Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 14872 / SEEDWORLD.COM DECEMBER 2016 INSIDERS ADVICE FROM INDUSTRY EXPERTS BIOLOGICALS Focused Microbial Diversity and Smart Selection MORE AND MORE science supports the role biologicals play in plant health and performance. A growing body of scien- tific literature shows these products have a real, measurable effect. Testament to increased consumer adoption of these types of products is the increasing resources put into developing biologi- cal products by the large multinational agbiotech companies. Two fundamental concepts behind biologicals that ABM works to develop are Focused Microbial Diversity and Smart Selection. Focused Microbial Diversity is an important concept for the seed industry, because it brings an awareness of the com- plexity of crop production beyond simply the genetics of the seed and the inputs to MOLLY CADLE-DAVIDSON ABM CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER mollycadle-davidson@abm1st.com • ABM1st.com WE SEE A growing interest in having more access, control and availability over the input and output data that comes with seed delivery and treatment systems. Having access to information such as his- torical data, accuracy reports and customer information allows an owner to introduce accountability and stewardship into their process, while also being able to reconcile and validate what they are delivering to their customers. As we look specifically at the points of value that come with a com- prehensive data management system, we can break this down into three areas. Corporate (multi-location): Sets of information about seed varieties, treat- ment liquids, treatment recipes can be pushed out to multiple systems and sites. Individual Rep/Ag Retail Location: Users with one seed treatment system have the ability to manage inputs that are going into their system, and therefore, have more control of the output.  Seed System/Treatment Process/Data: The machine tracks and records data, such as transactions, recipe changes, historical data and treatment accuracy. Understanding these three areas is one of the most important aspects of data management. As the trend moves toward more sophisticated data systems, innova- tions in data access and reporting will no BULK SYSTEMS & AUTOMATION A Business Case for Data Management JASON KAEB KSI CONVEYORS DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT JasonKaeb@ksiconveyors.com • KSiConveyors.com doubt progress. I see a huge amount of interest in having a web-based data solu- tion that provides access not just to the specific machine or user level, but also to parent companies who want to push seed varieties, treatment items and reci- pes down to their machines. Remember: Even if the ability to manage or access data is not an important part of your process, it will be necessary in the future. When upgrading or purchasing an automation or control system for a bulk seed and treatment system, it’s important to consider whether or not the automation system has the capabilities to tie into a data management system.  the crop. As we are learning from human medical research on the microbiome and its parallels in the plant world, good micro- bial health is essential for plant health and the right diversity will help us make the required improvements in agriculture. Focused Microbial Diversity delivers diverse microbial strain combinations that, individually, provide specific benefits to a plant and, in combination, interact synergistically with each other and the crop to give broad-spectrum advantages even in environments that may be unfa- vorable. Smart Selection is a method of rolling phenotypic, genomic, chemical and formulations data into our pipeline, enabling direct, streamlined development of novel traits and functionalities. This is a dynamic strategy through which continual evaluation of new enabling technologies, when efficacious, expands our toolbox, thus evolving not only the concept, but also the process. We lever- age Smart Selection to imbue all of our products with Focused Microbial Diversity. Clear examples of the benefits of microbial products are increased yields, drought tolerance, stand establishment and early season vigor and better nod- ulation. Continuing basic microbiome/ phytobiome research in both human and plant sciences is adding to the growing body of scientific literature demonstrating the very real and reproducible effects of microbes on plant performance for these types of traits.