Syngenta Crop Protection Canada could have gone anywhere to launch its new Traxos cereal herbicide.
It chose Red Deer.
The company unveiled the product Wednesday morning at Agri-Trade, with Syngenta officials on hand to describe its attributes.
“It delivers faster, more effective grass weed control than past products,” said Andrea McConnell, cereal herbicides brand manager with Syngenta.
She presented photos of brown and wilted weeds taken at field trials in Southern Saskatchewan that demonstrated the speed with which Traxos works in spring wheat and durum.
“Once applied, even the toughest grasses, such as wild oats and Persian darnel, stop growing within 48 hours of treatment,” said Ed Thiessen, a technical crop manager with Syngenta.
McConnell explained that Traxos contains pinoxaden and clodinafop, as well as an adjuvant that activates and absorbs those ingredients.
“It’s greater than the sum of its parts,” she said of the adjuvant system.
Traxos provides “excellent crop safety,” said McConnell, and can be applied to crops from the one- to six-leaf stage. It can be used alone or tank-mixed with broadleaf herbicides, she added.
As for the decision to launch Traxos at Agri-Trade, McConnell pointed to the prominence of the annual event in the agricultural community.
“The fact it’s a major Western Canadian trade show was the primary reason.”
The timing of regulatory approval also fit well, with Syngenta now planning to promote the product at other trade shows and conduct a major advertising campaign in the new year.
Under development for the past four years, Traxos is expected to be available to producers in time for the 2011 crop year.
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com