Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is proposing a new maximum residue limit (MRL) that would allow trinexapac-ethyl, the active ingredient in Syngenta’s growth regulator Moddus, to be used on rye for the first time in Canada.

Moddus is already registered for use on wheat, barley and oats. Adding rye to the label would give growers another option to help improve standability and harvestability.

The PMRA evaluation found trinexapac-ethyl to be effective for rye, with no unacceptable health or environmental risks when used according to label directions.

The proposed MRL is three parts per million (ppm), up from the current Canadian default of 0.1 ppm for rye. That level matches MRLs already in place for other cereal crops in Canada and aligns with the international Codex standard used by many trading partners. The U.S., Canada’s top rye export market, allows four ppm, while Japan — another key customer — sets its limit at three ppm.

—> READ MORE: Application timing of PGRs

Krista Zuzak, director of crop protection and production with Cereals Canada, said the proposed change is good news for rye growers.

“It is helpful for growers to have another tool in the crop protection product toolbox,” she said in an email to Grainews.

She notes the move brings rye in line with other cereals on trinexapac-ethyl. Wheat, barley and oats all have MRLs set at three ppm.

Also, “when MRLs are closer or aligned across different export countries, it becomes easier for exporters to meet the requirements of various markets,” she says.

More information is available through the PMRA website. Public comments can be submitted until Oct. 12.

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The afternoon temperature was also on the minds of growers across Saskatchewan and Alberta, worried about heat blast in their canola crops.

In mid-July, some of those farmers were texting or calling their ag sales reps to ask about products that can minimize the damage from heat stress.

“At this time of year, we get a massive amount of e-mails on the website, and phones (of sales reps) are blowing up the last few days,” said Bonnett, the Canadian commercial lead for biologicals at Corteva AgriScience.

“We get (phone calls and texts) the day before it gets hot.”

Many of those farmers want information about X-Cyte, a growth hormone product from Stoller, a company Corteva bought last year.

“When temperatures rise in your crop, the growth hormone cytokinin begins to degrade within your plants, often resulting in flower abortion and pod loss,” says the Stoller website.

“X-Cyte is a foliar application of cytokinin designed to restore the hormone balance within your crop and safeguard your yield during the hot summer months.”

Something that reduces heat blast and preserves canola yield sounds great, but farmers lack information on when to apply the product.

At AIM, a canola grower asked Bonnett about X-Cyte and wanted to apply it the next day.

The interest from farmers is great, but the middle of a heat wave is the wrong time to apply the foliar product, Bonnett said.

“We need to get it on before (the hot weather).”

Bonnett’s story represents a larger challenge within Canada’s crop sector. Dozens of new products, such as biostimulants and plant growth promotants, are now available to growers. However, most farmers don’t know when, or how, to use them.

“The biggest knowledge gap is, ‘Where do I put these, when are they going to work well?’” Bonnett says.

“Transparently, I don’t think we have enough people out there to educate guys…. Here’s a tool that you use for this particular problem… (but) you’ve got to know when to use it.”

Not the same

Another issue is definitions and how the products are described.

Most growers are familiar with plant growth regulators, but biostimulants are not the same.

“Plant growth regulators are defined as synthetic compounds … that mimic naturally occurring plant hormones,” says a 2023 paper in Frontiers of Plant Science.

“Biostimulants usually are complex mixtures containing organic (example, extracts of seaweed) …. microbial (fungi and bacteria)…. They enhance plant growth and health by stimulating natural processes at a minute quantity.”

Grower education remains a challenge, but sales data indicates that farmers are curious. They are experimenting and want to know if these products will work on their farm.

“In a year like this year, we have excess moisture in some areas and a lack of moisture in (other) areas…. The one thing that really matters is root growth,” said Jesse Hamonic, vice-president and country head for Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Speaking also from the shade at AIM, Hamonic said his company is seeing strong sales of Radiate.

“It’s a growth stimulant for the roots. It’s been around for several years now,” he says.

“This year, we’re going to set a record on Radiate.”

Corteva is also enjoying a period of strong growth for biostimulants and other products that preserve plant health.

