Canada’s crop input market faces multiple challenges and growers will look to get the most bang for their buck when purchasing fertilizer, seed and pesticides for 2024.
Grainews aims to make that process a little easier with its annual rebate roundup feature that examines some of the cash-back rebates and other reward programs available to growers (in alphabetical order).
BASF
Read Also
CNH launches photo feature to identify parts
Owners of CNH tractors looking for a replacement part can take a photo of the part and upload that photo to a website, which will then identify it and find the necessary replacement.
BASF’s rebate program for western Canadian farmers is called BASF Ag Rewards.
It includes the InVigor Reward, in which anyone who buys InVigor hybrid canola can receive up to 15 per cent off BASF crop establishment solutions including qualifying cereal seed treatments and inoculants.
Growers can also receive eight per cent back on BASF broadleaf and cereal fungicides and five per cent on eligible herbicides. To qualify, growers must purchase a minimum of 300 acres of InVigor hybrid canola and 300 acres of Liberty 150 SN herbicide.
Growers can earn additional rebates through BASF’s Baseline Reward with the purchase of two or more segments of products with a minimum of 300 acres per segment and a total of $20,000 of products.
That includes rebates of two or four per cent for crop establishment products, five or nine per cent for herbicides and four or eight per cent for fungicides. In addition, the Elite Reward provides an additional one per cent rebate to those who qualify for the Baseline Reward and purchase at least $250,000 of BASF products.
“There’s been some changes, but overall the look and feel is very similar to previous years,” BASF commercial operations manager Dan Packer says of this year’s Ag Rewards program.
“We wanted to keep it relatively consistent, with just a few tweaks, so people don’t have to learn a brand-new program every year.”
One change is the addition of a Liberty 150 herbicide reward. Growers can earn $1 per acre with the purchase of 300 acres of InVigor hybrid canola along with 300 acres of Liberty 150. They can earn an additional $1 per acre if they qualify for a Baseline Reward.
“We added a rebate on Liberty this year because we believe the best herbicide system for InVigor canola is our Liberty herbicide and we really wanted our InVigor customers to be rewarded for purchasing Liberty from BASF,” Packer says.
The eligibility period ends Sept. 30, 2024. For more information about the program visit the company’s website. An Ag Rewards calculator is available on the website.
Bayer CropScience
Bayer CropScience’s BayerValue West Program is back for another year and offers savings of up to 25 per cent on eligible purchases from among more than two dozen eligible brands or products.
Growers who purchase a minimum of 500 acres of Bayer brand seed or qualifying traits will be able to access a Trait Rewards savings of five per cent. They can earn an additional Seed Treatment Reward of five per cent with a minimum purchase of 500 acres of seed treatments.
Growers can also qualify for an additional five or 10 per cent segment savings when they purchase a minimum of 300 acres from two or three different crop protection segments.
The Incredible Bayer Offer remains unchanged and provides an additional five per cent off qualifying herbicides when growers book a minimum of 1,000 acres by March 8, 2024.
Programs and incentives manager Tiffany Gogowich says simplicity is a big part of the BayerValue program’s appeal. There is no requirement for growers to match seed acres and there is virtually no paperwork to fill out.
“(Growers) don’t need to submit any kind of invoicing to us,” she says. “The retailers take care of all of that directly. As long as they’re signed up, it’s pretty easy for their purchase data to be calculated and then we send them a rebate cheque based on what their purchases were for the previous year.”
One change for 2024 involves the discount the program provides to growers who purchase a subscription to the company’s FieldView digital platform. Growers who purchase a minimum of 300 acres in two crop protection segments or 500 acres of a Bayer brand seed or seed trait along with a paid FieldView subscription will now receive a 50 per cent rebate on their subscription. The platform was previously free for qualifying customers.
“It’s still a really low barrier to entry because we didn’t want to add a whole bunch of hoops for people to jump through who were looking to get into a digital platform,” Gogowich says.
In addition, two recently launched products have been added to the program. They include Varro FX cereal herbicide and Delaro Complete pulse fungicide.
The eligibility period for the 2024 BayerValue West Program ends Sept. 30. More information about the program is available online.
Corteva Agriscience
The farmer rebate program offered by Corteva Agriscience is called Flex+ Rewards. If a farmer maxes it out, Corteva will rebate up to 18 per cent on their eligible crop protection products.
