SUPPORTED BY ENDORSED BY 56 / SEEDWORLD.COM SEPTEMBER 2018 “Providing product market- ing support is a role where we are visualizing benefits of seed treatment solutions, so we can easily convey messages to our customers and show the benefits of seed treatments,” says Andreas Leuenberger, Syngenta global SCI manager for training and stewardship. Leuenberger says advanc- ing stewardship efforts at the Seedcare Institute is a continuous effort. Areas of focus include conducting compatability tests, bridging tests, minimizing dust and improving plantability and farmer safety. “Imagine having an issue with bridging of seeds in a bin. Somehow that bin has to be cleaned out. How do we do this with minimal opera- tor exposure to treated seed? There is a very clear link to stewardship,” he says. “If we do our homework and achieve the correct recipes and establish optimum applica- tion recommendations, those bridging challenges should be limited or nonexistent.” Meanwhile, researchers look at what kind of technolo- gies can be used to minimize operator exposure — HEPA vacuum cleaning? These are the challenges that lead to stewardship opportunities. Seed conditioning and seed treatment managers want to have minimal cleaning activities. They also want an adequate application recipe to make certain the applied ingredients adhere to the seeds. On the farm, researchers are measuring plantibility and seed flow. “We want good accu- racy with planting rates and spacing,” Leuenberger says. “Nobody likes the idea of downtime. Nobody wants to clean out plugged equip- ment. That is not only a hassle, it is also losing valu- able planting time.” Last, but certainly not least, operator training is an important aspect of properly stewarding seed treatments. Educated farmers and equip- ment operators are less prone to exposure risks. Once the seeds are treated and ready to go into the field, they must eventually be transferred into a planter. If the seed is in indi- vidual bags, the operator is often very close to the planter box. Transferring the seeds into a planter is a potential for exposure. The farmer should stand upwind from where the dust is being generated and minimize exposure. Future Goals “Drifting of seed treatment dust at planting, especially with vacuum planters, is an element we need to keep an eye on to minimize dust off,” says Leuenberger. “There are different technologies to consider. One is optimum treatment recipes to make certain there is limited dusting off. With vacuum planters, there is a recommendation for the use of deflectors. These are technologies where the expelled air from the vacuum generator is directed toward the ground so that the drift from dust is not moving a long distance into the atmosphere. We would like to promote or discuss this topic with the equipment industry to make certain that we have simplified processes for cleaning and maintenance of seed planting equipment.” Additionally, application quality is becoming more and more important. Hitting the target rate with 100 percent of the target rate being applied to the seed is critical. There is also a need to make certain that every seed is protected to the same degree. Seed-to-seed product distribution is an area for further improve- ment with improved equip- ment technology. When it comes to risk management, Syngenta hopes operators understand the challenges and know how to read the product label. That information is accessible to operators, but operators should know how to read and interpret the labels. Simplified operator instructions are a potential benefit from more digitalized technology. Now an appli- cation operator may have to handle several different control boards, control units, calculators and processors. That makes life for an opera- tor quite challenging. “We are seeing that in many parts of the world; seed treatment operators do not stay on the job for many years. The industry needs to replace and educate new people. Increased digitalization would be very helpful. “With focused attention to stewardship we can improve seed treatment quality. With improved treatment qual- ity, we are leading toward improved stewardship levels. Operator exposures can be reduced in the seed treat- ment plants. Farmer and environmental exposures can be reduced in fields at planting when we respect the right rules and when we have well-trained opera- tors and perfectly optimized seed treatment recipes,” Leuenberger concludes. “With improved stewardship, every- one benefits.” SW