“Year over year … it’s in the double digits,” Bonnett says.

“Guys are interested in trying it. Once they figure out the value proposition and what problem they’re trying to solve, I think it will grow even more.”

Corteva and Nutrien Ag Solutions were just two of the firms at Ag In Motion promoting plant health stimulants to Canadian farmers.

The market is busy and may soon get busier, because companies expect to launch more products.

From Corteva’s standpoint, Bonnett says several are in the pipeline with prospects for commercialization in the years to come, “all attacking a different problem we have out here (in Canada).”

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Central-Alberta farmer Scott Keller is anxious to see what his malt barley will do this year as he applies increased fertility along with a plant growth regulator (PGR).

Keller, who has pretty good success in growing barley that achieves malt quality on his farm near New Norway in Camrose County, generally holds back on applying full fertility — the higher rates of nitrogen — to reduce the risk of the crop lodging.

With Moddus, a new-to-Canada plant growth regulator from Syngenta Canada registered for use on cereals in 2021, he’s hoping he can increase fertility rates, keep the crop standing and achieve higher yields.

“With the program we have been following with reduced fertility, I’m guessing we are losing 15 to 20 bushels per acre,” says Keller. “So hopefully we can gain something like that back. There are places in Alberta where farmers are hitting 130, even up to 150, in barley yields. So higher fertility should produce higher yields.”

Keller describes the ability to use Moddus on his malting barley as a “game changer for malt barley producers.” Farming in a region with highly productive soils is a bit of a curse, as several crops are prone to lodging. He has used another PGR (Ethrel from Bayer Crop Science) on spring wheat and malt barley grown for seed production and it was quite effective. Until Moddus, there hasn’t been a PGR he could use on malting barley that is also approved by the maltster and the brewing company. “I have checked with our malting company and it has approved the use of Moddus,” he says.

Most years, Keller dials back fertility on malt barley about 25 per cent, aiming for about 75 pounds of total nitrogen for the barley crop. “Most years, we were getting yields in the high 90 bushels per acre, sometimes over 100 bushels on the better land,” he says. “So hopefully we can push that by 15 to 20 bushels or perhaps more this year.”

Keller says a lodged crop has several negatives. “Even if it is just 10 per cent of the field that is lodged, you’re going to lose yield, it is going to be much slower to harvest, you’re going to lose quality and then if the crop starts to chit, the whole crop can be a writeoff in terms of making malt,” he says. “It is just lose, lose, lose.”

Chitting is the premature sprouting of grain before harvest. Keller says a lodged crop with seed heads on or close to the ground is prone to chitting, and in wet years he has even seen a standing crop begin to chit. The Canadian Grain Commission says this pre-germinated barley can produce good-quality malt but timing is critical. The barley must be malted soon after harvest while the grain still retains a high level of germination energy.

Opportunity for farmers

Eric Phillips, fungicides and insecticides product lead with Syngenta Canada, says the company sees the registration of Moddus as “a significant opportunity for cereal growers in Canada.”

In some respects, it is old technology, with the molecule in Moddus available and widely used as a PGR by European farmers for about 20 years. A similar PGR product called Palisade is registered in the United States. Moddus, tested for nearly a decade in Canada, received registration for use in Canada on wheat, barley and oats in late 2020.

Moddus contains trinexapac-ethyl, an active ingredient with years of proven use to manage lodging in cereal crops around the world, says a Syngenta release. It works by redirecting the plant’s production of gibberellic acid, a hormone responsible for growth to reduce cell elongation. This results in plants with shorter, thicker stems and improved overall standability.

Phillips notes lodging can occur under both favourable, high-moisture conditions, or in severe weather, such as heavy winds. Lodging is also influenced by variety selection, soil type, fungal diseases and fertility (nitrogen) rates.

Moddus has a fairly wide window of application and can be applied between growth stages (GS) 30 to 39 — stem elongation. And it can be used in a single application as well as split application. Phillips says the most optimal window is between GS 30 to 32.

“I think of it in terms of a fishing rod,” says Phillips. “A fishing rod is thicker at the handle and tapers down towards the tip. Applying Moddus during that optimal window will thicken the lower section of stem, whereas a later application may see more thickening of the stem higher up.”