The first step is for growers to find their program tier based on the manufacturer’s suggested retail price:
- Core – $25,000-$49,999 or 320 acres of seed
- Core Plus – $50,000-$119,999 or 640 acres of seed
- Core Max – $120,000 or more or 1,500 acres of seed
Then, choose the needed products from several categories, which include:
- Pre-seed herbicides
- Grass herbicides
- Broadleaf herbicides
- Fungicides
- Biologicals
- Seed and seed treatments
- Cross-spectrum herbicides
For the Core tier, choosing products from three categories will net buyers a five per cent rebate, while purchases from four or more categories will earn them an eight per cent rebate.
For the Core Plus tier, there are rebates of six and 10 per cent respectively and in the Core Max tier, it’s seven and 12 per cent, respectively.
Growers can receive an additional three per cent rebate through Corteva’s early book bonus. They must inform their retailer of the eligible products they’re planning to purchase by March 15, 2024, to qualify.
One change to the Flex+ Rewards program for 2024 is introduction of an innovation bonus category. Growers who purchase a combined 300 acres or more of any of five new eligible products (OnDeck herbicide, Straxan fungicide seed treatment, Utrisha N nitrogen efficiency biostimulant, Viatude fungicide, Zetigo PRM fungicide) will save an additional three per cent on all products purchased. The innovation bonus replaces a seed and seed treatment bonus available last year.
“The main intention behind the innovation program is to make sure that we’re treating farmers as partners more than just year-over-year customers and try to cater to their requests,” says Canada programs leader Josh Fraser.
“One of their main requests has been that we bring new, innovative products to the market and increase our focus on those products. This will help answer that request.”
The eligibility period for the Flex+ Rewards program runs until Aug. 31, 2024. Details of the program and a full list of eligible products are available online.
FMC Canada
FMC Canada’s CashBack program returns for 2024. Product manager Jordan Brisebois says the program isn’t tied to seed purchases and doesn’t require any matching acres for products, as some similar programs do.
“We like to say it’s an agronomic-focused program,” he says. “You pick the products that fit your farm agronomically and then we reward you on the back end with the economics. We don’t tie it into anything else or make it difficult for you to get rewarded. It’s very simple.”
As part of the CashBack, farmers in Western Canada who purchase at least $5,000 worth of eligible FMC pre-seed and in-crop herbicide between Nov. 1, 2023 and Oct. 31, 2024 will receive a rebate cheque at the end of the growing season. That includes pre-product brands such as Authority, Command and Focus as well as in-crop options such as Barricade and Travallas.
Rebates for qualifying products are based on four spending levels based on MSRP:
- $5,000 to $29,999 – two per cent rebate on pre-seed herbicides, six per cent rebate on in-crop herbicides
- $30,000 to $49,999 – four per cent rebate on pre-seed herbicides, nine per cent rebate on in-crop herbicides
- $50,000 to $74,999 – six per cent rebate on pre-seed herbicides, 12 per cent rebate on in-crop herbicides
- $75,000 or more – eight per cent rebate on pre-seed herbicides, 15 per cent rebate on in-crop herbicides
While the FMC CashBack program hasn’t changed much in the past five years, one notable difference in 2024 is an additional $1 an acre ProActive rebate to buyers who purchase matching acres of eligible pre-herbicides and in-crop herbicides.
“It’s a nice resistance management story where we’re really encouraging growers to layer on different actives and we want to reward them for doing that,” Brisebois says.
For more information about the FMC CashBack program or its calculator, visit the company’s website.
Nufarm
Nufarm’s grower rewards program is known as Nufarmer Nation. This year marks the third year of the program, which Zach Rogers, Nufarm’s marketing and communications manager for Canada, says is all about developing strong relationships with farmers.
“We really want it to be easy to do business with us,” Rogers says.
“Our program is really easy to qualify for and it’s very easy to understand, which is in keeping with our customer focus. We want farmers to have a good experience. We always want to make sure that we keep it a priority that we keep our rebates accurate and paid on time, are easy to quality for and easy to understand.”
The first step in the program is to purchase a minimum 160 acres of Conquer II, a pre-seed burndown product for canola, or Valtera EZ or Fierce soil active herbicides.
Next, growers can choose eligible products from four categories (seed treatments, pre-seed burndown herbicides, in-crop herbicides and fungicides) to qualify for rebates of between four and 12 per cent, depending on how much they spend on builder products from Nufarm during the growing season.
