Herbicide journey from lab to field

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Years of work goes on behind the scenes before herbicides are available to spray on fields.

Matt Lehman, formulation chemist at Syngenta, studied Acuron GT — a post-emergence corn herbicide that will debut in 2022.

“Formulating crop protection technologies has become increasingly complex in recent years as certain pests have adapted to molecules once used to control them,” he said. “Delivering additional sites of action in a single product via multiple active ingredients is imperative.”

Not all active ingredients are created equally. It’s important for a grower to evaluate their problem weeds, insects or diseases and choose their products accordingly, Lehman advised.

Not all products are formulated equally, either. Even if the product has the same active ingredients, the formulation might not be the same or provide the same performance.

“This is one of the most difficult products we’ve developed at Syngenta,” Lehman said of Acuron GT. “It combines four active ingredients, all in different forms. We have a salt, two acids and an oil combined into the formulation. This led our team to utilize advanced formulation tactics to provide stability and handling performance required for our customers.”

Once a formula is perfected, the recipe is scaled up for bulk manufacturing. Equipment is retrofitted, or new equipment is added, to create the product.

“This season we produced a small quantity of Acruon GT for growers to trial in the field prior to large-scale launch for the 2022 season,” Lehman said.

Learn more at www.syngenta-us.com/herbicides/acuron.