A split application of the PGR may appeal to farmers if they plan to apply half the recommended rate at herbicide timing, with the other half applied at fungicide application timing.

“It just provides farmers with another option and allows them to better manage their crop fertility,” says Phillips. “It has a particularly good fit in higher-production areas where farmers are following high-input regimes.”

Sheri Strydhorst, a longtime agronomy research scientist with Alberta Agriculture, who has recently joined Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions, has researched plant growth regulators for several years.

“PGRs can certainly have a fit in helping farmers manage their fertility in cereal crops,” she says. “But farmers need to remember that PGRs are a harvest aid and are not intended to increase yield. The idea is to keep the crop standing and reduce the risk of losses due to lodging.”

She also cautions that although PGRs may be registered for all cereals, their effectiveness can vary by type of cereal, by variety and by growing-season conditions. She says using a PGR doesn’t make crops bulletproof. If the crop is exposed to severe wind and rain for example, nothing may be able to save it. “So the results can be somewhat variable and unpredictable,” she says.

Moddus is registered for wheat, oats and barley, Strydhorst says, but appears to be most effective on barley. Field research has shown that the PGR Manipulator appears to be more effective on wheats, and on AAC Brandon wheat in particular.

In a high-yield-producing region like southwestern Alberta, agronomist Craig Shand says Moddus is definitely a tool that producers will be looking at.

“We have deep, rich, high-organic-matter soil over much of the area between Innisfail and Calgary,” says Shand, owner of Chinook Agronomics. “And a lot of producers, once they get up to 60 to 65 pounds of nitrogen on their barley, begin to hold back to reduce the risk of lodging. With a product like Moddus, they are going to be able to use higher fertility and push for higher yields with reduced risk of lodging.”

Along with yield potential, with improved harvestability with a standing crop, farmers may be able to combine 25 per cent more acres per day.

Shand says over the past decade he has been involved with high-yield cereal research projects involving the use of PGRs such as Manipulator on wheat and Ethrel on barley. The research showed by being able to increase fertility, over a five-year period, wheat had an average seven-bushel yield increase while barley had an average nine-bushel yield increase. “It worked out to be up to a 3:1 return on investment by using PGRs, which is a pretty good return to producers,” he says.

Ethrel can be an effective PGR, but it has a very narrow four- to five-day window of application, whereas Manipulator and Moddus both have the wider GS 30 to 39 window if needed, along with an optimal range.

“I believe farmers are excited about the prospect of being able to push barley yields beyond that 100-bushel limit without fear of the crop falling flat,” says Shand. “With my clients, I know Manipulator will be the go-to recommendation for use on wheat and Moddus will be the go-to product for barley.”

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How do PGRs work?

PGRs are applied to the crop foliage. PGRs change plant physiology by reducing cell elongation, reducing stem length and shortening the uppermost internodes and peduncle. They may also alter stem diameter.

There are two types of PGRs available in Western Canada. The first are ethylene-releasing agents, such as Ethrel from Bayer CropScience, which has the active ingredient ethephon. Ethrel is registered for use on wheat, and when applied at the correct growth stage — GS 37 (flag leaf still rolled) to GS 45 (late boot stage) — it decreases plant height and increases stem wall thickness but may also increase tillering.

The second type of available PGRs are gibberellin inhibitors. Gibberellins (GA) are plant hormones that regulate cell elongation and a number of other developmental processes. Gibberellin inhibitors reduce stem elongation, shorten the crop and reduce lodging. In Western Canada, Manipulator (with the active ingredient chlormequat chloride) was recently registered for use on wheat by Belchim Crop Protection Canada (formerly known as Engage Agro Corportion).

Syngenta is in the process of registering a new product with the active ingredient trinexapac-ethyl. Trinexapac-ethyl is registered in many countries around the world, but not currently approved for use in Western Canada.

Evaluating PGRs

Since 2014, Sheri Strydhorst of Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Dr. Linda Hall of the University of Alberta and Laurel Thompson of Lakeland College have been evaluating the effect of PGRs on Canadian Prairie Spring Red wheat, Canadian Western Red Spring wheat, malt barley, feed barley, oats and field peas. (Although currently PGRs are only registered for wheat in Canada.)

