Product Information

Table 1

Although virtually all seed corn sold in Canada comes pre-treated with a fungicide such as Captan, the extra protection of a drill-box seed treatment that contains a fungicide and an insecticide is worthy of serious consideration.

Soybean seeds on the other hand are not usually pre-treated so protection is even more important to ensure farmers maximize yields.

Agrox D-L Plusproduced an average of 15% higher corn populations in 14 trials that have been reported by the Canadian Expert Committee on Pest Management – a federally appointed panel of university, government and industry researchers.

In another 5 year series of tests, covering a range of weather and soils, insecticide-fungicide drill-box seed treatments produced an average of 40% higher seed success rate compared to the untreated checks.

In every trial, results indicated higher emergence rates ranging from 3 to 39% depending on soil factors, weather and insect pressure.

When corn hybrids are planted in ideal conditions at the optimum date, long term research shows that a 5% decrease in plant stand will lead to a 2.1% yield reduction. The shortcoming with these population trials, however, is that they are based on uniform plant spacing and on healthy seedlings. Farmers know that in real life that is not always the case.

Table 2

Preventable losses from insect and disease damage are also evident in many years of soybean field trials. Results from 31 ongoing trials by public and private researchers show that soybeans are even more vulnerable since more and more acres are now grown under conservation tillage.

Under most seedbed conditions, Agrox B-3 drill-box seed treatment for soybeans improved stands by an overall 16%. Under stressful conditions, the difference was much greater.

For instance, at Ridgetown College in 1994, Dr Art Schaafsma found Agrox B-3 gave 90% emergence, compared to 56% for the untreated check. In 1995, Dr. Schaafstma obtained 83% emergence with treated seed compared to 63% in the check.

Farmers invest a lot of time and money in growing a crop, including fertilizers, seeds, and weed control. Good seed performance is crucial to getting a return on that investment. It’s even more important in years with strong crop prices.

Table 3

A good start to a high-yielding crop

In the last few years crop production has changed significantly. But over the next few years, bio-technology will have a huge effect on agriculture. New seeds are being developed with higher yield potential leading to greater returns per acre.

As seed costs will increase, farmers will need to consider their approach to crop management. Treating higher-priced genetically engineered seed will be even more critical to ensure a good crop stand and higher returns.