrate to Helix Vibrance, which is a canola seed treatment that’s been utilized in the Canadian marketplace for a number of years.
“When you think of all the different environmental conditions, whether it’s moisture or any of the other parameters… we’re just not in a position to pinpoint the key elements. We just need to have a greater degree of confidence.”
InVigor is one of the most popular choices for canola in Western Canada. Only a small percentage of farms reported issues, said BASF, although the company did not say how many.
“Even one of these acres is too many from BASF’s perspective,” Collins said.
InVigor varieties come with a product performance policy, and every producer who lodged a complaint earlier this year has been contacted by BASF, said Collins, adding that most affected acres have since filled out.
“We’re treating this very seriously, even though it’s on a very minor number of acres,” he said. “For growers who experienced it, we want to make sure that we’re standing behind our product.”
– This article was originally published at the Manitoba Co-operator.
