The Need is Still High, So Why the Hesitancy to Buy?

may-2020-article-3

It’s no secret. This is a market unlike any we’ve seen before, and anxiety is running high. In January of this year, the Chinese agreed to purchase $80 billion of American agricultural goods over the next two years, but experts are still wary of that promise. And now with an unprecedented pandemic continuing to complicate local economies, every farmer is looking for a way to save.

Cutting out fungicide applications in 2020 has likely been a discussion you have had in the past few weeks. We all know it is easy to remove the upfront expense, just as it is easy to ignore the long-term gains. Here are a few discussion topics to help you retain and grow your fungicide business when the choice to use can be questioned most.

The past – Discuss their past usage of fungicides. They may feel they didn’t see the benefits because they didn’t see disease. That’s the perfect time to start the conversation about where their comfort level lies in regard to fungicide use. It’s also an opening to bring up the investment they’ve already made in preparing their fields for the best possible outcome. Are they willing to risk possibly not getting the most out of what they’ve put in? Or are they open to dedicating a portion of their acreage to a fungicide application? Maybe just as a comparison for future decision making? Prompting them to consider the tools they have to get the most out of that they’ve already invested lets them know you, too, are invested in their success.
The weather – While weather shouldn’t lead the discussion, one strategy is bringing up the unpredictability of weather. Pointing out how the uneasiness of not knowing what the weather is going to bring down the road can be lessened knowing there are products, such as Revysol® and Headline®, that do their best work during all of the most aggressive weather conditions.
The plant health benefits – BASF fungicides don’t just prevent disease. The best-looking fields are the highest-yielding fields. Use the brands that give you and your fields the best chance by using products from BASF that provide the best of both worlds: disease control and environmental stress mitigation.
The specifics – Tar spot was rampant the last two years. Don’t let your farmers risk losing valuable yield due to this disease by using just any fungicide. Veltyma™ is a leading performer when it comes to controlling tar spot. And with resistant frogeye leaf spot in soybeans affecting more geographies than ever in the past year and causing up to 30% yield loss, Revytek fungicide has proven its excellence in combatting this disease.
The yield – Don’t leave yield out of the bin. Remind your farmers again about the proven performance vs. untreated checks, using a fungicide pays back. Money spent now results in rewards later.

Your trusted advice has never been more important to your farmers. Trust BASF to help you capitalize on your knowledge of fungicides. Your farmers trust you. When you recommend products powered by the experts in the market, you have confidence to deliver a positive end-of-year result and maintain their successful operations. As always, know you can use us as a resource for support and additional insights. We’d love to hear how it’s going for you. Email your BASF rep with your questions or comments.

With the growing season underway, now is the time to focus on crop health and review your fungicide plans. Join David Widmar (aei.ag) and Dr. Josh Miller (BASF) as they review the economic and agronomic challenges growers are facing in 2020.

Challenges faced by growers can vary depending on where you live. We’ve split this discussion into 3 separate times to enable a more focused discussion. We’d like to invite you and your team to join the discussion. To register, click on the links below. Feel free to pass this information along to your farmers as well. David and Josh will stay on the line at the end of each discussion to answer additional questions!