NOVEMBER 2017 GERMINATION.CA 39 SEED TREATMENT TO TREAT OR NOT TO TREAT SEED IN THE FALL Beth Markert, Northern Alberta SeedGrowth Specialist, Bayer Canada @BCSBethM • beth.markert@bayer.com • bayer.ca GROWERS OFTEN WONDER if they should treat their seed in the fall. There are a couple big reasons for doing so — it saves time in the spring, and gives seed treatment more than enough time to dry. You also don’t have to wait in line at a treatment facility in the spring, as your seed is ready to go. Seems like a no-brainer to treat in the fall, but it’s not that simple. Three factors to consider are: Seed Quality. If you treat bad seed in the fall, it will still be bad seed in the spring. Ensure your seed comes from a reliable provider in the first place, otherwise you’re wasting time treating it, regardless of when you do so. Whether growers decide to treat in the fall or spring, they should get a germ and fungal scan before treat- ment. If either is questionable, then better seed should be obtained. Protecting poorer quality seed means that you should expect poor results even if you treat it. Storage conditions and storage temperatures. There’s no point treating in the fall if you’re treating seed that loses germination (and/or vigour) over the winter due to poor storage conditions. A big concern is temperature gradients, which lead to a moisture gradient in the bin. Zones of higher moisture are at higher risk — not only of spoilage occurring, but also of treatments on the seed becoming degraded. Storing your seed in dry and cool/ cold conditions will provide the best results. If you treat in the fall but do not use that seed until the following spring, you could be looking at as many as 18 months from treatment to usage. Depending on the storage condi- tions (temperature fluctuations, changes in humidity and moisture levels), there could be loss of either fungicide or insecticide. However, if proper storage conditions are used, the efficacy of the seed treatment will not be affected. Crop Rotation. Some growers have a well-planned crop rotation. In this case, fall/winter treating works best. Some growers plan their crop rotation based on commodity prices going into planting, and fall treating is more risky for this group. It depends on the individual’s specific situation. There’s no easy answer to the question of whether to treat in the fall or spring. Taking the above three factors into consideration will be your best guide to deciding when to treat seed. STORAGE & HANDLING FLEXIBILITY MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN SEED STORAGE Kevin Malica National Accounts Manager, Meridian Manufacturing kmalica@meridianmfg.com • meridianmfg.com WHEN IT COMES to agricultural equipment, so much of it is bulky, intended for only one or maybe two purposes, and is used for only a few months of the year. As such, some of the most progressive owners and managers have been custom-hiring more and more of their production tasks. If you’re expanding storage and holding capacity, why not consider something that gives you flexibility to store different products throughout the year as needed? Most contractors and design engineers will encourage you to build or consider a site plan that is flexible, growing with you as the business grows and adapting to new technolo- gies that come onto the market. When you’re planning the placement and type of stor- age bins, that very same thought should be taken into consideration. Do you want to put a bin in a place where it’s hard to access and can really only store a single prod- uct? In some cases, the answer will be “yes,” depending on the operation and task at hand. However, most of the time, having the flexibility to add more bins to a site and store multiple products will provide the best ROI, both short-term and long-term. The Meridian SmoothWall hopper bin exterior has a premium powder coating which is also available on the interior, so they can store a multitude of products. For example, in the spring leading up to planting, you can store fertilizer. Then, during the fall, they can be cleaned out and made ready to store seed or grain through the winter months. Consider your operation. How many turns or cycles would you be able to get out of a bin that can store a number of products? I’ve seen these things with everything in them, rang- ing from seed to feed, and from cereals to fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. If storing multiple products in a single bin through- out the year makes you cringe due to the possibility of contamination, the hopper’s SmoothWall design makes for a much easier cleanout and helps to ensure nothing is left behind from the previous product. In a low commodity price environment and a world that is ever-changing, we must be able to grow, pivot and adapt to what’s needed. Building in the flexibility to do so will make that change a little easier, and save some dollars.