ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER 27 AGRONOMY continued on page 28 A lot of research and troubleshooting goes into the development of new crop protection product sprays and seed coatings. By examining how seed treatments perform under Canadian conditions and how sprays mix, move through equipment, and reach the crop, researchers can help ensure products are practical, reliable, and supported by clear guidance for growers and applicators. For Syngenta customers in Eastern Canada, much of that research and development happens at a small research facility in Plattsville, Ont. Built on the site of an old farmstead, Syngenta’s Honeywood station houses a chemistry and application lab, a pathology lab, and the Canadian Seedcare Institute — one of 17 globally. The station hosted a tour for the Eastern Canada Farm Writers Association on May 26 to showcase some of the high- and low-tech methods used to develop and troubleshoot new products. A DIFFERENT AI Matthew Coulter, formulation and application technology manager, says his team’s overarching job in the chemical laboratory is to “improve the application process” by ensuring new active ingredients — referred to as “AI” in his chemistry industry parlance — can be effectively incorporated into a solution. That work involves many steps, including blending new actives with surfactants, thickeners, antimicrobials, and other substances to ensure products dispense uniformly and cleanly through application equipment. “Formulation selection is really driven by both product requirements and the properties of the active ingredient,” says Coulter. Some formulations can have “20, 30, even 40” different chemical compounds, while others are in the single digits, or can stand on their own. Coulter and his team also regularly conduct compatibility tests to determine if, and how, new products can be tank-mixed with other chemicals commonly used on the crops for which the new active will be registered. Another room within the lab features droplet science — a series of machines designed to measure how new formulations move from sprayer nozzles to the crop.
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