On this edition of the Mid-West Farm Report Ride Along, we head to northern Illinois to visit the Syngenta Seeds Research & Development Innovation Center.  The question?  How big of a problem is corn rootworm(CRW) for farmers today?  What new technology's being developed to address that problem?

Pam Jahnke is joined by Syngenta Corn Product Manager, Matt Dolch.  Dolch began his career with Syngenta as an intern, and today is proud to be discussing the latest technology coming to corn fields across the Midwest by 2027.

Dolch says that CRW is one of the most devastating pests in U.S. corn production. Farmers spend nearly $1 billion per year in control measures and lost yield.  That's why Syngenta decided to focus on new innovations to battle the pest.

Syngenta is accelerating trait innovation that delivers new differentiation, not incremental
updates. Their innovation focuses on multi-protein stacks that bring more diversity to CRW control.
Syngenta does this by leveraging innovation pipelines and trait development tools to shorten the time from R&D to the farm.

Durastak is the flagship example, built to address both current resistance challenges and
future durability needs. Durastak is the industry’s first three Bt-protein trait stack for corn rootworm control.It provides a new level of durability and efficacy by offering additional protein diversity compared to existing products.

Dolch says that Durastak should be available from dealers by the fall of 2026, for planting in the 2027 growing season!