Dow rolls out dual-action broadleaf product

Dow AgroSciences Canada has launched a new dual-action broadleaf herbicide brand for use in the Prairies’ brown and dark brown soil zones.

The company has picked up registration for Benchmark in spring wheat, durum and barley. It will be available for farmers’ use this spring by the 40-acre case, Dow said, and will also be available in 800-acre bulk packaging.

The product combines Group 2 and Group 6 modes of action for “better” control of wild buckwheat, Russian thistle and kochia (including strains resistant to Group 2 herbicides) and “excellent” control of all major broadleaf weeds found in those two soil zones, the company said, adding that Benchmark has no recropping restrictions.

Dow noted in a news release Wednesday that Benchmark can be tank mixed with some grass herbicides, referring to Syngenta’s Horizon 240 EC and Bayer CropSciences’ Puma 120 Super on the Benchmark product label.

Dow said a case of Benchmark will include the two active ingredients in separate containers. Florasulam, the Group 2 chemical, is also an ingredient in Dow’s Frontline, Spectrum and PrePass brands. Bromoxynil, the Group 6 active, is used in herbicides such as Bayer’s Pardner and Thumper and Nufarm’s Koril 235 and Approve.

The Prairies’ brown and dark brown soil zones include much of the cropland in southern Alberta and in Saskatchewan west of Regina and southwest of Saskatoon.