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Iowa retailer relies on season learnings, local resources
A strong season isn’t only defined by a high-yielding harvest. The little wins — like timing the fungicide application just right or spraying a new herbicide that effectively manages resistant weeds — also come together to form the foundation of success. But farmers don’t achieve their goals without season-long service from their support team.
Dan Lau, location manager at Liqui-Grow in northern Iowa, said his day-to-day looks different depending on time of year. At his ag retail location, Lau works with farmers to make herbicide, fungicide, insecticide and other crop protection recommendations. As his customers go through harvest and start preparing for what’s next, Lau is also getting ready to help farmers wrap up the season, make fall nitrogen applications and finalize crop protection plans for 2026. To better support customers through the end of the year, Lau said he focuses on two things: evaluating a farmer’s current crop protection program and taking advantage of local resources.
Analyzing crop protection successes or failures
According to Lau, harvest is a good time to identify late-season weed escapes. He also works with farmers to examine the effectiveness of nitrogen stabilizers and fungicide applications.
“This is a good time of the year to see how good your weed control was, especially on corn acres” Lau said. “In our corn fields, you really don't know if you have weeds until after you combine because it's been canopied for a long time. This year, I also think applications of Instinct NXTGEN nitrogen stabilizer were probably a huge payback to our growers that used it to reduce nitrogen leaching with heavy rains.”
“We also had high disease pressure with southern rust coming in, so I would expect fungicide treatments to be big. That's some of the stuff that we're going to be looking at in the next month or so as harvest gets finished up.”
Understanding what worked this year can help farmers adjust their management program and make improvements for the upcoming season.
Using local resources
Recommending new products requires expert knowledge and skill. With many new innovations coming to the marketplace, it’s crucial to Lau to stay up to date on the latest data and resources to help his customers choose the best crop protection solutions for their needs. He said he relies on his chemical reps, as well as university personnel and Extension agents.
“We have to use all the tools we have,” Lau said. “Through the end of the year, we’ll be talking with chemical reps and meeting with people to get educated on what programs we're looking at going into next season. Publications can also be helpful to understand new products.”
As customers round out the season and begin outlining their crop protection plan for next year, make sure you’re setting them up for success from the start. Contact your local Corteva Agriscience rep or visit Corteva.com/US to learn more about the latest advancements.
Instinct NXTGEN® is not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions.