b'PARTNER CONTENTSafety, Testing and Reliability:Keys to Clariant Color Product Production Clariant takes pride with its Agrocer brand offering safe and reliable products for the seed colorant industry.C lariants Agrocer color solution product line leads the seed colorant industry in consistency and reliability. As Mark Self, Market Segment Manager Special Applications for Clariants Pigments Business, explains, We control every step of the production process, including the ingredients used to make our color products, with rigorous quality checks. Whether a customer purchased a color product last week or last year, they can be assured that the product was formulated using the same raw ingredients, under the same quality standards and passed the same rigorous testing for safety and reliability. Clariant, a global leader in color production, in partnership with its exclusive North American distributor Standard Colors, places a high value on the reliability and safety of its products. Agrocer color products go through rigorous testing to ensure they will not impede seed performance while adhering to all EPA regu-lations for seed colorants (40 CFR 180.920).Our joint objective, in this partnership with Clariant, is to make sure that our seed colorants do not reduce germination, slow growth, stunt the plant or create any other undesirable effects as the plant grows, says John Kibbee, vice president of technology for Standard Colors Agro Group. Ensuring that nothing prevents, or delays growth is paramount in the development of a product.Data backs up the strong Agrocer safety profile. There are nu- We pride ourselves on offering a complete package for color merous studies across multiple plant species and multiple combi- performance. Some companies might only test color, but we test nations of polymers, colorants, and active ingredients represent- different product combinations in different environmental situ-ing a wide range of typical seed treatments. All studies take up toations to simulate real life. Our customers can be confident that 18 months to complete. During this time, all phases of productionour products will give the same high performance on the field as are assessed and testedincluding normal and stressed germina- they do during testing, says Self. tion testing. Clariants partnership with Standard Colors not only enables Of principal concern to the seed treatment industry is potentialthe companies to offer gold-standard products, but also expert ad-dust exposure from treated seed to humans and beneficial insectsvice to ensure every customer is provided with a blended coating during storage, transport, handling and planting. Clariant takesfor end-product application that works best for their specific seed this very seriously, and as such, has independent experts conducttreatment needs. seed dust measurements using the most rigorous industry methodThe Clariant-Standard Colors partnership offers our custom-to help ensure that seeds treated with Agrocer colorants will meeters the next-generation of products for successful coating and compliance standards. planting results, Self says. SEPTEMBER 2019SEEDWORLD.COM /9'