Seed Companies Double Down on SCN As Pressure Intensifies
For the past several years, the seed category for ag retailers has remained relatively steady in terms of market performance. For the most part, seed revenues have stayed flat or dropped/climbed ever so slightly depending upon the overall market conditions.
This certainly was the case during 2025. Based upon the data from the annual CropLife 100 survey of the nation’s top ag retailers, seed sales for 2025 dropped back slightly from 2024 — from $5.8 billion to $5.7 billion. However, the market share for the category remained steady at 13% vs. other crop inputs and services.
According to Nathan Alonso, Portfolio Marketing Leader for Brevant Seeds, the seed industry will keep looking for new ways to evolve as the marketplace it serves changes.
“The seed industry continues to adapt and grow, through ongoing challenges like unpredictable weather patterns and evolving market dynamics,” said Alonso in a late 2025 interview with CropLife® Magazine. “We’re seeing strong momentum in seed breeding advancements and trait diversification. New varieties are being developed with greater agronomic improvements and yield potential, reflecting a robust pipeline of innovation.”
In particular, it seems one of the pests seed companies are actively targeting in 2026 is soybean cyst nematodes (SCN). According to Dr. Greg Tylka, Morrill Professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology at Iowa State University, SCN does several million dollars’ worth of damage to soybean crops and yields each year across North America.
“SCN is the nation’s most damaging soybean pathogen,” says Tylka. “Soybean farmers in the U.S. and Canada lose many thousands of dollars in individual fields due to reduced yields from the nematode each year. The most sustainable management approach to minimize SCN yield loss is a multi-faceted plan that can include growing non-host crops in rotation with SCN-resistant soybean varieties and use of nematode-protectant seed treatments on the soybeans.”
New Options for Seed Care
Luckily, multiple seed options are available for ag retailers and their grower-customers to combat SCN. In fact, according to Tylka, growers can choose from 908 SCN-resistant varieties, stemming from 35 brands and 25 seed companies, for the 2026 growing season.
“The most effective way to actively manage SCN is to rotate growing SCN-resistant soybean varieties with different resistance genetics,” he says.
Besides varieties, new seed treatments for SCN are also on the horizon. In early November 2025, Syngenta announced its Victrato seed treatment had been registered by the EPA for soybeans and cotton for the 2026 planting season, subject to state approvals.
“Year after year, nematodes, including soybean cyst and root knot, as well as Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), rank as the top causes of soybean yield loss,” said Dale Ireland, Ph.D., Syngenta Seedcare Technical Lead, announcing the registration. “We know soybean growers want improved yield protection for areas with consistently heavier pressure.”
According to Ireland, Victrato can control SDS and nematodes, including SCN, root knot, reniform, lance, and lesion. The brand’s new active ingredient, TYMIRIUM technology, is a carboxamide succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor molecule.
“I’ve worked with this compound under field evaluation over the last 10 years,” he said. “Victrato preserves more yield than any other molecule available, and it protects against all life stages of nematodes: Eggs, juveniles, and adults. This stops in-season feeding and limits future populations.”
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