JANUARY 2018 GERMINATION.CA 35 SEED TREATMENT DON’T LET YOUR DISEASE GUARD DOWN FOR 2018 Brittnye Kroeker, SeedGrowth Specialist, Bayer Canada brittnye.kroeker@bayer.com • bayer.ca IT’S THAT TIME OF year — harvest has wrapped up and growers are sending seed off for testing (or should be sometime before spring). Thanks to favourable weather in many parts of the West, seed disease pressure is looking like it will be lower in 2018. It’s a message many are hearing right now from people like me. Yes, so far test results coming back for cereals show lower levels of disease. We did have drier condi- tions in 2017 that were not as favourable to spore devel- opment in soil. But don’t get fooled. Seed and soil-borne disease is still a big issue that could derail you if you don’t take heed. Here’s some things you can do to ensure you have your disease guard up for 2018. Pay attention to crop rotations: In some cases we see tight rotations. Depending on what pathogen/strain you’re talking about, you can see disease overlap between crops, meaning it can affect more than one crop. It may not cause disease in that crop, but the pathogen can sur- vive and cause disease in next year’s crop. Think back to 2017: Last year’s seed-borne disease levels in cereals were higher, and some of that seed got put into the ground since many people tested their seed late in the spring. Any time you do that, you increase the inoculum load in the soil. What happened last spring could reverberate well into 2018. Bust the myths: Many myths are out there in terms of disease, and you should know about the big ones. Usually the question that comes up is, “I’m seeding into warm soils into spring so I don’t need a seed treat- ment, do I?” In warm soils you see diseases like fusarium thrive. Cochliobolus sativus can also show up and start affecting wheat. People also often think, “I seed in the spring and then everything I do after that is helping me increase yield, so I’m protected from disease,” when actually you’re starting off with 100 per cent yield potential when you seed, but everything that happens after that can possibly take away from yield. Disease is present in the soil that may not be pre- sent on the seed. Treating your seed is the best defense against both seed and soil-borne diseases. Look at seed treatment as a form of insurance, and don’t let down your guard due to the promise of low disease pressure in 2018. STORAGE & HANDLING WHY STORAGE AND MARKETING ARE INSEPARABLE Glenn Friesen Senior Vice-President, Meridian Manufacturing @GfriesenGlenn • gfriesen@meridianmfg.com • meridianmfg.com NOW THAT THE new year has arrived, everyone involved in the seed and grain business is thinking about the year gone by. What did I do right in 2017? What did I do wrong? What do I need to know so that I can ensure my success in 2018? Thankfully, there’s a simple strategy for giving you peace of mind when it comes to looking ahead to 2018. You have to think of yourself not just as a grower, but also as a marketer. Storage and marketing are intertwined, and whether we like it or not, we’re in the marketing business. Grain storage is essential to any operation since the commercial grain handling system in Western Canada cannot store the entire grain crop. In a recent survey, Alberta had approximately 25 mil- lion tonnes of permanent on-farm storage capacity and about 15 per cent of grain stored in temporary storage such as grain rings or bags. On-farm storage is important for marketing — prices are typically the lowest at harvest, and storage becomes crucial. Also, the market simply cannot absorb the whole volume of crop in the three-to-six weeks of harvest. Even in years of record production, the need to increase storage is essential. Permanent storage pro- vides piece of mind that your grain is protected from weather and wildlife damage. If you operated a store, you wouldn’t dream of standing by and allowing the roof to leak and make the products on your shelves wet. Why treat your seed or grain like that? Most things in agriculture can’t be controlled. Be it weather or the markets, it can be stressful to ponder the fact that the majority of what happens on a daily basis is completely out of your sphere of influence. However, your ability to store seed and grain is something you have total control over, and proper stor- age is what enables you to market your own product and reap the best returns possible, regardless of what Mother Nature or the markets throw your way. Farm storage is a marketing tool and can increase net returns. Remember that, and you’ll enjoy a better night’s sleep and be better prepared for what 2018 is bound to throw your way.