Big Grower July 2022 - 5

Case Study: Young's Plant Farm
PREVENTION, PRESERVATION AND PLANT HEALTH
For six decades, Young's Plant Farm has built a reputation for producing healthy, beautiful plants for its customers; learn how BASF
chemistries help them navigate continuous growth and innovation.
In 1961, Gene Young founded Young's Plant Farm in Auburn, Alabama,
with the vision of innovating and adopting new technologies to ensure
that future generations could always enjoy beautifully grown plants.
Over the last six decades, the space has expanded to three farms in
two states to accommodate customers' different desires for ornamental
plants, including annuals, perennials, potted plants and holiday crops.
As the Director of Horticulture, Tom Costamagna oversees all aspects
of growing, including culture, technology and consulting. In his
role, he must also help ensure his team is equipped with the best
chemistries possible to address any pest or disease issues that may
arise throughout the season. They may ship 150-200 truckloads
of plants in any given week, so there is little room for error. " Having
blemishes or some disease is not really an option, " said Tom. " We
have to produce these plants to the best of our capability. "
Between damaging insects, fungal pathogens and the extreme
Alabama temperatures, Tom and his team must be ready for anything
that can negatively impact the health and beauty of their plants, from
the time they're planted until the moment they arrive at their final
destination. With the help of BASF products and support, Tom and
his team have been able to keep up with the intense demands of the
ornamental industry and the consumers that buy their plant products.
" BASF and their chemistries
have been crucial in my success,
academically and commercially. "
- Tom Costamagna, Director of
Horticulture, Young's Plant Farm
Tom credits innovative chemistries from BASF as one of the key
contributors to both his own success and that of Young's day-to-day
operations. These chemistries include Avelyo®
spectrum DMI technology that is safe to use at every stage of plant
production, as well as Orkestra®
Intrinsic®
fungicide, a new broadbrand
fungicide and Pageant®
Intrinsic brand fungicide. Intrinsic brand fungicides from BASF offer
superior plant protection through a combination of broad-spectrum
disease control and plant health benefits in the form of increased growth
efficiency and better stress tolerance. " BASF and their chemistries
have been crucial in my success, academically and commercially, "
said Tom. " The tools they provide fill gaps [by] controlling a number of
insects and diseases that are not manageable [with] other products. "
Learn more at betterplants.basf.us
Always read and follow label directions.
Avelyo, Orkestra, Intrinsic and Pageant are registered trademarks of BASF.
© 2022 BASF Corporation. All rights reserved.

https://betterplants.basf.us/?at_medium=display&at_campaign=advertorial&at_creation=youngs_0701&at_channel=gpn_big_grower

Big Grower July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Grower July 2022