Due to the severity of Cercospora leaf spot in sugarbeets, the EPA has approved an emergency exemption for the registration of a new fungicide from BASF. Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative Vice President of Agriculture and Research said a new solution was needed to deal with this threat. “Cercospora was the bully that just ate our lunch and something needed to change; our businesses are at risk because of this small fungus.” Last year, Cercospora leaf spot was responsible for $165 million in losses. That’s for a crop with only one-million acres of production. The EPA exemption allows Provysol to be sold in a very specific area, which includes targeted counties in North Dakota, Minnesota and Michigan. “Michigan Sugar, Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative and Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative; acreage grown for those three co-ops are the only ones allowed to use this product under the registration of the Section 18.”
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