NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sometimes, even engineered corn and soybeans need a little nudge to perform their very best – at least this is the marketing message behind a couple of new EMD Crop BioScience offerings.<br>
During a short presentation at the Commodity Classic in Nashville earlier this month, Patrick Reed, director of new product development for EMD, described patented LCO (lipo-chitooligosaccharide) Promoter Technology the company has developed aimed at enhancing traits designed to help soybeans and corn grow faster and produce more crop.<br>
Optimize is a liquid additive used to treat soybean seed directly up to 120 days before planting, Reed explained. Once in the ground, it helps the seed send out a “signal” to attract nutrients and water sooner than the plant would seek those on its own.<br>
“(The plant is) basically forced to begin nodulation earlier and in much more intense fashion,” he said.<br>
“The plant will meet each growth stage as it was intended to do, and maximize its genetic potential.”
In this way, Reed said the soybean’s root system development is improved and it has better emergence, early-season vigor and earlier canopy closure to help with moisture retention.<br>
“(It may) possibly even save an herbicide application,” he added.
He said Optimize had been tested in 164 replicated trials by 2004, when the product was marketed, and produced a mathematical mean increase of three bushels/acre of beans. “If there ever was a year to try products like this … that’s an excellent investment,” he said of the coming growing season.<br>
EMD is also testing a foliar treatment for soybeans, Reveal, which will be publicly available in 2009.
In fact, Reed said the company is seeking growers interested in participating in trials this year, and suggested interested farmers research EMD online at www.emdcropbioscience.com or call 262-957-2000 to learn more.<br>
Over three years, he said EMD has conducted 28 small-plot Reveal trials that show a mean yield of between 52.9-56.5 bu./acre – it is different from Optimize, he explained, as it encourages later stages of development rather than root mass or emergence. He said Reveal is designed to be compatible with major tank-mix partners, requiring no extra passes to apply, and it may work well in concert with Optimize – this is part of why EMD needs trial growers.<br>
“We need to get it out into your fields to verify what we’ve seen in our development trials,” he told farmers attending his presentation.
The company also has a product with LCO Promoter for corn, called Torque, which it began marketing this year. Reed said rather than treating the seed, this is applied in-furrow and designed to be used with pop-up fertilizers and tank mix. He said treatment is approximately 16 ounces per acre.<br>
Corn’s response, he said, has been increased root mass and advantageous development of shoots. The plant is better able to handle environmental pressures and generally enjoys better health, he added, and shows increased ear size and kernel count.
In trials in Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Nebraska and Kansas, Reed said control corn produced 170 bu./acre, while Torque-treated corn showed an average yield of nearly 178. In more southern states, he said there was an average increase of 15 bu./acre with Torque over control corn. In Wisconsin and the Dakotas, he said the control average was 159.2 bu./acre, while Torque-treated corn produced 177.8.<br>
“Chances are, it’s going to be a stressful spring for those young seedlings,” he said of northern climes experiencing a harsh winter.
Reed said none of these products would cost more than $4 an acre, but was conservative in his recommendation of usage. “I’d love if you’d put it on all your acres, but I don’t think that’s prudent,” he said, adding growers should instead treat areas of their fields that need extra help.<br>