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In an increasingly uncertain world, it’s good to know you can rely on Ascra, the UK’s most widely used wheat fungicide last year.

2020/21 was another year of unseasonal weather, with a mostly cool dry spring giving way to warm and wet weather later – ideal Septoria conditions. Compounded by delayed leaf emergence and stretched spray timings, wheat crops came under intense late disease pressure.

Ascra more than held its own, proving to be as good a Septoria protectant as any.

Now approved for barley too, the unique combination of azole and two SDHIs delivers excellent broad-spectrum disease control. Alongside Septoria in wheat, Ascra boasts highly effective yellow rust and stem-based protection. In barley it offers even better control of net blotch, Rhynchosporium and Ramularia than Siltra, the previous standard.

Ascra excels for grower convenience, with wide dose flexibility, excellent return on investment, label approval for use in wheat and barley, our proven Leafshield formulation, and a ratio of prothioconazole, bixafen and fluopyram to meet FRAC guidelines.

Its all-round activity ideally suits it to the key T1 and T2 timings in wheat, and barley too, where it has full approval for malting crops.

• Excellent Septoria, rust and stem-based disease protection

• Enhanced net blotch, Rhynchosporium and Ramularia control over Siltra

• Ideal T1 or T2 fit for both wheat and barley

• Most widely used UK wheat fungicide last season

Ascra remains unique in offering two SDHIs, pyrazole-carboxamide bixafen and benzamide fluopyram, and the leading azole fungicide prothioconazole. It’s one reason why Ascra remains the UK’s best broad-spectrum fungicide.

The combination of two SDHIs complement each other through incomplete cross-resistance, bolstering Septoria protection. If a shift in sensitivity occurs with bixafen we don’t see it with fluopyram and vice-versa. Our Septoria population is constantly evolving, which is why we see fluctuations in fungicide performance. Ascra’s incomplete cross-resistance is a factor in its consistent performance over several seasons.

These population shifts aren’t unique to Septoria. The same applies to all wheat and barley disease pathogens, which is why the partnership with prothioconazole is also important.

Azole performance has declined over recent seasons, but the degree varies between azole groups. Prothioconazole performance against Septoria has reduced, but not as sharply as other azole classes. Against yellow rust, the stem-based complex and Fusaria prothioconazole is still highly effective. In barley prothioconazole is still the cornerstone of disease control programmes.

This unique combination of prothioconazole with bixafen and fluopyram makes Ascra such a strong broad-spectrum wheat and barley fungicide.

• Unique benzamide SDHI technology and incomplete cross resistance with bixafen

• Prothioconazole performance still strong across disease portfolio