NEWS FROM SEED CONSULTANTS, INC.

Seed Coatings Capture

Early Planting Plusses

For Immediate release:

WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio, Jan. 23, 2006—Research by Seed Consultants, Inc. shows early-planted corn can yield 42.8 bushels more than late-planted corn. In the five-year study, corn planted before May 1 yielded 42.8 bushels per acre more than corn planted after May 21. The research was conducted throughout Ohio in strip, side-by-side and on-farm trials from 1999 to 2004.

No small change

            The 40 plus bushels boost income $85.80 per acre based on $2 per bushel corn. However, early planting isn’t always possible due to cooler soils—especially in no-till. Technology developed by Landec Ag Inc. in Oxford, Ind., allows growers to get a jump on early planting. A polymer coating covers the seed and protects it from cold, wet conditions, common in early spring. When soil temperatures reach 55 degrees, the crystal-like coating switches and allows water to permeate into the seed to start the germination process.

Seeing is believing

            Ohio farmer Jeff Swartz used Intellicoat ™ Early Plant® corn for the first time in ‘05.  Even though Swartz had been told the corn would not germinate until temperatures reached 55 degrees F, he was still concerned. He no tilled Seed Consultants SC 1082 corn with Intellicoat Early Plant® on April 14.      “A week later nothing was happening with the Intellicoat corn, and the untreated had sprouted,” admits the corn/soybean grower from Richwood, Oh.

            April’s end brought cold, wet and snowy conditions followed by May’s warm temperatures. “The Intellicoat all came up and came up uniformly; it was almost perfect,” Swartz says. “The other [untreated] had cold stress, was disoriented and some of the seed rotted.”  The later-planted remaining 200 acres of his corn crop had to be re-seeded. “If all of the corn had been treated with Intellicoat I wouldn’t have had to replant,” Swartz adds. 

            Claude Butt, Landec Ag senior sales agronomist, explains how the polymer coatings protect the seed through freezing and thawing temperatures. “If there is a warm snap, then the temperatures turn cool-- and the seedling has not germinated-- the coating can protect the seed. The Early Plant® polymer coating is reversible and can cycle back and forth.”

The proof is in the polymers

            In side-by-side tests on the Swartz farm, the Intellicoat corn yielded 18 bushels per acre more than the untreated corn in ’05. For ’06 spring planting Swartz ordered about a third of his 700 corn acreage with Intellicoat. He will start planting in late March or early April or when the soil is dry enough—about three to four weeks earlier than the normal start of planting.

            A survey of Seed Consultants customers shows 93% would recommend Intellicoat Early Plant Corn. Intellicoat is a big boost for no-till producers. Seed Consultants president Chris Jeffries says, “Typically no-till farmers plant later because they’re waiting for the soil to warm in the residue-covered soils. Intellicoat Early Plant allows no-till farmers to plant as early, or earlier, than their neighbors using conventional tillage.”

            Planting early gives growers a greater chance to maximize yields. Points out Seed Consultants agronomist Geoff Trainer, “No-tillers are able to plant earlier to potentially maximize yields when they couldn’t before due to cooler soils. With earlier planting you get more yield by giving the corn more growing degree days,” Trainer says. For maximum yields, Trainer recommends planting before May 10. After that date yields start to decline, according to Midwest university research.

Intellicoat® Early Plant™ are registered trademarks of Landec Ag.

CAPTION: Jeff Swartz, of Richwood, Oh., achieved early planting in ’05 by using Intellicoat Early Plant Corn. The no-till corn was planted April 14 and yielded 18 bushels per acre more than seed without the polymer in side-by side tests.

Hot Links

Seed Consultants, Inc: www.seedconsultants.com, Chris Jeffries, Washington Court House, Oh., 800-708-2676

Geoff Trainer, Mt. Gilead, Oh., 740-505-2302 (mobile)

Landec Ag, Inc.: www.landecag.com, Claude Butt, Oxford, Ind., 765-385-1000.

Susan K. Davis

Media consultant

740-559-2928

skdavis@ohiohills.com