Adjuvant Helps Lock Out Insect Pressure

Summer brings a range of damaging insects to corn, soybeans, cotton, grain sorghum and many other crops in your fields, making diligent scouting critical. Controlling insects as soon as possible will help put them out of commission before they’ve achieved multiple lifecycles and larger populations, and before your plants reach the critical reproductive stages. This could have a positive effect on yield potential. 

Applying the appropriate insecticide can help minimize crop damage and yield loss. But don’t forget that adding an adjuvant can help increase the effectiveness of your insecticide applications.

Technologies that double-team insects
MasterLock^® adjuvant by WinField United combines InterLock^® and DropTight™ technologies in one crop-based adjuvant to enhance spray coverage. InterLock^® adjuvant, contained in the mix, helps ensure that droplets are the right size, which reduces the amount of fine particles in the spray pattern and helps drive droplets deeper into the canopy for better deposition.

DropTight™ technology, unique to MasterLock^® adjuvant, helps droplets stick to the target: the plant you are trying to protect. Together, these technologies give you a one-plus-one-equals-three benefit. They enable deposition to help insecticides stay on target, reach the pest and optimize performance.

Get pests where they live
In the heat of the day when the majority of insecticide applications are made, MasterLock^® adjuvant is effective at getting deep into the crop canopy where insects are thriving — and feeding — in cooler temperatures and more humid conditions than on the surface of the crop. Be sure to determine insect pressure through not only observing the top of the crop, but also by working with your agronomist to do sweeps into the canopy. Doing both will help you get a more complete picture of your insect population and if the economic threshold that justifies an insecticide application is being met.

Ascertain the economic threshold
Work with your agronomist to determine the optimal time to do an insecticide application. Make sure you are working with the most current commodity price information to determine when you’ve reached the appropriate economic threshold for each species of pest and each type of crop. Sources for this information include your agronomist, as well as local universities and extension offices.

Make sure equipment is ready
When application timing is determined, be sure to achieve optimal product performance by working with your agronomist to select the right boom height, as well as the right nozzle type, size and pressure — so you can adjust your own sprayer or inform your applicator about these specifications.

To learn more about the benefits of MasterLock^® adjuvant and how it can work in your operation, contact your local WinField^® United retailer.