Cotton and peanut producers will have a new insecticide/nematicide that promises to be as good as or better than Temik when the 2015 planting season rolls around.

Bayer CropScience announced it has received EPA registration for Velum Total, a new product that provides wide spectrum, long-lasting control of nematodes and early-season insects in cotton and peanuts.

In university trials over multiple years, Bayer CropScience researchers say Velum Total provided greater yield response than aldicarb or Temik, which was the standard for controlling nematodes and early season insect pests until it was removed from the market a few years ago.

“It’s nice to be able to stand up in front of a group and tell them we’re introducing new innovations, especially when you’ve had to stand in front of the same group and tell them we were losing products,” said Lee Hall, Bayer CropScience product manager, referring to presentations on the new compound at the 2015 Beltwide Cotton Conferences in San Antonio.

“Velum Total will give growers confidence that they are getting the best return on their early season investment for maximum yield at harvest. Velum Total has a unique ability to enhance early-season root health and plant growth while limiting damage from high-risk insects like thrips, aphids, leafhoppers and those yield robbing “hidden enemies,” the plant parasitic nematodes.”

Velum Total will be an in-furrow, at-plant product, he said during an interview at the Beltwide. “It will go out with an in-furrow spray and controls early season insects, thrips, whiteflies, aphids, and we have not found a nematode yet that Velum Total does not have an impact on.”

Hall said Velum Total will be a “great management tool” for growers in early season. It will have a “caution” symbol on the label, which will be minimal verbiage compared to some products that have been on the market in the past.

Bayer CropScience is preparing for a limited launch of the product in the Southeast in 2015 with a full launch planned from Texas to Virginia in 2016. The company also expects to add more crops to the label in 2016 and 2017, pending EPA approval.

“It’s a case of where we didn’t want to over promise and under deliver,” said Hall. “”At the same time, a grower in Georgia, for example, who is likely to have cotton and or  peanuts can look at it on both crops.”

Hall said one of the things researchers have seen in peanuts and are investigating in cotton is the suppression of foliar diseases such as leaf spot and white mold.

“This would not be a replacement for a robust foliar program,” he said. “But it could offer growers a foundation for their applications, maybe giving him a higher starting point for suppressing those diseases. So in peanuts we have a nematicide/insecticide with fungicide suppression.”

Velum Total will need to be paired with a good seed treatment for rhizoctonia or Pythium, “and certainly we have the products to do that – Evergol Prime and Trilex Advanced. So it’s not just about having a large portfolio of products, it’s about having products that can be positioned in a consultant way for a tailored solution for growers.”

“Historically, we looked at Temik as product that would provide earliness and allow the grower to pull the trigger on a harvest aid application so he could get his cotton out of the field and capture the inherent quality that is there when it is ready. We have seen that same promotion of earliness with Velum Total. But it goes beyond the earliness.”

Because of its innovative formulation growers can adjust application rates based on pest pressure. It can also be applied in combination with other materials, such as peanut inoculates, without compatibility problems, says Hall.

For additional information regarding Velum Total or other Bayer products, please contact your Bayer CropScience representative or call 1-866-99-BAYER (1-866-992-2937). To learn about other insecticides currently available, visit https://www.bayercropscience.us/products/insecticides.