Their evaluations have focused on two products: Manipulator and trinexapac-ethyl (TXP) that have been shown in previous research to reduce height and lodging. Both products have a slightly different mode of action and work to obstruct different stages of GA biosynthesis, so they’re expected to produce different physiological responses, says Strydhorst.

Research results are variable because PGR performance depends on crop species and variety. “Some PGRs work better on some crop species than others,” says Strydhorst. “For example, in response to chlormequat chloride (CCC, the active ingredient in Manipulator), wheat shows the largest height reductions, and barley has an intermediate response. However, barley is more responsive to TXP than CCC in terms of height reduction and improved standability.”

The researchers are also looking at various tank mixes using these products.

The researchers are also looking at various tank mixes using these products. Strydhorst says they are trying to tank mix these two active ingredients to improve the consistency of PGR responses. “However, we have not identified the ‘optimal’ tank mix amounts of these actives, nor are they registered for use in Western Canada,” she says. “Also, not all cultivars show similar height or lodging responses to PGRs.”

Application timing

Correct application timing is crucial for good results and to avoid crop damage. Ethrel should be applied when most of the tillers are between early flag leaf emergence to swollen-boot stage, and should not be applied after more than 10 per cent of the awns have emerged.

Alberta research has found the most effective application time for consistent height reductions with Manipulator is between the beginning of stem elongation, when the first internode begins to elongate and the top of the inflorescence is at least one centimetre above the tillering node, to the time when the second node is at least two centimeters above node one.

“The research also suggests that the ideal staging for trinexapac-ethyl on wheat is similar to Manipulator, but additional research is required for both Manipulator and trinexapac-ethyl to identify the option of co-application with fungicides,” says Strydhorst.

Research results

Strydhorst and her colleagues have seen negligible effects of PGRs on yield. “PGRs can positively or negatively affect yield, but results are inconsistent depending on crop lodging, environmental conditions, crop species and cultivar,” she says. Strydhorst also says preventing lodging leads to other quality and production benefits.

Lodging can reduce yields from seven to 35 per cent with the greatest yield reductions occurring when lodging happens within 20 days after anthesis. The magnitude of yield loss to lodging depends on several factors: variety susceptibility to lodging; growth stage and severity of lodging; wind and rain events; or early snowfall. Later lodging, during ripening, can increase sprouting, increase the need for grain drying and lowering grades. Lodging can also cause costly harvesting delays.

“Increased amounts of lodging can be seen where there are insect or disease infections, increased fertilization and higher seeding rates,” says Strydhorst. “By preventing lodging we can prevent these yield and quality reductions, and the improved standability helps speed harvest times.”

On occasion they have also seen a reduction in protein levels with PGRs. “The protein content of AC Foremost wheat not receiving a PGR was 12.5 per cent, with Manipulator 12.4 per cent and with trinexapac-ethyl 12.5 per cent,” says Strydhorst. “The significantly lower protein content of Manipulator-treated wheat could be concerning when protein levels are near the minimum requirements. However, our small-plot research trials found that when either PGR was used in combination with a foliar fungicide application, AC Foremost protein reductions were avoided.”

Do you need a PGR?

Growers in a high-yield environment, with high fertility and with a history of lodging issues should consider a PGR, says Strydhorst. They should also consider the variety. “For example, in a high-yielding environment, AAC Brandon will lodge more readily than AAC Penhold which has improved genetic resistance to lodging,” she says. “PGRs should not be used under conditions of heat or drought stress as they often reduce yield. In these conditions, lodging is not likely a concern and Mother Nature acts as your PGR.”

Many wheat varieties inWwestern Canada have good (G) or very good (VG) lodging resistance built in, so why use a PGR? “These G or VG lodging resistance ratings are simply not sufficient to keep high yielding wheat crops standing in environments with abundant moisture and high levels of fertility,” says Strydhorst. “Additional agronomic tools are still needed in these intensified production environments even on wheat varieties rated as G or VG for lodging resistance.”

