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herbicides and insecticides About a hundred chemical dealers, educators and members of the agmedia toured the Cimarron Valley Research Station south ofStillwater, Oklahoma, Thursday to see performance trials ofPowerFlex, a new post-emerge grass and broadleaf herbicide from DowAgroSciences for winter wheat fields. PowerFlex, whose main active ingredient is pyroxsulam (an ALS modecompound) shows significant control of cheat and ryegrass in thenorthcentral Oklahoma plots at Perkins and 10 miles away inStillwater. In addition, the newest addition to Dow's arsenal ofsmall-grain herbicides is currently rated at nine months for arotational window for sunflowers, sorghum, cotton, soybeans andcanola -- making it useful in rotation schemes in the area. ChadCummings, Dow's field scientist for the area says by summer's end,the company hopes to have a five-month window for soybeans on thelabel. Oklahoma State University weed scientist Tom Peeper says PowerFlexis an interesting chemical that many producers will find usefulbecause of its flexibility in rotational schemes and its efficacyon an ever-broadening list of broadleaf weeds and the main grasscompetitors. He's had experience with the compound since late in2006. Jim Parker, Dow's national marketing director, says PowerFlex iscoming to market in a two-year period, compared with the normalfive-year development time. He credits a three-way registrationprocesses by Canada, Australia and the United States, andearly-satisfaction of patent questions for some of the proprietarysafeners found in the product Pricing will be made available insummer months, and Parker indicates it will be "competitive" withcompeting products, specifically considering its ease of use. Parker also notes PowerFlex is designed specifically for thesouthern Wheat Belt and for small grain fields in the MississippiDelta region. Powerflex is rated at 3.5 ounces per acre once a year. Tests atPerkins showed it at rates up to 4X label and with four applicationdates ranging from November through February. In all cases itshowed satisfactory (visibly apparent) performance on targetspecies, and rotational flexibility for corn, sorghum and soybeans.The product requires a surfactant and can be tank mixed with manyother herbicides and insecticides. The company specifically nixesthe use of organophosphate insecticides and amine formulations ofphenoxy chemicals with PowerFlex, however. Powerflex controls or suppresses 11 grasses and 21 broadleafspecies -- including pigweed and wild buckwheat with a springapplication; and a number of mustards with both spring and falltreatments. Dow officials say because PowerFlex has an ALS chemistry it needsto be used in a carefully-planned manner where growers suspect ALSresistance to be present. "That's why we recommend tank mixingPowerFlex with products of different modes of action," Parkerexplains.