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Seed treatment protects high-priced corn & soys

A seedbed is a lot like a war zone. It’s literally life in the trenches, a battle against many pests that want to snuff out your crop’s young life before it gets a fair start.

For corn and bean growers the question is: Can you afford to drop your seed into that war zone unarmed, or should you give it the technology to defend itself against attacks from insects and diseases?

Publication 296, the Ontario government’s Field Crop Recommendations guide is blunt about the need to treat corn: "Treatments to protect seeds from soil-inhabiting insects should be applied every year."

Extensive testing shows Agrox D-L Plus provides at least 10% better emergence at a cost of about $1 per acre.

Soybeans need protection, too. In a series of 15 Ontario trials conducted by government, university and company researchers, Agrox B3 has
produced an average of 98% control of seed corn maggot, and an 18% increase in emergence, leading to a 14% increase in yield.

Results with this year’s crops may be even higher, for two main reasons. First, insects and diseases will get a longer chance to take a bite out of your seed. Second, there will be more pests to do the biting.

By the time a seedling gets a couple inches tall, it has pretty well survived the threat from seed pests. Every day before that, however, is a day of risk.

With cold wet soils, this spring, most farmers have to prepare to face a lot of those risky days. For instance, you can expect soybeans to emerge in seven days if the soil is 20oC, but it takes three full weeks for soybeans to up through 10oC soil.

The trend to conservation tillage also means that we’re planting into cooler soils. Even in you aren’t completely no-till, last year’s residue keeps soil cool by essentially keeping the field in the shade, and also insulating it from warm breezes.

The alternative to seed treatment with Agrox B3 and Agrox D-L Plus is to wait for the soil to warm up, so you can be sure the seed will shoot out of the ground. With a yield penalty of a bushel a day in corn, it’s an expensive way to shave a few cents off you production costs.

Conservation tillage can also increase the number of insects in a soil. In soybeans, for instance, the seed corn maggot cycle starts with females looking for sites to lay their eggs. They’re attracted to the rotting smells. In the past, this meant that fields treated with manure were most at risk.

They’re also attracted by the smell of rotting vegetation, such as plowed down cover crop or last year’s rotting corn stalks.

As well, more hayfields are being plowed for corn and soybeans. Seed in those fields need to be protected from wireworms.

Before you buy seed treatments, take a minute to learn about Agrox B3 for soybeans and Agrox D-L Plus for corn. Both contain diazinon for control of insects such as seed maggots, and lindane for protection against wireworms.

On its own, lindane can burn seed. Adding captan to the formulation, however, keeps the seed safe.

Only Agrox B3 has enough captan to protect seed that isn’t also treated with a fungicide. In fact, Agrox B3 has enough captan to also effectively protect seed from soil-borne diseases.

Agrox D-L Plus is the choice for corn, with tests showing it provides an average 10% increase emergence compared to untreated seed.

Only Agrox D-L Plus contains graphite to make sure the planter won’t plug.

Dry beans also need protection from seed pests. Agrox B3 gives excellent control of seed maggots, wireworms and seed decay diseases. Varieties that are susceptible to delta race anthracnose, however, should be treated with DCT, a treatment that contains diazinon and captan, together with thiophanate methyl for anthracnose control.

Agrox B3, Agrox D-L Plus and DCT are available through Norac Concepts Inc. a Orleans, Ontario based company specializing in seed treatments and other pest control products.

Agrox seed treatments and DCT are widely distributed. To be sure you get the results you need, ask for them by name.

You put a lot of money into growing a crop, including fertilizer, weed control and fuel. Good seed performance is crucial to getting a return on that investment. It’s even more important in years with variable crop prices. Seed treatments don’t just protect your seed, they protect you.


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 NORAC CONCEPTS INC.
P. O. Box 31097, Guelph, Ontario N1H 8K1
Telephone: 519-821-3633 Fax: 519-821-2083



Last updated: 05/18/99
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