There is some evidence that, because PGRs disrupt plant hormones, there can be some secondary effects such as delayed senescence (aging in plants), increased resistance to environmental stress or increased root growth. “PGRs are systemic but non-residual, which can result in undesirable side effects such as stem elongation in some varieties and temporary, short term height reduction,” says Strydhorst. “PGRs can also alter tiller growth. Both Manipulator and Ethrel can increase tiller growth, which may increase or decrease yield. Altered tillering may be attributed to changes in photoassimilate and nutrient availability or PGR-induced changes in plant hormonal patterns. The most noticeable side effect we have observed in our small plot research trials is delayed maturity.”

When environmental conditions are prime for lodging, they’re also ideal for disease pressure. If conditions warrant a fungicide application, they likely warrant a PGR too. “In some instances, we have observed that when a PGR was used in combination with a foliar fungicide application, protein reductions were avoided,” says Strydhorst.

The economics of PGRs

After some limited economic analysis, Strydhorst has shown the cost of a seven per cent yield loss (due to lodging) on a 65 bushel/acre CWRS wheat crop to be around $29.35/acre, a 15 per cent loss to be $62.89/acre and a 30 per cent loss to be $146.75/acre based on $6.45/bu. wheat prices. She doesn’t have any information on the direct economic value of a PGR as no yield increase is expected, and the benefits from a faster harvest are hard to quantify. “I think growers need to look at PGRs as a risk management investment.” She says. “If they can prevent or reduce lodging, harvest will be better and faster.”

PGRs are not a fit for every acre in Western Canada but they are certainly an option for use in high yield environments where there is a history of lodging.

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“We’ve looked at several different hard reds that have a height reduction, but they don’t have the improvement in standability that we need,” Dr. Sheri Strydhorst told farmers at Saskatoon’s CropSphere in January. Strydhorst and her family also have a grain farm near Neerlandia, Alta.

Strydhorst’s research revealed varieties responded differently to Manipulator, a newly registered plant growth regulator, even when they were part of the same class.

Strydhorst also debunked the idea that plant growth regulators (PGRs) such as Manipulator will always work on tall cultivars and never work on short ones. Those hard and fast rules may not be “a complete version of the truth,” she said.

“So I think we really need to do our homework here.”

How PGRs work

To understand the inconsistent response to PGRs, it’s important to understand how the products work, Strydhorst said. PGRs affect hormonal activity within the plant. They reduce the rate of cell elongation, keeping plants shorter and stronger, Strydhorst explained. They also decrease the cell division rate, she added.

“They’re effective at low concentrations and they break down rapidly, which has some pluses and minuses.”

One potential minus is shoot elongation. Manipulator inactivates the hormone gibberellin, shortening the plant. But because Manipulator breaks down quickly, all that inactive gibberellin can become active.

After the plant “sees a whole flush of gibberellin” it can end up taller, she said.

Other potential side effects include unproductive tillers and short-term height drops that don’t last until harvest, she added.

Staging is critical with PGRs, Strydhorst said.

“If you’re using something to make your crop shorter, if you apply it at the wrong stage, you could get yield decreases.” The crop safety window for Manipulator is fairly wide. But the efficacy window for can be anywhere from 24 hours to three days, depending on growing conditions, she said.

PGR labels also warn against applying product while the crop is under stress. But the tolerance level for stress is a question mark. Strydhorst said they were measuring soil moisture and canopy humidity during their PGR trials to fill in that blank.

Variety response

Researchers looked at variety response to Manipulator at eight different sites in Alberta.

They grew varieties under either standard or advanced management. Standard management meant no extra nitrogen, no PGR and no fungicide. Advanced management plots received an extra 34 kg of nitrogen per hectare, Manipulator at the label rate, and two fungicide applications.

Researchers rated how each variety lodged, under both standard and advanced management. A rating of zero meant no crop lodging, while 100 meant it was entirely flat.

Strydhorst presented data from 2014 and 2015. She said the irrigated Lethbridge site in 2015 was a “nice textbook” case for looking at Manipulator’s effect on wheat crops. (Data from this site is shown in the table.)

