Ken Smith, FMC Technical Service Representative for Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, says Topguard Terra fungicide is something cotton growers are going to adopt. At the recent Mid-South Farm and Gin Show he explained how the product controls cotton root rot, a problem that has plagued cotton growers in the southwest since it was brought into the country, comparing it to the boll weevil in terms of severity.
And just as exciting as having a product that offers growers a solution to cotton root rot is the recent announcement that the USDA is expanding its usage.
“In the state of Texas we can apply this now either as a pre-plant injection; pre-plant injection means we can go out before planting and apply this in a strip or a furrow below the seed zone and then we come back and plant right on top of that. The other way we can put this out is behind the press wheel. We put a band right behind the press wheel in a three inch band. It’s what we’d call pre-emerge if we were doing other herbicides,” Smith explains. “The other technique that was approved through 2-EE is post emergence. We can go over the top of post emergent cotton with a band or we can direct it underneath the leaves in band right at the base of the stem.”
The new approvals are significant because it saves farmers on labor and allows them to put product in the field either before or after that critical planting window. Topguard Terra can also be applied through a drip irrigation system, making even more versatile.
Learn more about this product in Jamie Johansen’s interview with Ken Smith here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/farm-gin-fmc-cotton.mp3″ text=”Interview with Ken Smith, FMC”]
