Helena Agri-Enterprises anticipates two new fungicide brands available for commercial agriculture production in 2023. 

Mogul is a specialized foliar fungicide that will be registered for use in soybeans. Mogul contains two modes of action. Its active ingredients are azoxystrobin and difenoconazole. 

Tycoon contains the same active ingredients but will be registered for fruit, tree nuts and vegetable crops. EPA approval to apply Tycoon in rice is pending. 

Speaking at Helena’s Evolve Field Day in June, Clay Perkins, technical development manager, said in research trials Mogul provided consistent protection from numerous disease pathogens commonly found in Midsouth soybean fields — particularly frogeye leaf spot. 

“With two modes of action, our new Mogul formulation has shown to be very effective in managing even resistant strains of the frogeye pathogen,” Perkins said. “This new formulation will giver growers another tool for managing FLS and other costly diseases.” 

Both Mogul and Tycoon were developed with Helena’s Protecta technical method, which promises to build fungicides and insecticides differently, with an enhanced focus on third-party verified research. 

“With resistance issues growing in areas of disease and insect management, farmers need something else,” said Tony Lourens, brand manager for fungicides, insecticides and seed treatments. “They need new formulations to help fill the void, and we think we’re doing that with Protecta.” 

More products in pipeline 

At the field day, Helena announced plans to release two additional fungicides and three insecticides in the coming years. 

For fungicides Lourens discussed a pre-mix featuring SDHI that will be registered for fruits, tree nuts and vegetables. He was especially excited for a three-way pre-mix fungicide that will provide four modes of action for disease control in soybeans. He anticipates both brands being available in 2024. 

Coming insecticides include a miticide pre-mix, a diamide formulation, and a pre-mix containing diamide. Pending regulatory approval, the insecticide formulations should be available in 2024.