Strydhorst said Manipulator consistently reduced the height and lodging of AC Harvest. “So textbook, that works how it’s supposed to.”

The GP varieties saw a height reduction with Manipulator, but the untreated checks didn’t lodge. “These cultivars seem to be able to stand even through wet snows in early September. So this is an example where you get a height reduction, but you don’t need the PGR to help this crop to stand.”

Coleman and Thorsby saw height drops with Manipulator, but they still lodged, Strydhorst said. “You might be able to shorten them, but you’re not going to make them stand.”

Foremost trials

Strydhorst and her colleagues also looked at PGRs’ effects on Foremost wheat, a CPS variety commonly grown in Alberta.

Strydhorst presented two years of research results from five sites ranging from an irrigated site near Lethbridge to a site in the Peace. Researchers have one more year left in the study, which will ultimately give them 15 site years of data.

Researchers applied Manipulator and an unregistered PBR to the plots. Manipulator-treated wheat consistently yielded less than the control. The other PGR yielded higher in seven out of 10 sites. Two of those higher yields were statistically significant.

Strydhorst cautioned that Manipulator’s yield drops weren’t statistically significant, and the data was preliminary. It’s also worth noting that Manipulator doesn’t claim to boost yield.

“What’s concerning me is that although we have non-significance, we have a downwards trend with the Manipulator seven out of 10 site years. That trend just makes me a little nervous,” she said.

But when it came to reducing plant height, Manipulator delivered. It reduced plant height anywhere between one and eight cm, and the average drop was 4.8 cm. The other PGR was inconsistent, and sometimes made plants taller, Strydhorst said.

Researchers also saw an eight-bushel yield drop with the second PGR in Bon Accord in 2015.

“I’m sure there was heat stress. I’m sure there was drought stress. You shouldn’t put these on at 30 C, but we were coming out of the growth stage that it needed to go on within,” said Strydhorst.

Protein response was another area to watch. Strydhorst only had 2014 protein data available, but she noted a significant protein drop on Manipulator-treated wheat compared to the untreated control, in two out of five sites. The other PGR-treated wheat saw a statistically significant protein drop at one site.

While the protein data was preliminary, the trend is “on the radar as something we need to watch,” Strydhorst said. She noted the protein problem vanished with a fungicide application.

Asked whether she would use a PGR on her own farm, Strydhorst said it would be a “case-by-case scenario.”

“If I’m growing Foremost, and I’m not selling that into the U.S., and I’m pushing my fertility to 120 lbs. of nitrogen, and I think I’ve got good soil moisture in the spring, yes I will use a PGR,” she said.

“But I’m going to make sure that I get that staging right. And I’m going to also make sure that I have good moisture. If it’s stressed at that time, I’m not going to use it.”

Strydhorst’s entire presentation is online at cropsphere.com.

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Some say they have done or hope to do some PGR trials, others say they so far have relied on improved, shorter-straw crop varieties to reduce the risk of lodging.

Plant growth regulators shorten and strengthen the stem of cereal crops and have been known to increase crop yield (the plant puts more energy into seed production than stem growth). They’ve been used widely in some parts of the world for decades.

In Canada a few companies have some existing products that have been used on a limited basis. Bayer Crop Science has Ethrel and BASF has Cycocel Extra, while Syngenta has a U.S. registered PGR called Pallisade. One limitation with Ethrel and Cycocel Extra is a very narrow window and critical timing for application.

In 2015 however, Engage Agro of Guelph, Ont. is coming to the marketplace with a new product, Manipulator, for use on cereals, that has a much wider window of application and can effectively be tank mixed with herbicides.

While some crop consultants have described PGRs as a “no brainer” tool to improve standability and yield potential in cereals, Farmer Panel members are taking more of a wait-and-see attitude. Here is what farmers had to say about PGRs.

STUART MANNESS

Domain, Man.

Stuart Manness has been following some of the information on PGRs, but so far he isn’t convinced they have a fit on his farm south east of Winnipeg.

He has read about them, and talked to some of his suppliers about them but he hasn’t heard any science that says treating a crop provides consistent results.

