A Study Of Soybean Seed Treatments

Apr 20, 2017

By Robert Battel

How do soybean seed treatments perform on late-planted soybeans?

The purpose of this study was to determine if soybean seed treated with an insecticide plus fungicides, CruiserMaxx plus Vibrance, had an effect on soybean emergence and yield. This study was conducted on two sites in Michigan, one near Avoca in St. Clair County and one near Port Sanilac in Sanilac County. The Avoca site was planted May 24 and the Port Sanilac site was planted May 31.

Michigan State University Extension’s Thumb Ag Research and Education personnel planted soybeans in 75-foot long by 15-foot wide plots. Plots were planted perpendicular to the field tile. Plots were established in a randomized complete block design. The treatments at all sites were replicated four times. At both sites, the soybeans were planted in 30-inch rows with a target planting rate of 130,000 seeds per acre.

The variety used in this study was NK S20-16 Brand and all seed planted in the trials, treated and untreated, came from the same seed lot. Results of both seed emergence and soybean yield are presented in the tables below.

Seed treatment effect on soybean emergence
	St. Clair	Sanilac	Average
	Plants/A	Plants/A	Plant/A
Treated	110,000	119,000	114,500
Untreated	115,000	122,500	118,750

Seed treatment effect on soybean yield
	St. Clair	Sanilac	Average
	Yield (bu/A)	Yield (bu/A)	Yield (bu/A)
Treated	46.0	54.4	50.2
Untreated	45.4	54.5	50.0
CV (%)	8.0	5.0	—
LSD (bu/A)	NS	NS	NS

Emergence scores were taken about one month after planting. Even though statistics were not run on the emergence results, the treatment appears to have had no effect on soybean emergence at the two locations. The differences in yield between treated and untreated seed at the two locations were also not statistically significant.

As noted in the introduction, these soybeans were planted within normal planting times, but later in the season after soils had warmed. Insecticide and fungicide seed treatments are expected to be more beneficial when soybeans are planted in cooler, wetter soils. Cool soils delay germination and emergence, allowing more time for insects and plant pathogens to attack the seed and seedlings and wet soils favor development of soybean diseases such as pythium, phytophthora and phomopsis.

The Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee provided funding, as well as seed to make this study possible.

Source: msu.edu

Video: Seeing the Whole Season: How Continuous Crop Modeling Is Changing Breeding

Plant breeding has long been shaped by snapshots. A walk through a plot. A single set of notes. A yield check at the end of the season. But crops do not grow in moments. They change every day.

In this conversation, Gary Nijak of AerialPLOT explains how continuous crop modeling is changing the way breeders see, measure, and select plants by capturing growth, stress, and recovery across the entire season, not just at isolated points in time.

Nijak breaks down why point-in-time observations can miss critical performance signals, how repeated, season-long data collection removes the human bottleneck in breeding, and what becomes possible when every plot is treated as a living data set. He also explores how continuous modeling allows breeding programs to move beyond vague descriptors and toward measurable, repeatable insights that connect directly to on-farm outcomes.

This conversation explores:

• What continuous crop modeling is and how it works

• Why traditional field observations fall short over a full growing season

• How scale and repeated measurement change breeding decisions

• What “digital twins” of plots mean for selection and performance

• Why data, not hardware, is driving the next shift in breeding innovation As data-driven breeding moves from research into real-world programs, this discussion offers a clear look at how seeing the whole season is reshaping value for breeders, seed companies, and farmers, and why this may be only the beginning.