Dow, University Of Warwick Find Unique Herbicide Traits

Dow Chemical’s (NYSE:DOW) fully-owned subsidiary – Dow AgroSciences – has joined forces with the University of Warwick, UK, to discover unique traits of the important class of synthetic auxin herbicides.

The collaboration recently shared their findings at the International Weed Science Congress in Prague and the International Conference on Plant Growth Substances in Toronto. The research featured receptor-binding uniqueness of Dow AgroSciences’ new arylpicolinate herbicides, including Arylex active and Rinskor active, compared with other commercial auxin herbicides. These auxin herbicides bind to receptors in plant cells and alter plant growth in susceptible species which leads to weed control.

Arylex and Rinskor are the first members of a new arylpicolinate class of auxin herbicides. These herbicides are effective new tools for managing weed resistance at low-use rates while offering favorable environmental fate, toxicological and ecotoxicological profiles.

Dow continued its positive surprise streak with solid earnings beat in first-quarter 2016. The U.S. chemical giant registered adjusted earnings of 89 cents per share for the quarter that outstripped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 83 cents. The results were driven by strong margins, aided by the company’s cost-management actions.

Sales from Dow’s Agricultural Sciences segment fell roughly 16% year over year to $1.6 billion in the first quarter, hurt by currency headwinds and lower crop commodity prices. Crop protection volumes declined on lower demand for herbicides. Seed volumes decreased due to weak demand for corn and soybeans.

Dow Chemical carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the chemical space include Albemarle Corp. (NYSE:ALB) , Innophos Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:IPHS) and Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP) all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).