“Lodging isn’t a big concern, although we do have some in those areas were we spread hog manure,” says Manness. “But we’ve had pretty good results using some of the shorter straw wheat varies. Right now we are producing 80 to 100 bushel wheat without too much trouble. Perhaps if we were targeting a 100 bushel crop and had to use a taller variety to achieve that I might be more anxious to try a plant growth regulator.

“I’m going to keep an eye on it, and if someone tells me they’ve had great results with a PGR then I will try 40 acres.”

CAMERON HILDEBRAND H & M FARMS

Altona, Man.

Cameron Hildebrand, agronomist at H & M Farms near Altona in south central Manitoba says he doesn’t see the economic benefit of using a Plant Growth Regulator on their farm.

“Right now, I don’t believe the economics are there — not with our wheat,” says Hildebrand. “If there is a product that more consistently works with oats I would be more interested in that. But with our wheat we have been using shorter straw varieties and lodging isn’t that much of an issue.”

On the other side of the coin, he does use a growth accelerator to help crops after they have been under stress. He uses micronutrient/hormonal products from ATP Nutrition which can be applied in-crop to help stimulate root growth when crops suffer a stress such as heat stress. His greater concern under adverse growing conditions is to get the crop growing again, rather than trying to slow it down.

DALLAS LEDUC

Glentworth, Sask.

Dallas Leduc says in his usually drier area of southern Saskatchewan he hasn’t heard much about plant growth regulators. Usually lodging isn’t a problem, however in the past three or four wetter years he has seen some lodging.

“But with improved design of combine headers and reels we are able to harvest any areas that do lodge without too much problem,” he says. The cereal crop varieties he grows today have improved standability over some of the older varieties.

“Back in the day, Kyle durum use to be bad for lodging, but we have switched to varieties that are either dwarf or semi-dwarf so lodging for the most part isn’t a problem.”

RUSSELL FRIESEN

La Crete, Alta.

Near La Crete in the north Peace River Region of Alberta, Russell Friesen says cereal crop lodging isn’t a major concern. He has been reading about PGRs but isn’t planning to do any trials on his grain, oilseed and pulse crop operation.

“Generally we are a bit drier in this area so most years lodging isn’t a concern,” says Friesen. “It can be a problem in oats if I use high fertility rates, or if I am seeding oats on new land. And sometimes we can have a bit of lodging in our CPS wheats or if we are growing taller Hard Red Spring varies.”

With oats he pays particular attention to maintaining proper potash and manganese levels, and on wheat fields he applies copper and potash as part of crop fertility to improve straw strength in those crops. He also watches seeding rates to improve crop standability.

“I have found if we seed heavier the crops tend to be a bit taller and spindly,” says Friesen. “We seed fairly heavy, but not as high as some recommendations. If we go too high we run into standability issues. So it is about finding a balance.”

Friesen says with overall crop fertility he applies a base amount of fertilizer at time of seeding and then prefers to top dress crops with foliar treatment during the growing season. Because growing conditions can be so variable, he waits to see if the moisture is there before adding more nitrogen. “If we get the moisture then I can spoon feed the crop during the growing season,” he says.

JOSH FANKHAUSER

Claresholm, Alta.

Conducting a plant growth regular trial on his farm, is on Josh Fankhauser’s “to do” list. The southern Alberta farmer has some on-farm research projects on the go every year, and testing PGRs is one he wants to look at, “but at the moment we have bigger fish to fry,” says Fankhauser. “Right now I am focusing more on fine tuning fertility rates and I believe getting some answers there is going to pay bigger dividends than a trial on PGRs, but it is something I want to have a look at.”

With both dryland and irrigated crops, Fankhauser says using PGRs to shorten and strengthen cereal crop stems is probably more important on crops produced under irrigation. He does pay close attention to crop fertility to insure he isn’t over fertilizing, and therefore producing tall, heavy stands.

“We want to optimize yield so we provide proper fertility, but we don’t want to waste it either,” he says. “We focus more on varieties that have shorter stem length. At harvest, our combines are equipped with stripper headers, which leaves most of the stubble standing, but we like the shorter varieties which makes it easier to seed through the following year.

