Plan your fungicide needs early this season

We’re going to talk about fungicides this month because there are some products that’s it’s really important to be on top of. We know its early but if you leave your planning till June we can see problems ahead.

Firstly let’s talk about the fungicides you don’t need to worry about. There are no reasons to make your purchasing plans for these three products any different to a normal season:

Propiconazole – supply and price will be similar to last year but barley plantings this year have increased. The key influence on this market will be the amount of in-season demand. Crop Smart will have plenty of stock to start the season.

Tebuconazole – We’ve got plenty of stock. Only a wet winter will cause issues with supply, so this is one to follow as the season progresses.

Epoxiconazole – As this fungicide has steadily declined in price, we’ve seen usage increase. We’ve kept up with demand by producing more every year and this year is no different.

In short, there are no reasons to make your purchasing plans for these three product any different to a normal season.

Now, let’s talk about two fungicides that will need to be ordered early this season, particularly as they are both lentil fungicides and plantings and prices are up this season!

Chlorothalonil – Last year chlorothalonil was in short supply globally as well as in Australia. There were global reasons for this and we had expected the market to adjust in time for this season. That hasn’t happened and it has been extremely hard to secure stock. All of the stock available for this season has already been committed and there will be no ability to resupply in season. The price of the product is higher because of the short supply as well as the lower Australian dollar.

Carbendazim – Last year, supply of this product fell short. Limited stock and increased demand from the area planted has the potential to create shortages. We have already forward sold a significant percentage of our available stock and cannot resupply.

If you are going to bank two products this season as a hedge against potential shortages, make it chlorothalonil and carbendazim.