A revolutionary pest control application technology will soon be available for sunflowers.
“We’re on the cusp of a new wave of pest control application technology,” says Bob Weigelt, FMC Retail Market Manager. He’s talking about the 3RIVE 3D application system, which will soon be available for control of sunflower pests.
“It’s a glimpse of the future, and it’s exciting,” says Weigelt. “This is the next frontier of in-furrow pest control.”
Rather than using traditional liquid or granular insecticides or fungicides, the system delivers a continuous band of foam that creates a three-dimensional layer around the seed in the furrow at planting, which FMC calls a Zone of Protection. The foam application contains an insecticide or a combination of an insecticide and fungicide for seedling defense and yield enhancement.
The system is currently available for pest control in corn, soybean, dry bean and pea crops and delivers highly effective control at a very low liquid volume, optimizing performance as well as efficiency for the grower, says Weigelt.
“The idea is to take the insecticide or the biofungicide-insecticide combination, put it in the system, and lay a band of insecticide and fungicide right over the seed before row closure,” he adds.
The 3RIVE 3D products formulated exclusively for the application system, Capture 3D insecticide and Ethos 3D insecticide/ fungicide, are currently undergoing the EPA registration process and may be labelled for sunflowers in 2020 or early 2021.
“Capture 3RIVE 3D insecticide is a broad-spectrum pest control product containing the Group 3 insecticide bifenthrin that provides very strong protection from soil insect problems like wireworms, seedcorn maggots, white grubs and other pests,” says Weigelt.
Ethos 3D insecticide/fungicide is a combination of bifenthrin insecticide and a Group 44 fungicide comprised of the bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, a naturally occurring biofungicide that colonizes plants’ roots to create a barrier to insects and disease. According to Weigelt, Ethos 3D insecticide/ fungicide maximizes crop health, improves stands and protects seedlings during their early growth stages.
“With the 3RIVE 3D application system, application efficiency and control has reached a whole new level,” he says. The unit can be mounted to most planter brands and models. “The process is simple,” says Weigelt. Hoses are attached to the product and water tanks, and pumps are engaged. Water and product are transferred to the system with quick-connect, dry-lock valves minimizing user exposure to the product. Also, no measuring, mixing or tank agitation is required.
To fill the 130-gallon water tank and 30-gallon product tank—the unit holds up to two15-gallon kegs of product—it takes only 10 minutes with the capacity to plant up to 500 acres between refills. After the tanks are filled, hoses are then detached and growers can start planting.
According to Weigelt, growers cover more ground in less time with fewer refills, which saves them fuel, labor, time and water. The system uses 90% less water than traditional liquids and is nearly half the weight of granular crop protection products. Also, the system doesn’t require growers to lift product, and application rates can be altered as crops and pest control needs change.
The 3RIVE 3D application system is self-contained and includes the water and product tanks and system control components, such as concentrate and solution pumps, precision flowmeter, air compressor and associated plumbing and wiring harness. For planters larger than 24 rows, the unit contains two air compressors.
The chemical pump precisely meters product, the solution pump combines water and product and pumps solution to the manifold. The flowmeter measures the combined water and product solution. The unit works by delivering compressed air to the manifold, which combines water, chemical concentrate and air in precise ratios to expand the solution up to 50 times, delivering it to individual planter row units.
“You can put down 40 fluid ounces total of carrier, for instance, water and chemical per acre, and the foam expands 50 times to make it the equivalent of 15 – 20 gallons per acre liquid application. The expansion of the foam is the genius of it,” says Weigelt. “This in-furrow delivery of insecticide or biofungicide combined with insecticide is really exciting. There’s a lot of interest in the 3RIVE 3D system, and customers are now using it on corn and soybeans. And those growers are already experiencing the benefits of using the system,” he adds.
“In 200-bushel per acre environments where this is currently used, farmers are getting a five- or six-bushel per acre bump out of Capture 3RIVE 3D insecticide and a 10 bushel per acre bump out of Ethos 3D insecticide/ fungicide, due to the precision and efficiency of the placement,” he says. The system only works with specially formulated 3RIVE 3D products. Farmers pay nothing for the unit when they commit to using FMC products at a certain volume for a three-year period.
Weigelt is looking forward to getting the system in the hands of sunflower growers. He’s hoping early technology adopters will try it out on their farms.
“Stay tuned. We’ve talked to Nuseed and Legend Seeds about folks to demo this [system] as soon as we have our [product] registrations for sunflowers. We’re excited about that and we want to work with early adopters to get a good idea about the utility of the system in sunflower production.”
