Beck’s Hybrids introduces new seed treatment

Jun 08, 2018

NEMASECT will be available for the 2019 planting season

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Beck’s Hybrids is giving cash crop producers a new tool to protect against pests and help protect yields.

The company’s new seed treatment, NEMASECT, is a nematicide and insecticide that will come standard as part of its Escalate seed treatment. It will be available to growers free of charge.

The product is designed for corn and soybeans, and can protect against a number of insects, said Jim Schwartz, director of practical farm research with Beck’s Hybrids.

“It not only has an impact on nematodes, it has impacts on other soil-dwelling insects like corn rootworm, seed corn maggot, grubs and wireworms,” he told Farms.com today.

The product also has multiple modes of action against eggs and juveniles, which can help lower the risk of developing resistance.

NEMASECT works quickly and can provide growers with yield benefits.

The product can kill nematodes within 48 hours and impacts nematode populations for up to 60 days.

Field trials have shown yield advantages in both corn and soybeans.

“Based on the data we have over two years of field trials, we’re seeing a yield protection advantage of about 12.2. bushels per acre in corn,” Schwartz said. “And in soybeans, we’re seeing a yield protection average of about 3.5 bushels per acre.”

The seed treatment will be available for the 2019 planting season.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.