Corn, soybean, and cereal farmers have a new fungicide option for 2013. DuPont officials today announced Aproach fungicide has been granted federal registration by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Aproach is a strobilurin fungicide, the newest active ingredient in that class,” says Todd Robran, DuPont fungicide portfolio manager.  “Approach offers not only preventative control, but curative activity as well.

“As I talk to growers, that is important,” adds Robran. “We prefer that all fungicide applications be made preventatively. Oftentimes, though, by the time a grower gets a consultant to look at a field, gets an applicator, and fights Mother Nature for a day or two, an application can be delayed. Aproach compensates with curative activity for those application delays.”

Robran says another factor that distinguishes Aproach from other strobilurin fungicides is its ability to redistribute within the crop canopy.

“It can move within the canopy itself, closer to the soil floor where key diseases originate,” he says. Aproach is labeled for such diseases as white mold in soybeans, gray leaf spot in corn, and powdery mildew in cereals.

It also has plant physiology attributes like other strobilurins. In soybeans, that can lead to plants staying greener longer and better pod fill, he says.

Robran says its use will be targeted toward varieties and hybrids with the best chance of response. Also taken into consideration will be factors like imminent disease pressure, past field history (such as corn-on-corn), and past disease pressure.

Local retailers will determine price, but expect product costs to hover around $14 per acre, says Robran. Application costs hover around $7 per acre for ground, and $10 to $12 per acre for aerial.