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Weigh options of DIY soybean treatment vs. pretreated seed
 
By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent
 
HARLAN, Iowa — As soybean growers head into their fields for spring planting when the weather permits, they undoubtedly have already contemplated seed treatment options – among them do-it-yourself (DIY) treating on the farm versus purchasing pretreated seeds.
 
“This is such a rapidly evolving market,” said Clarke McGrath, Iowa State University agronomist and onfarm research and extension coordinator at ISU’s Iowa Soybean Research Center.
 
“Just think that a decade or so ago, there weren’t a lot of soybean acres treated. Now, I’m guessing that depending on the season, two-thirds or better of our soybeans get some sort of treatment.”
 
But there are many factors to consider when deciding seed treatment options: cost-saving with DIY, pretreated seed effectiveness, risks of DIY pretreated seed in planters and custom blend compatibility.
 
Steve Gomme, Syngenta seed care commercial product lead in Greensboro, N.C., said DIY cost-saving is often much smaller than most would assume. “In order to fully recognize the cost of treating your own seed, you first need to understand where the cost originates in treating one’s own seed,” he said.
 
“Most cost savings can be found in the application of the seed treatment products to the seed. In applying these products downstream, or away from the seed plant, it is important to have a very precise two-part applicator.”
 
McGrath added DIY cost savings depends on other factors such as: how many acres/units an operation is treating; the cost of the treating equipment; what sort of pricing a grower can get on their treatment products as opposed to hiring it done at regular retail chemical pricing; and how many different products are applied.
 
“A pretty common number we hear for savings is in the $5 to $8 per-unit range for treating your own versus having the seed dealer do it,” he said. “But those are just ballpark numbers in a really big – and quickly evolving – ballpark.
 
“I’ve seen quite a wide range of seed treatment units, from homemade cement mixer or trough-type units that guys have $10K or less in, to up to nearly commercial- grade treaters that can run six figures.” Moreover, when determining effectiveness, McGrath said growers need to find out whether they will have access to the same products for on-farm treatment versus pretreated seed.
 
“We hear about pipeline treatments that companies could offer with pretreatment as the only way to get it initially, and they could offer packages of treatment products as part of that,” he explained. “On the other hand, seed retailers have invested a lot of capital into their treatment systems and seed companies are well aware of that, so there could be some middle ground.
 
“There may some proprietary pretreatments applied upstream, while downstream at the seed dealer or farm level, there will still be an ability to do prescription treatments on top of pretreatments.”
 
Gomme agreed. He said most recently, lower-cost DIY applicators have entered the market “but, buyer beware.” “Many of these systems lack an effective secondary application process, which can lead to uneven distribution of the seed treatment across the seeds traveling through the applicator,” he said. “Most pretreated seeds from the seed dealer have been applied using new or recently upgraded applicators that are calibrated to treat each individual seed with the same amount of product, allowing for the highest level of performance from the seed treatment.”
 
Conversely, many DIY systems will treat seeds by the pound and not down to the individual seed, Gomme explained.
 
As a seed size changes, the rate per seed can vary by 30 percent or more.
 
“Since most products are applied at mg a.i./seed (Maxim Quattro active ingredients), the agronomic implications can be significant if products are not uniformly applied to each seed,” he said.
 
In addition, McGrath noted there are risks to putting DIY-treated seed in planters.
 
“We are literally coating our soybean seed in these products, and we are pushing the limits of the volume of product we can put on seed with our current technology and formulations,” he said. “So some risks we run could be uneven coverage, seed damage from rough handling, getting seed too wet or having planter performance issues.”
 
But he said many of the products are applied at such precise rates that take “some pretty high-tech equipment to meter it out, so attention to detail with the recipe for each treatment batch will reduce the risk of overor under-application.”
 
With DIY-treated in planters, Gomme said improper application or low-quality products can also lead to less-than-adequate planting singulation. “This can reduce yield potential significantly and lead to poor canopy development, which may allow a late flush of weeds to emerge.”
 
Another factor is whether the components of farmers’ custom blends are even compatible.  “Speaking of risks of DIY, this is one I could see as an issue,” McGrath said.
 
“The easy answer is to work with your chemical supplier to ensure that everything is compatible and that the right mixing and treatment protocols are laid out and followed.
 
“One of the advertised perks of DIY seed treatment is that you can do your own prescriptions as you see fit, field by field, treatment batch by batch, day by day. As we start creating more custom mixes, it could mean more challenges with making sure everything is compatible.” 
4/27/2017