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Seed treatments still paying off

A soybean specialist at the University of Wisconsin says even in a down farm economy seed treatments are still worth the investment.

Shawn Conley tells Brownfield the farms in his area have seen significant yield increases.

“Especially when we’re looking at the second generation neonicotinoid insecticide seed treatment.  That can be either the Poncho version of the Bayer platform, or the Cruiser platform on the Syngenta (side).  So again, we tend to see that (yield increase) response.”

He says the university’s  latest research still shows a positive return on investment.

“At least over 50/50, and then we get into some of these second generation neonicotinoids; almost an 80 to 90 percent return on investment for those inputs.”

Conley says he understands why growers would be reluctant to invest in seed treatments, especially when penciling out the value of the crop.

But his data suggests the added cost is worth it.