February 22, 2017 | Brittnye Kroeker
Tips To Get The Most From Your Seed Treatment This Spring
Seed treatments are a great tool to help protect your seed from seed- and soil-borne diseases to give your crop the best possible start. Here are some useful tips to help you get the most from your seed treatment this spring.
Check equipment options
Many types of seed treating equipment are available that do a good job. A pressurized treating system will often produce better results than a drip system. There are many pre-calculated tables for the different Bayer seed treatments. If you don’t have a table for your specific treating equipment, or if you are adding another product to the seed treatment, you can still calculate the proper rate.
Calculate proper rates
In order to calculate the proper rate, you need to know the rate of flow of your seed and the rate of flow of your treatment, and then reference this back to your desired treatment rate or combined rates. For a more accurate flow rate, adjust rates according to the weight of the grain.
An example of flow rate chart for Raxil Pro for a UCan2 treater
Pressurized UCan2 treater
Pressurized UCan2 treater and its throttle plate that controls the grain flow and applies the product with the attached nozzle
Get good coverage
Coverage is crucial. If you are not satisfied with the coverage you are getting, consider doing some secondary mixing (with an auger or conveyor) right after the treatment has been applied.
Pictured above are soybeans treated with Evergol EnergyShield right out of the treater
Soybeans treated with Evergol EnergyShield after they have had a mixing from being conveyed into minibulk
Monitor temperature
Coverage can be altered by temperature and external treating temperature, If external temperatures are changing significantly, recalculate flow rate. If seed is cold from being stored through the winter, something as simple as turning on a fan on a warm day can warm up the seed before you treat it. Using seed that is frozen or treating on a very cold day can cause flash freezing of the treatment to the seed. When augured or run through a seeding drill, the treatment may flake off.
Test Seed
Seed treatments provide excellent control when applied properly, but if you do a seed test before treating, you will know the condition of the seed. A complete seed test, including a complete fungal scan, can help you decide if a seed treatment will provide enough protection to use the seed, or if an alternate seed source is needed.
In most parts of the Prairie Provinces this year, seed tests are showing higher levels of diseases like Fusarium graminearum in wheat, and reduced germination in wheat.
Get contact with system activity
Controlling some diseases requires contact with systemic activity, so ensuring you use proper rates and get some good coverage with a seed treatment that provides both is crucial.
Above is a graph courtesy of BioVision Seed Labs showing germination
Above is a graph courtesy of BioVision Seed Labs showing Fusarium graminearum levels in spring wheat in Manitoba; 2016 levels included samples up to Dec. 1
Blog courtesy of Brittnye Kroeker, BSc., CCA
SeedGrowth Specialist with Bayer Crop Sciences
