44 / SEEDWORLD.COM JUNE 2019 THERE’S A LOT that goes into developing a biological product that performs in the field for the farmer and can be applied at the seed company level. First, you look at the efficacy of the biological, biostimu- lant or biopesticide. We know how the microbes we use for biological products work: we know what they do to the plant, how they perform and what changes they trigger within the plant, whether the crop is corn, soybean, wheat, cotton, rice or other. We take a crop-specific approach to developing our products. We use what we call the Smart Selection process for selecting characteristics we want and to determine the strain, or combination of strains, that works best on each crop. During this process, we start by selecting characteristics in the petri dish, and then, most importantly, we do this in the greenhouse. This process increases the likelihood the desired characteristics will translate to the field. When we apply Smart Selection to our biologicals, we examine the microbial genome, its expression, and the plant’s performance once it is colonized by the microbe. We use the microbial genome to acceler- ate advanced strain selection. Only microbial strains with promising genetics are tested in the field and microbes are tested in many environ- ments and over many seasons. Once we establish how our biologi- cals perform on a crop, we examine the microbes’ disease and insect con- trol capabilities. If the biologicals are efficacious on diseases or insects, we move them into the biopesticide realm. It’s an evolution from the root and soil inoculant to the biostimulant to the biopesticide. It takes about four to five years to develop a commercial product. For example, we carry out two years of initial screening in-house. An inde- pendent, third-party research firm performs the field trials. We like to have field trial data for three years before we launch a product in the marketplace. We also perform compatibility testing with the current fungicide and insecticide packages on the market. Therefore, when a customer buys our product, it will be compatible with other products on the seed, so the farmer receives the return on invest- ment he makes in that product. Biologicals are increasing farm- ers’ crop quality and yields, which creates repeat customers as farmers demand this high performance seed every year from their seed dealers. Typically, the largest ROI on a bio- logical, biostimulant or biopesticide is back to the farmer at the end of the year, which is a good scenario because we need to keep farmers in business. ASmarterWaytoWork DAN CUSTIS CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, ABM @ABM1st dan@abm1st.com abm1st.com THE 2018 SOYBEAN seed production year presents some significant challenges for 2019 seed quality. There are various quality tests that can be performed on soybean seed lots to help producers determine the marketability of the lot. The warm germination test is required by seed laws for all seed sold. The warm germination percent is a vital measure of seed quality but it will not estimate how well seeds will emerge in cool or stressful soil conditions. Seed vigor tests place the seed in less than optimal (stressful) growing condition to deter- mine if the seed will produce normal healthy devel- opment in a sub-optimal growth environment. The two primary soybean vigor tests are the cold test and the accelerated aging (AA) test. The cold test stresses the seed with cool, wet conditions often incorporating soil to introduce pathogens. The AA test first places seeds in a high temperature, high relative humidity environment to stress the seed before planting in a roll towel or on a tray. Both of these vigor tests correlate well with field emergence in less than ideal early spring planting conditions. What can be done if the germination and vigor results indicate that seed quality is low and a grower will most likely have emergence issues? Using a fungicide seed treatment can protect the seed during the crucial moisture imbibition and seedling development stages. Effective communi- cation with growers is critical, recommending that vulnerable seed lots be planted later, under more favorable growing conditions. Accurate seed qual- ity data leads to good decisions. Be sure you have all the information that you need to protect your grow- ers and your reputation as a quality soybean seed supplier. SoybeanSeedQuality, WhatCanWeExpectIn TheFieldThisSpring? CRAIG NELSON VICE PRESIDENT, EUROFINS BIODIAGNOSTICS COMPANY CraigNelson@eurofinsUS.com eurofinsus.com/biodiagnostics/