Biological seed treatment are expanding what ag retailers can offer grower-customers. Kurt Seevers, Technical Development Manager at Verdesian Life Sciences, identifies nutrient availability as one of the fastest-growing areas of interest.
With grower-customers scrutinizing fertilizer expenses, biologicals that help make existing soil nutrients available to plants are gaining attention.
“Many of these products also provide some biostimulant effects at the same time,” says Seevers. “The cost of fertilizer is likely one of the main driving factors for the popularity of these types of products.”
Meanwhile, Jon Treloar, Senior Technical Agronomist at Novonesis, sees increasing interest in stacking multiple biological organisms and modes of action.
“When we have consistently tested the concept of stacking these actives with these modes of action, we see better efficacy out in the field,” says Treloar. “I think that will be a continued trend.”
However, these increasingly complex combinations create practical challenges for ag retailers.
Although many conventional fungicide and insecticide treatments are relatively compatible with biologicals, certain micronutrients and fertility components can negatively affect microbial viability.
When More Isn’t Better
“If the biological uses spores, those products tend to be a bit more resistant to detrimental effects from a variety of materials,” says Verdesian’s Seevers. “Living cells are the most sensitive to other products, and compatibility should be assessed before growers spend money on combinations that might not be delivering the benefit from everything on the seed.”
That means ag retailers cannot assume individual products will perform equally well when combined.
Before adding biologicals to a standard package, they should confirm compatibility with existing ingredients and consider whether the organisms remain viable through treatment and planting.
Rising Costs
However, as seed treatment options increase, many grower-customers are also questioning overall input costs.
Difficult farm economics have pressured purchases of both biological and traditional seed treatments. For example, nematicides could face additional scrutiny because their benefits are often less immediately visible than early stand protection.
Yet cutting established seed treatments to make room for newer biologicals introduces another risk.
According to Todd Pilcher, Biologicals and Seed Applied Technologies Marketing Leader at Corteva Agriscience, any biological replacement must deliver comparable reliability and control before growers will feel comfortable fully adopting them.
“If we can bring a biological that performs as good as synthetics, then we want to definitely bring that,” Pilcher says. “But we have to be able to prove that it is a worthy swap out.”
Seed Package Value
For ag retailers assembling 2027 seed treatment packages, the challenge is determining which additions justify their cost.
Before introducing a product, make sure to answer this checklist.
- Understand the organism’s mode of action
- Match its benefits to specific field conditions
- Review replicated performance data
Ultimately, market watchers agree that there’s an opportunity for ag retailers that deal in seeds to stack more benefits into their seed treatment packages. This way, they can build packages that protect crop stand establishments while delivering additional, demonstrable value grower-customers will pay for.
