BASF Canada says there has been good response to the first herbicide tolerant wheat, with more than 1,000 prairie growers buying its new Clearfield product this spring.
About 150 farmers planted the hard red spring wheat in 2004 but this is the first year of large-scale commercial production for CDC Imagine, a non-genetically modified variety that can withstand applications of the company’s Adrenalin herbicide.
“I think it’s an excellent year to launch,” said Scott Chapman, Clearfield business manager for BASF Canada.
“There are some regional challenges for growers but overall I think it’s a very good start for the year.”
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Early adopters of the new technology are happy with how the crop has emerged in ideal soil moisture conditions. However, it is too early in the season to determine how effective weed control has been.
Chapman said farmers’ response to CDC Imagine was phenomenal. Agricore United and Saskatchewan Wheat Pool are almost sold out of the variety.
He wouldn’t divulge how many acres were planted in 2005 but said most of the seed was sown in Alberta and Saskatchewan where producers are mainly concerned with controlling volunteer barley and grasses.
“There was some good uptake in Swift Current from growers wanting to control those tough southern grasses, your volunteer durum and your Persian darnel,” he said.
As expected, there have been a few trouble spots. Growers in southern Alberta have had difficulty getting onto wet fields to apply the herbicide, but they can take solace in the fact that Adrenalin can be applied from the four-leaf up to the flag-leaf stages of plant development.
The company hasn’t pushed the Clearfield package as hard in Manitoba because of challenges associated with fusarium head blight.
However, Chapman said there are still aspects that resonate with growers in that province. Adrenalin is a group 2 grass killer, which means it can help farmers who are battling weeds resistant to group 1 products.
Chapman said SWP and Agricore are multiplying CDC Imagine so there should be plenty of seed available to growers in 2006.
