All Posts Tagged With: "weed control"
Syngenta stands behind the safety of atrazine
Crop protection products play a crucial role in bringing abundant and affordable food to our dinner tables. Forty percent of the world’s food supply would not exist without products like atrazine, a herbicide that helps farmers fight weeds in their corn, sorghum and sugar cane crops.
After 50 years of use, growers have come to rely on atrazine. It is a mainstay of American agriculture. And it is one of the best studied herbicides available today. Safety reviews around the world by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), World Health Organization, Canada, Australia and the UK have all come to the same science-based conclusion—atrazine, as labeled, can and has been used safely.
Atrazine is a critical tool for use in conservation tillage and no-till systems—farming methods that eliminate plowing and/or reduce tillage. Conservation tillage makes cropland much less vulnerable to soil erosion, which is reduced by as much as 90 percent when compared to intensive tillage. When soil erosion is prevented, so is the runoff into our waterways of sediment—identified by EPA as the top pollutant in US streams and rivers.
Farmers would not use a product that puts their own families and communities at risk, and after half a century, who would know better? Today, in part because of atrazine, farmers are able to grow more corn than ever, using environmentally sustainable methods. That means more food to feed a growing population.
Syngenta is a responsible company which takes the stewardship of all our products seriously—and atrazine is no exception. We’ve gone above and beyond the extensive studies required to register this product to ensure its safe and effective use. And as with all crop protection products, wide margins of safety exist with atrazine.
It’s easy to believe fear-provoking claims about our nation’s water when all the data and facts aren’t presented. Let’s be clear - water systems in the U.S. are safe where atrazine is concerned. Over the last three years, no water systems in the U.S. had atrazine levels in their drinking water that exceeded legal limits.
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Atrazine Celebrates 50 Years of Effective Weed Control
Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, NC - This season marks the 50th anniversary of atrazine, one of the most valuable crop protection products ever developed. Throughout these years, growers have relied on atrazine for efficient, cost-effective control of a wide range of broadleaf weeds and grasses.
- Atrazine, considered the most studied herbicide, has been used for 50 years
- Over half of the U.S. corn acres, two-thirds of sorghum acres and up to 90 percent of sugar cane acres use atrazine to control weeds
- One of the most reliable, flexible tools growers can use to protect crops from yield robbing weeds
“Time has proven that atrazine is one of the most reliable, flexible tools growers can use to protect crops from yield-robbing weeds,” said Chuck Foresman, technical brand manager for Syngenta. “Well over half the corn acres, about two-thirds of sorghum acres and up to 90 percent of sugar cane acres in the United States use atrazine to control weeds.”
Triazine herbicides were discovered by researchers at a Syngenta legacy company in the early 1950s, and atrazine was introduced to growers for the 1959 season. As the original developer, Syngenta plans to celebrate atrazine’s anniversary throughout the year.
The product is known for economical and effective weed control and the ability to enhance the performance of other products.
“Atrazine is an economical option that helps us control problem weeds like velvetleaf, vines and morningglory,” said grower Mat Muirheid of Oakley, Ill., who is a second-generation atrazine user. “We get more residual control for the cost, and that protects our yields.”
According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates, atrazine helps corn growers like Muirheid save as much as $28 per acre. Besides protecting crops and grower profits, atrazine also supports conservation tillage systems that can reduce soil erosion by up to 90 percent, and can help delay the development of weed resistance.
Muirheid noted, “We also use atrazine to provide a different mode of action for weed control. We don’t want to develop weed resistance.”
Today, besides being available as a stand-alone herbicide, such as AAtrex® brands, more than 45 pre-mix products contain atrazine, including Lumax®, Lexar®, Expert® and Bicep II Magnum® brand herbicides from Syngenta. Foresman added that used in combination or rotation with other herbicides, atrazine also helps delay and manage weed resistance.
Because of its vital role in weed control and popularity in more than 60 countries around the world, atrazine has been carefully studied for years. World-renowned institutions including the World Health Organization, the National Cancer Institute and EPA all have studied atrazine and found no health concerns when used as directed.
“Atrazine continues to pass the most stringent regulatory standards for safety,” said Foresman. “In 2006, the EPA re-registered atrazine for crop protection use. And Syngenta works closely with growers in many watershed projects and in other stewardship programs to ensure that atrazine is used according to EPA guidelines and best management practices we’ve helped develop.”
Read the rest of this press release here.
Economical Weed Control from Atrazine Boosts Ag Productivity
Yield Increases and Costs Savings from Products like Atrazine Help Growers Meet World Demand for Commodities
- Using atrazine provides an average 5.1 percent yield increase
- Atrazine saves corn growers up to $28 per acre
- Economic impact of atrazine in corn, sorghum and sugar cane could be more than $2 billion per year
There are many reasons atrazine has remained a weed control staple in agriculture for 50 years - it increases yield and saves money.
“Research has proven the positive effect atrazine has on farm production,” said Chuck Foresman, senior technical brand manager for Syngenta, the primary manufacturer of atrazine. “Farmers simply can’t meet the increasing demand for corn without controlling the grass and broadleaf weeds that compete with crops for moisture, sunlight and nutrients.”
Atrazine is known for economical and effective weed control and the ability to enhance the performance of other products. For example, a study evaluating the impact of atrazine on corn yields showed that during the 20-year period from 1986 to 2005, the average corn yield was 5.1 percent higher with atrazine than without. In combined data from 236 university corn field trials during that period, atrazine treatments showed an average of 5.7 bushels more per acre than alternative herbicide treatments.
Similar research in sorghum trials in Kansas and Nebraska from 1986 to 1995 showed an 11.3 bushel per acre advantage in that crop. And, production experts estimate that the yield advantage in sugar cane ranges from 12 to 50 percent.
“Yield increases like that are necessary to produce more on limited farmland,” Foresman added. “At the same time, to be successful, growers need to manage their costs.”
The U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that farming without atrazine could cost corn growers $28 per acre due to yield loss and the use of more expensive herbicides.
The EPA also said: “The total or national economic impact resulting from the loss of atrazine to control grass and broadleaf weeds in corn, sorghum and sugar cane would be in excess of $2 billion per year if atrazine were unavailable to growers.”
In addition, increased yield and production savings support the value crops add to local, state and national economy. For example, in 2008 the Illinois corn crop was worth $8 billion, Kansas sorghum was worth $690 million and Louisiana harvested more than 11 million tons of sugar cane.
“Yields and efficient production are the foundation of a multi-billion dollar industry that represents a significant piece of our economy,” said Foresman, “Atrazine is one — surprisingly significant — part of our efforts to boost ag productivity to feed and fuel the world.”
Read the rest of this press release here.