BASF Spotlights Zidua PLUS Herbicide and Crop Protection Pipeline at 2026 Farm Progress Show
05 September 2026, Iowa: BASF used the 2026 Farm Progress Show to promote Zidua PLUS, a residual soybean herbicide that combines two modes of action, as part of a broader push to give U.S. soybean growers more flexible tools for managing herbicide resistant weeds. The company’s remarks were reported by Brownfield Ag News in coverage published September 4, 2026.
Matt Inman, a technical marketing manager at BASF, described Zidua PLUS as designed to give growers extended weed control flexibility while supporting resistance management, according to the Brownfield report. The product pairs the active ingredient found in BASF’s existing Zidua herbicide line with a Group 2 chemistry, referring to the Weed Science Society of America’s classification system for herbicide modes of action, which groups products by how they disrupt weed biology. Combining two distinct modes of action in one premix is a standard strategy that agronomists recommend to slow the development of herbicide resistant weed populations, a persistent and costly problem for U.S. row crop farmers.
According to product information BASF publishes for Zidua PLUS, the herbicide targets difficult to control broadleaf weeds and grasses, including Palmer amaranth and waterhemp, two pigweed species that have developed resistance to multiple herbicide classes across the Corn Belt and mid-South. The company states the product can be applied before or after crop emergence without crop response, regardless of soybean trait platform or soil type, and that under company testing it delivered up to 95 percent weed control on average at ten weeks after application.
At a separate session at the same event, Kurt Maertens, a BASF technical services representative covering eastern Iowa and western Illinois, emphasized the company’s broader crop protection portfolio rather than a single product. Maertens said having a strong portfolio of crop protection products available to farmers is critical to help growers protect yield potential and make the most of every acre, according to the Brownfield Ag News report. BASF did not disclose specific new active ingredients or registration timelines for additional products in the pipeline during the show coverage reviewed.
The Farm Progress Show, held annually in late August in either Iowa or Illinois, is one of the largest outdoor farm equipment and crop input events in North America, and it is closely watched by agrochemical companies as a venue to reach commercial retailers, agronomists and large scale growers ahead of the following season’s input buying decisions. BASF’s emphasis on resistance management messaging reflects an industry wide concern: with fewer entirely new herbicide modes of action reaching the market in recent years, companies are increasingly focused on combination products and stewardship programs to extend the useful life of existing chemistries.
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