The purchase levels (based on suggested retail price) and corresponding rebates are as follows:
- $5,000 to $39,999 – four per cent rebate on all qualifying products
- $40,000 to $89,999 – eight per cent rebate on seed treatments and pre-seed burndown herbicides, six per cent rebate on in-crop herbicides and fungicides
- $90,000 or more – 12 per cent rebate on seed treatments and pre-seed burndown herbicides, eight per cent rebate on in-crop herbicides and fungicides
One “tweak” to Nufarmer Nation for 2024, according to Rogers, is the addition of two new products powered by the company’s Duplosan technology. Those products include Oxbow, a cereal broadleaf herbicide that manages resistant kochia and other challenging weeds, and Blackhawk EVO, a pre-seed burndown herbicide that controls broadleaf weeds.
The eligibility period for Nufarmer Nation is Aug. 31, 2024. An online calculator and additional program details including how to register are available online.
Syngenta
Syngenta’s Partner Program for Western Canada remains largely unchanged from a year ago. It retains its three core components for 2024: the Portfolio Reward, the Crop Bonus and the NK Soybean Seed Bonus.
Matthieu Vuignier, programs commercial lead for Syngenta Canada, said through an email exchange that the primary focus of the Partner Program is helping farmers make sound agronomic decisions by offering choice and flexibility.
“We feel the Syngenta Partner Program offers a wide array of agronomic solutions, making it accessible to almost all farms in Western Canada,” he wrote.
The Portfolio Reward includes three product categories for seed treatments, herbicides and fungicides. Growers who purchase 320 acres of qualifying products from two categories can save seven per cent. Purchases from three categories can net a savings of 10 per cent.
Growers can earn additional rebates by participating in the Crop Bonus. By purchasing 320 acres worth of product within different product categories for an individual crop (canola, cereals, soybeans and pulses) farmers save between two and 5.5 per cent on the suggested retail price for those products.
The product segments include seed treatments, herbicides, fungicides and biologicals, and plant growth regulators. For farmers buying products that can be used across multiple crops, such as Envita, Miravis Neo, Reglone Ion and others, a five per cent savings is available through a multi-crop product enabler.
The third component of the Partner Program is the NK Soybean Seed Bonus. It offers a $2 per acre rebate to farmers growing a Syngenta NK Soybean variety who buy 80 or more acres of a second NK variety.
Syngenta has maintained the list of Partner Program qualifying products from 2023 including the Envita nitrogen-fixing biological and the Miravis family of fungicides. Several new products have been added to that list for 2024 including Talinor post-emergent cereals herbicide, Miravis Starfor fungicide for sclerotinia control in canola and Vibrance Total seed treatment for pulse crops.
The eligibility period for Syngenta’s 2024 Partner Program for Western Canada ends Oct. 31. More details and an online calculator for the program can be found online.
UPL Canada
UPL Canada’s rebate program is known as UPL Grower Rewards and remains largely unchanged for 2024.
The foundation is its Smart Buy Rewards. It provides farmers with pre-season savings of 10 to 15 per cent with a minimum 300-acre purchase of eligible products from UPL Canada’s portfolio of seed treatments, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, biostimulants and plant growth regulators. The deadline for Smart Buy Rewards for 2024 is Feb. 15.
The savings don’t end there, according to Tony Dalgleish, marketing manager for UPL Canada. Growers who miss that Feb. 14 deadline can still save between five and 7.5 per cent by earning Base Rewards.
To qualify, they must buy 160 acres of eligible products from UPL Canada by Aug. 1. Additionally, growers who buy Interline and Select herbicides together (minimum 300 acres) receive five per cent back on their purchases.
There is also the Rancona Trio Bonus, which helps farmers save two or five per cent if they buy at least 300 acres of Rancona Trio fungicide seed treatment plus another one or more eligible products.
As well, customers who buy 300 or more acres of Rancona Trio and a minimum of 160 acres of either Evito, Roxar or Zolera FX fungicides or Ohm or Wave biostimulants can double their Base Rewards rebate up to 15 per cent.
One new product added to the UPL Growers Reward lineup for 2024 is Select Plus herbicide for canola, pulses and soybeans. It features a new all-in-one formulation that includes quizalofop-p-ethyl for improved tank mixing capability.
More information on UPL’s rebate program and a Grower Rewards calculator is available online.
