The crop protection market remains competitive, as companies that distribute to farmers offer more choices. Helena announced recently that it will have several new products available for 2018. Sam Bartee, Helena division agronomist, walked through the four products the company is introducing for the new crop season.

The products the company offers contain familiar active ingredients, but new formulation tech offers enhancements for growers to consider.

Bartee notes that one area getting greater attention in corn is the need for sulfur in the fertilizer mix, as atmospheric sulfur levels fall. One possible area is foliar-applied sulfur, but Bartee notes, “Those products can burn the plant.”

The new Ele-Max Sulfur LC from Helena is a first. It’s a foliar-applied liquid sulfur product that offers balanced plant nutrition and quick uptake using the company’s ENC Formulation Technology. The product contains 10-5-0 NPK, 10% sulfur and 0.04% boron. “This is a product that took five years to develop,” Bartee says. “The product can provide sulfur to the crop later in the season.”

Another new product from Helena is in the fertilizer side of the business — N-Fixx XLR. This is a patented nitrogen-stabilizing fertilizer additive that Bartee says will allow growers to lower their application rates while controlling nitrogen loss. “This is a liquid product that is not susceptible to freezing,” he explains. “It uses Flowtech formulation technology, which is a patented process that increases flowability and coverage.”

Bartee notes that with this product, a farmer can use up to one-third less product on urea or UAN, which cuts down on the cost of application.

Crop protection tools
Two new crop protection tools are on the way. The first is a new liquid formulation containing two popular active ingredients in a single application, there’s also a broad-spectrum insecticide that offers greater flexibility for applicators.

Antares Prime may sound like a resort planet from “Star Trek,” but it is in fact a liquid premix of sulfentrazone and cloransulam-methyl. The first is the same active ingredient you would fine in Authority; the second is the active ingredient in FirstRate. “This is the only liquid formulation for these products on the market,” Bartee says.

He said that with this formulation, Helena has found that even 42 days after application, they achieved 85%-plus waterhemp control. “This product is providing good, long protection in a single pass,” Bartee observes.

The product is for use as a preemerge herbicide for soybeans, including such new herbicide-tolerant systems as Enlist and Roundup Ready 2 Xtend. The company also claims that the product has high crop tolerance for preplant application up to three days after soybean planting, and it also provides flexibility to work with any tillage system.

Sultrus kills bugs. In fact, this pyrethroid insecticide can control more than 215 insects. The new formulation is solvent-free and uses beta-cyfluthrin, which is a widely used insecticide. The new formulation provides a short field re-entry time and shorter preharvest interval. Bartee also notes it is rainfast in four hours.

For more information on these new products, visit helenachemical.com.