Seed Treatments

By Jeff Blauwet, CFE Technical Agronomist

The industry continues to work on different improvements to seed treatments for both corn and soybeans. They have evolved in the last 15-20 years and the improvements are almost taken for granted today. When is the last time you heard of using Captan or Lindane as a seed treatment? They were our best options not that long ago.  Today, rarely do we look at a field that has pythium, wireworms, grubs, seedcorn maggots or bean leaf beetles causing damage but 15-20 years ago they were common problems.

Today on corn many of the standard treatments that come with the seed has multiple mode of action (MOA) fungicides & insecticides protecting the seedling from many important diseases as well as seedling insects. They are very effective thus stand losses due to the diseases or insects are not common. Croplan corn seed even comes with a standard Zinc micronutrient coating to aid early growth. Dekalb corn seed has bio-stimulants included in its treatment package aiding in better early development. Several corn nematode treatments are also available now as well. We take all these benefits for granted but they are part of the reason we have continued to increase yield potential and stress tolerance in our corn crop.

Soybeans have even more seed treatment options. Fungicides, insecticides, inoculants, plant growth regulators, & biologicals all are options today. Since most bean seed treatment is done locally at planting time, you can customize your needs for each field’s needs if you so choose. We feel these seed treatments are critical today as we migrate towards lowering populations, we need to make sure all the seeds we are planting are contributing to yield.

• Multiple mode of action fungicides are important as diseases become resistant just like weeds like waterhemp do. Our Warden CX or Acceleron base treatment offerings are multiple MOA fungicide products. They also include an insecticide for seedling pest control. We have several years of Innovate trial data that shows we have gained 2.3 bu/ac with the base treatment.
• Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) as well as Sudden Death Syndrome help is available by adding iLevo. Preside inoculant is a great option for adding a better nitrogen fixing bacteria and it includes “Take Off” technology which also triggers the plant to take up more nitrogen and multi-year data has shown 1 bu/ac gain for a lower cost addition. 
• Ascend is a plant growth regulator we have shown 1.1 bu/ac improvement in more multi-year trial results. This starts the seedling out by triggering more fine root-hair development which will continue to be more important as we migrate to less tillage and earlier planting into cooler soils.
• A newer option we have just started to offer is a combination of biostimulants in RightStart which contains Heads Up as well as another biological that are geared to help the plant fight off some White Mold pressure as well as SDS & Fusarium. 

You can tailor the treatment that best fits your needs but these are all top-notch options. Reach out to your CFE Agronomist to assist.