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64 SEEDWORLD.COM JUNE 2015 RESEARCH SHOWCASE Welcome to Seed Worlds Research Showcase a new department within the magazine. This department is designed to bring more scientific information to readers as well as showcase the work being done by graduate students and their advisors. Economic Risk and Profitability of Soybean Seed Treatments at Reduced Seeding Rates Adam P Gaspar1 Paul Mitchell2 Shawn P Conley1 1 Dept. of Agronomy 2 Dept. of Ag. Applied Economics University of Wisconsin Madison About the Author Adam Gaspar is a graduate student in the Department of Agronomy at the University of Wisconsin Madison working under Shawn Conley pursuing a doctorate in agronomy. His current research and Extension activities include many aspects of modern Midwest soy- bean and wheat production. Gaspars research is very applied in nature and the resulting extension is targeted at the farm level where producers can immediately adopt research findings. The goal of my research is to increase crop production in an environmentally and economically sustainable fashion by improving crop management through the adoption of new practices and technologies. Introduction Earlier soybean planting coupled with increasing seed costs has led to a surge in the number of acres planted with seed treatments in the past decade Esker and Conley 2012. Yet as commodity markets have softened recently the return on investment ROI of seed treatments is even more vital to producers. Furthermore the compo- nents and relative cost of various soybean seed treatments has broadened greatly. Recent studies have suggested that growers should consider lowering seeding rates to increase their return on investment De Bruin and Pedersen 2008 Epler and Staggenborg 2008. This is attributed to the soybean plants potential compensatory ability at lower plant populations. Ultimately growers would like to know the value proposition of combining seed treatments with lowered seeding rates. Therefore the objectives of this study were to Quantify the effects of seed treatments and seeding rates on soybean yield. Assess the economic risk and profitability of seed treatments and seeding rates including the calculated economically optimal seeding rate EOSR for each seed treatment. ApronMaxx RFC and CruiserMaxx Syngenta Crop Protection seed treatments were used to achieve these objectives because they differ in their components and relative cost per unit. This study was conducted in 2012 and 2013 at nine Wisconsin locations totaling 18 site-years. All locations were planted in 15-inch rows within the first three weeks of May. Effects on Soybean Yield When pooled over all seed treatments the highest seeding rate 140000 seeds per acre yielded 64 bushels per acre which was significantly higher than all other seeding rates except 120000 seeds per acre. ApronMaxx showed no improvements in yield at any seeding rate com- pared to the untreated control UTC while CruiserMaxx provided increased yields at all seeding rates Figure 1. CruiserMaxx showed a trend of larger yield Figure 1. Yield bushels per acre of the three seed treatments across all seeding rates.