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 148DECEMBER 2016 SEEDWORLD.COM / 77 ONE OF THE most vital organs in your body is your heart. When your heart stops, so do you. The same goes for your seed treatment equipment. The pump is the heart of your equipment. We design and manufacture our own diaphragm pumps, for transportation and dosing of the liquids, and over the years I’ve learned a lot about the importance of a reliable diaphragm pump. The liquid treatments on the world market have diverse viscosity, which puts pumps through the ringer. A good dia- phragm pump should be tested in-house to make sure it can handle any registered product on the market. Seed treating con- ditions are often tough. There can be really cold or hot conditions, or huge differences in temperature during the day. A diaphragm pump that handles extreme temperature swings ensures you don’t encounter issues with your dosing rate, since you don’t have hoses that react to the tem- perature as in a peristaltic pump. It also pro- vides you with a low life-cycle cost since you don’t get the wear that you get on squeezed hoses in a peristaltic pump. That lowers your maintenance costs significantly, and also saves you some risk of a major mess when one of those hoses breaks one day — and that day will probably be in the busy season when your pumps are working the hardest. A reliable diaphragm pump should also perform in a variety of climatic conditions, both warm and cold, and also where there are major temperature differences during the day, like Australia. A lot of operators have a very short season for treatment, and it’s SEED TREATMENT EQUIPMENT When the Pump Stops, So Does Your Business KETTY NILSSON NOROGARD PRESIDENT @NoroGardAB • Ketty@NoroGard.com • NoroGard.com crucial that your equipment works reliably all through the season. There is no time for breakdowns. Pumps don’t just transport liquid — they´re also significant to seed treatment application quality. A good pump must have a pressure equalization, to give you an even flow, which ensures you get a high dosing accuracy. But a diaphragm pump is only as good as the care and maintenance it receives. After your treating season is over, it should receive some extra care. Examine your pump and change the membrane, which should be made of rubber and easily replaceable. Just as you care for your heart, your pump should be treated appropriately to ensure it lasts for many years and gives you the reliable performance you need. NEMATODES ARE A serious issue for farmers, especially in the United States and Brazil. These invisible, microscopic creatures — also called roundworms — live in soil and attack a plant’s roots. It is estimated they destroy over 10 percent of global crop production every year. One of the most damaging nematodes in the United States is the soybean cyst nematode (SCN). It was discovered in North Carolina in the 1950s and moved quickly throughout the country’s soybean growing regions. Over the years, new soybean variet- ies have been developed with resistance to SCN; however, they were developed from a source of resistance that’s more than 25 years old, so the SCN is now fighting back. The number of nematodes has been dramatically building in fields, because they have adapted to our efforts to fight them. In Brazil, the nematode problem is even more ominous. A different kind of nema- tode is present there that thrives on corn, soybean and cotton. Farmers grow mul- tiple crops in a season (making proper crop rotations difficult), and growers are seeing a rapid buildup of nematodes as a result, with no clear solution in sight. Breeders have difficulty finding new sources of resistance to SCN that have the ideal agronomic characteristics farm- ers want. They have found new sources that work, but they don’t yield well or are susceptible to other diseases. Various products have been developed to battle these nematodes, including seed treatments. Growers in both regions, but especially the United States, must step up to the plate in the fight against the nematode problem. In America, proper crop rotation and regu- lar monitoring of SCN levels in fields are SEED TREATMENT STEWARDSHIP Nematode Problem Has No Easy Solution PALLE PEDERSEN HEAD, SEEDCARE PRODUCT MARKETING, SYNGENTA palle.pedersen@syngenta.com • syngenta-us.com crucial to combating it. In Brazil, the solu- tion isn’t as obvious, but in both regions, we must raise awareness among farmers. Farmers tend to think the problem is an easy one to solve. Consider that in the United States, SCN-resistant soybean vari- eties don’t cost more than susceptible vari- eties. You have a technology that is cheap, and they will keep using it to a point where it stops working, as humans often do. The effort to raise awareness of this problem is beginning to see some suc- cess, with initiatives like a recent partner- ship between the North Central Soybean Research Program and several universities to launch an awareness campaign. With the help of growers, we can hope- fully one day begin to reverse the continued threat posed by nematodes in the United States and Brazil. As of right now, though, we have a long way to go to secure profit- able soybean production in the future.