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
he adds highlighting the importance of seed phospho- rous reserves. When seeds have sufficient nutrient reserves the results are noticeable to the eye when looking at above ground bio- mass germination and stand uniformity Cakmak says. Seed quality is so impor- tant Sippell adds. Good seed with uniform establish- ment positions the plant for 30 days of rapid growth. If you dont have this the chance of having a really good crop decreases. While seed production companies can hone in on developing a more nutrient- dense seed dealers and agronomists can help make sure the seed has the nutrients it needs once its in the ground. Nutrition in the Field Nutrient management involves complex interactions between the soil plant and nutrient explains Josh Krenz CEO and strategic counsel of Vivid Life Sciences a company that specializes in advanced nutritionals bio- logicals and enhancement technologies. For instance a plant needs zinc to use phospho- rus he says. If a field is defi- cient in phosphorus it doesnt matter how much zinc you apply the plant cant access it. They all feed off each other its managing that interaction to get the ideal reaction and keeping every- thing in balance. One nutrient that experts are honing in on to help increase corn yield is zinc. Zinc is an essential ele- ment that helps the seed break dormancy Krenz says. When the plant produces seed it naturally produces zinc in the seed but at a lesser amount than what is needed to get it out of the ground and sustain early growth. Krenzs team is adding zinc as a treatment to seed in a number of forms to see what works best in different regions soils and hybrids. The result is early consistent emer- gence with bigger and better root systems he says. Two other micronutrients that soybean and wheat farm- ers should monitor are manga- nese and copper. Krenz says these help with cell develop- ment and are crucial in the first 14 days. They too can be applied as a seed treatment. Spring weather often brings varying unfavorable weather including cold and saturated soil. If its cold having these nutrients right on the seed is better than broadcast Krenz says. Putting zinc directly on the seed gives the plant what it needs and is more sustainable. With increasing fertilizer regulations coming down the pipeline we are putting those nutrients right where they need to be they get used up and are essentially gone. So what are the measurable results According to Winfields Answerplot.com the average yield increase for corn with a zinc seed treatment is 3.5 bush- els per acre. But Krenz says yield isnt necessarily an accu- rate indicator of performance when evaluating the efficacy of nutrients. There are so many vari- ables that must be taken into account when it comes to yield weather insect and disease pressures water avail- ability he says. When analyzing the results the first thing that Krenz measures is root size. We measure the plant stand both above and below ground he says. Above ground measurements include weighing the dry matter taking tissue samples and phenotyping. The tissue samples help us understand if the nutrients made it to the right place and they are in the plant. We also check chlorophyll levels and measure NDVI Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. Krenz says early results show that the treatment does what we want. We do everything we can to get the plant off to the right start he says and then we do measure yield. Krenz says theres a great deal that needs to be done to ensure growers get the most value out of every bag of seed. Thats why you see the big seed and chemi- cal companies spending so much money and energy on biostimulants and microbi- als early seed development is so critical to the rest of the growing season he notes. JUNE 2016 SEEDWORLD.COM 39 Its actually a more nutrient-dense seed. The seed does better in the first 30 days coming out of the ground which sets farmers up for success. David Sippell