Published on 21/07/2022
Joust, from Nufarm, is a straight prothiconazole fungicide that can be easily incorporated into existing spray schedules to suit growers’ resistance management strategies and help maintain good yields.
Nufarm territory manager Jeff Hurst, Ashburton, says feedback from farmers has matched up with trial results for Joust, and the new DMI has an excellent fit with current fungicide priorities.
Key points of difference are that it is not pre-mixed with any other actives; has been tested in New Zealand conditions with commonly used fungicides, herbicides and insecticides, and is a high-quality 250 g/L formulation from a well-known supplier.
“Joust is making a name for itself as a reliable, good quality fungicide that does what it’s supposed to do,” Jeff says.
“In wheat, prothiconazole is the strongest DMI fungicide on Septoria tritici. FAR trials/updates and cropping strategies all point to prothioconazole as being the triazole fungicide of choice to use when S. tritici is the key disease.”
Mixing Joust with an appropriate partner such as Elatus Plus, Imtrex or Vimoy Iblon will give superior control of S.tritici compared with other pre-mixed formulations containing a triazole and SDHI, he says.
“Most of these formulations don’t have an adequate rate of triazole in the mix, and FAR advice is to top them up with more triazole which defeats the purpose and convenience of having them pre-mixed.”
Nufarm’s other DMI fungicide used in cereals, Hornet, has become a common mixing partner for Joust where stacked triazoles are required, Jeff says.
“Having the two formulations separate means they can be mixed with the products you want in the mix at the rates you want.”
For barley growers, Joust is the backbone of a great fungicide program and is generally used at all three key timings due to its strength on barley diseases. At T1, where Ramularia is a target disease, Joust can be mixed with Phoenix.
Acanto is a very good addition to this mix where scald (best option on high pressure scald scenarios) and/or leaf rust are also targets, he adds.
“Again with pre formulated options in barley, it is often recommended to add extra triazole, so making your own mix with the correct amounts for your situation is the best option.”
At T2, Joust can again be mixed with Phoenix to control Ramularia and scald. Seguris Flexi can be added to the mix if leaf rust is present, or the cultivar is susceptible to leaf rust.
At T3, Joust plus Seguris Flexi fits in nicely if required. If two applications of Seguris Flexi have already been used, add Acanto to Joust, Jeff advises.
“Having a product like Joust on hand gives growers the flexibility to have fewer drums in the shed as almost all pre-formulated mixtures have strengths in just one crop. This means growers will have multiple products with similar actives (many of which will be prothioconazole) sitting in storage.”
“These same products often need to be topped up with more triazole to reach adequate efficacy against the toughest to control diseases. Why bother spending extra money only to have more product on farm when you can pick and choose the best individual actives, and use them at the right rate that will give you the best return on your investment?”
Joust joins Hornet (tebuconazole) and Tazer (azoxystrobin) in Nufarm’s growing stable of cereal fungicides.
Recommended label rates for Joust are 400-800 ml/ha, with water rates of at least 200 litres/ha for ground application, and 50 litres/ha for aerial application.
Withholding periods for wheat and barley grain crops are 56 days. For wheat and barley forage crops, the withholding period is 42 days.
Joust is also registered for use in ryegrass seed crops to control crown rust, stem rust and blind seed disease.
The withholding period for ryegrass seed is 14 days, and for ryegrass forage,34 days.
For more information contact your agronomist, rural retailer or Nufarm territory manager.