“From what I have seen, I don’t believe that PGRs are a silver bullet, but they are something I want to try,” he says.

CRAIG SHAW

Lacombe Alta.

With crop lodging an all-too-common problem Craig Shaw has conducted some trials with plant growth regulators on his central Alberta farm “with mixed results,” he says.

He has done on-farm trials with products such as Bayer’s Ethrel, which has a very narrow window of application, and also with the new Manipulator PGR from Engage Agro.

“Manipulator has a wider window of application, but it can also be variety specific,” says Shaw. “It can work better with some varieties than others. Last year we tried it with Stettler Hard Red Spring wheat. Although the company says it won’t, we found that it did set the crop back a bit, but the treated wheat was also about four or five inches shorter than the untreated wheat.

Shaw says with plenty of moisture, which produces higher rates of nitrogen mineralization, some crops have more nitrogen than they need. “And we found in areas with higher nitrogen the PGR really didn’t have any affect on crop growth,” he says. “If we had too much fertility the crop still went down.”

Shaw says PGRs can be a useful tool, but he has to figure out where they work best. He says they may have the best fit in a variable rate application — applying the PGR on areas of the field where higher fertility is likely to be a concern, such as headlands. He says Ethrel costs about $6 to $7 per acre, while the new Manipulator is running in the $10 to $12 per acre range. At that price spot or zone treatments are more economical than treating a whole field.

“In areas where we have high moisture and higher fertility rates can increase crop yield, there are still questions to be answered,” he says. “First we have to be using it on the right variety. And we also have to look at crop genetics by selecting crops that have shorter, stronger straw strength to begin with and then we can look at a PGR to help manage the growth of that crop.” Shaw plans to conduct another PGR trial in 2015.

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Plant growth regulators are designed to reduce cereal height. They’re sprayed on crops during the growing season, just like herbicides or fungicides. Treated plants are shorter, with stronger stems, for reduced lodging.

Manipulator

Engage Agro has been conducting trials of its plant growth regulator, Manipulator, for years. In September 2014, Health Canada’s Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) registered Manipulator for use on spring and winter wheat. It will be available to farmers for the 2015 growing season. (Engage Agro is still working on approvals for other cereal crops.)

Manipulator works by suppressing gibberellins, the hormone “responsible for causing the plant to elongate.” The Manipulator label says it “can improve resistance to lodging through reduced plant height, enhanced root structure and improved stem characteristics.”

When asked if changes to the plant height would also affect the root growth underneath the ground, Tregunno explained, “All you’re really doing is shrinking down the stem.”

One reason it’s taken so long for plant growth regulators to come to the North American market is the narrow window of application. Plants need to be sprayed, “When that stem starts to really shoot up,” Treganno said. The Manipulator label recommends spraying between Growth Stage 12 (the two-leaf stage) to 39 (the flag leaf collar visible stage.

And, Tregunno said, nighttime temperatures must be greater than 8 C.

If you spray too soon, “where you’re preventing the growth is right at the base of the plant.” Too late, Tregunno said, “and you’re reducing the beduncle height.”

“If you’ve got 5,000 acres, there’s no way you’re going to get it all on at that time.”

At Indian Head in July, Tregunno estimated the cost of an application of Manipulator at between $10 and $15 per acre. In Europe, Tregunno said, “they might go out three times a season with a plant growth regulator, that’s not going to happen here.”

Other plant growth regulators

Manipulator is not the only game in town. Different PGRs have different active ingredients — they are all designed to change the plant’s natural hormonal activity.

Bayer sells Ethrel, a PGR with ethylene as an active ingredient. Because the application window is so short and application timing is so critical, Bayer doesn’t actively promote this product for use on cereals in Western Canada.

Syngenta’s PGR is not yet registered for use on Prairie cereals. Allen Terry, Syngenta’s “biolocial assessment manager” says, “we’re working towards collecting data.”

Terry believes PGRs are coming to the market now because with today’s technology technology, we have a better understanding of how crops will respond to chemicals.

“We have a real opportunity in Western Canada to increase cereal yields,” Terry said.

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