Don’t Pay the Price

Prices dominated our conversations this year, but this issue is packed with practical knowledge that might save you some headaches next year.
Don’t Pay the Price
Prices dominated our conversations this year — we welcomed higher-than-average commodity prices early, and then had to figure out how to manage the price of fuel, fertilizer and other inputs throughout the growing season.

“This issue is packed with practical knowledge that might help save you some headaches next year. One article — ‘Help Inputs Help You,’ discusses the factors that impact treatment efficacy.”


Grant Ozipko
Head of Technical Services
Syngenta
Ultimately, however, we all know the most expensive treatment is the one that doesn’t work in the way it was intended. That’s when we really pay the price.

We’ve all done it — whether we tried to save a trip and created a tankmix that reduced the efficacy of one or more of the products in the application, or we delayed a herbicide application so we could put fungicide out at the same time, then ended up with bigger weeds that we couldn’t quite kill.

This issue is packed with practical knowledge that might help save you some headaches next year. One article — “Help Inputs Help You,” discusses the factors that impact treatment efficacy. (Tip: Understand and follow the surfactant recommendations on the label.)

We also look at planting schedules and how to get in earlier and still drive high crop performance in “Tips to Time Planting for High Yield and Crop Performance”. (Key principle: Start with a strong seed treatment to guard your investment, protect the seed at germination and emergence, and drive a healthy and vigorous plant stand that delivers on that yield potential.)

In every decision, the key is to identify the priority. When we put out a herbicide, the focus is to control weeds before they consume our fertilizer and drain our yield and profit opportunities. When we treat for foliar disease, especially if we only budgeted for one application, the priority is going out at the right crop stage at the essential point in the disease curve so our fields are as clean and green as we can get them.

What we really need to do is focus on building a plan and effectively executing that plan. That’s what the Syngenta agronomy community is truly able to do with our customers.

As we come into the holiday season, it’s easy to identify our top priority – our families. They’re the real reason we work this hard, and I hope you can enjoy this time with family and friends.