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UPL Launches Intrava DX Herbicide and Grower Finance Program While Helping Farmers Tackle Resistant Weeds and Southern Rust

Farmers continue to face mounting challenges—from tightening operating budgets to herbicide-resistant weeds and unpredictable disease pressure. At the 2026 farm show season, UPL is highlighting several tools designed to help growers protect yields and manage costs.

Lynn Justesen, Technical Sales Support for Northern Field Crops with UPL says the company is consistently hearing two major concerns from farmers.

“Growers are telling us they need help with financing and they’re struggling to control resistant weeds—especially those in the pigweed family,” he says.

To address the financial side, UPL has introduced a new grower finance program. Justesen says the program is designed to simplify purchasing and make it easier for both retailers and farmers to access the crop protection products they need.

On the weed control front, the company is expanding the launch of Intrava DX herbicide, a new herbicide introduced into the corn market last year and rolling out fully for the 2026 growing season. Justesen says it represents the first new active ingredient for corn herbicides in more than a decade.

While the chemistry has been used successfully in regions like South Africa and South America, he says U.S. weed populations have never been exposed to it before—making it an important new option in the fight against resistant weeds.

Justesen says disease management was also top-of-mind after the unusual conditions growers experienced in 2025.

“The weather pattern we saw was a bit of a unicorn,” he explains. “Southern rust blew in early from the south and stayed late in the season.”

In some cases, fields that went untreated lost more than 50 bushels per acre. Even a single fungicide pass with the wrong product or rate could still result in losses of up to 30 bushels.

To help protect yield potential, UPL recommends a three-mode-of-action disease management approach using Zolera FX fungicide paired with Vacciplant biofungicide for extended disease control.

This growing season will mark Justesen’s 37th year in agriculture, and he says the 2025 southern rust outbreak was unlike anything he has seen.

“Have a plan in place,” he advises growers. “It may not happen again like it did in 2025, but it’s important to remember what worked, what didn’t, and build a better plan with a contingency if rust shows up.”

Beyond weeds and disease, UPL is also focused on soil health and nematode management. The company’s NIMAXXA bionematicide targets Soybean Cyst Nematode using a combination of three biological strains.

Two of the strains act as bionematicides and root colonizers, forming a protective barrier along growing roots that helps prevent nematodes from feeding and reproducing. A third biological strain provides biostimulant activity that encourages root growth and improves plant resilience throughout the season.

Justesen says tools like these help growers stay ahead of evolving production challenges while protecting yield potential.

Listen to the full conversation with Lynn Justesen: