Bayer CropScience gets approval to market two herbicides in Minnesota

Bayer CropScience announced Monday that the registration of two company herbicides gives Minnesota corn growers new options for controlling weeds.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency registered the use of Corvus and Balance Flexx herbicides in the state.

Bayer CropScience Corn Marketing Manager Jody Wynia said the approval means Minnesota corn growers can now use the leading herbicide in the country.

“What growers will really find exciting about Corvus is that it provides three levels of defense against weeds: burn down, residual and reactivation,” Wynia said. “Reactivation, in particular, is very unique to Corvus and even Balance Flexx. Growers won’t find this type of late-season weed control with any other herbicides.”

Minnesota growers, who have been managing resistant water hemp and giant ragweed since 2008, can use the two Bayer herbicides to fight resistant weeds.

Bayer CropScience Product Manager Christoph Breitenstroeter said that, during periods of dry weather, herbicides lose their effectiveness and weeds begin to break through.

“Corvus and Balance Flexx are unique because they reactivate after a dry spell and begin working again after a half-inch of rain to control small weeds,” Breitenstroeter said. “They are the only products on the market that utilize this technology.”