Choosing a seed treatment or combination of seed treatments starts with knowing your seed quality and the conditions you will be seeding into. Good germination and vigor are still the number one priority. Seed treatments can provide protection from some diseases and insects but do not improve the quality of the seed. In other words, seed treatments do not make dead seed germinate.
Deciding whether to use a seed treatment or not is the first step. Some conditions where seed treatments have been shown to be beneficial are: seeding early into cold soils, high level of seed borne disease, seed with mechanical damage such as cracking, and seeding into fields with seedling disease issues from previous year(s) or potential insect problems. If you have good quality seed and are seeding into warm soils with no expected pathogen or insect pressure then you may not see a benefit from seed treatment.
Once the decision to use a seed treatment has been made then you need to choose which one or which combination is best. For this you will need to know what pathogens or insects you need protection against. With soil borne pathogens that cause seed and seedling diseases you may not know which pathogen will be present and most damaging each year. The pathogens involved can include Pythium, Rhizoctonia, and Fusarium species, as well as Cochliobolus sativus. Pythium can be more problematic under wet conditions and is less affected by moisture while Rhizoctonia is favored under cold conditions and is less affected by temperature. These are just general guidelines as it is difficult to predict which organism may be more prevelant in your soils and most seed treatments can provide protection for all most of the organisms mentioned. However, there are products that are specific for Pythium control and they may be an option if this is the organism you are most concerned with especially if you have wet soils.
Other diseases that can be controlled by seed treatments include seed-borne ascochyta in pulses, smut, bunt and seed-borne septoria and fusarium in cereals, as well as seed-borne blackleg and alternaria in oilseeds. Knowing your field history and seed disease levels will help with the decision whether protection from one of these diseases is warranted.
For insect protection there are now products that can provide protection from wireworms in cereals and pulses, and of course flea beetles in canola. If you had problems with wireworms in the past or suspect high pressure this year then you may want to opt for a seed treatment with the added protection.
There are a lot of products on the market so the choice can be difficult. Besides using a product that is registered for control of the disease or insect you are interested in there are a couple other factors to consider. The first is the application method. Some products are only available to commercial treaters while others have on-farm applications. No matter which you choose, all products should be applied properly and should provide good coverage of each and every seed. Ease of application of the product is worth considering. The second consideration is programming. There are discounts available through various programs and if you can get a good price and save some money through utilizing the programming then it is money in your pocket. As long as the products are registered for control of the targeted disease or insect there is little difference in efficacy between products.
Seed treatments are a good choice if you are seeding early into cool wet soils. It is added insurance to get your crop off to a healthy start. Remember that seed treatments are only effective if applied at the recommended rates and with good covereage. They also provide protection for up to 21 to 28 days after seeding so monitoring your crop is still important.
For more information on seed treatments talk to your local agronomist, Regional Crops Specialist or the Agriculture Knowledge Centre at 1-866-457-2377.
