Several years ago, there was a consensus among soybean producers:

“If you have good seed, you don’t need a treatment.”

But that mindset has changed drastically in the past few years, even as seed quality has increased. Now, nearly all soybean farmers are seed treatment proponents.

So what’s been driving the shift? It’s a combination of dramatic seed treatment improvements over the past decade, a desire to capitalize on all the yield potential within the seed and an increased desire to improve farm ROI, given ever-increasing input prices.

Farmers now understand that seed treatments can:

• Protect their crop from adverse weather conditions
• Allow for an earlier start to planting
• Alleviate concerns about seed emergence
• Reduce replanting issues
• Maximize yield potential and ROI

But choosing the right seed treatment is a high-stakes decision, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the complex choices.

First, a quick overview of the different types of seed treatments:

Fungicides: Helps fight against diseases like brown stem rot, frogeye leaf spot, anthracnose, and more, and can even keep soybean plants green longer

Nematicides: Used to kill the microscopic, parasitic worms (nematodes) that can destroy a soybean crop

Insecticides: Takes action against all manner of pests, including soybean aphids, Japanese beetles, spider mites, and more

Inoculants: Bacteria added to soil in order to “fix” nitrogen within the soil, especially on land where soybeans haven’t been planted before

Colorants: Applied to seeds to alert a grower that some sort of treatment has been applied

Any successful seed treatment plan usually includes a combination of all of the above. It’s also important to test out how much of each product works best for your specific situation.

LG Seeds, for example, offers three different levels of protection. This variety of choices means you can tailor your treatment approach based on your specific soil, land history, weather patterns, and more.

Whether you need a light-touch solution or a more robust plan, our AgriShield line (from our basic ST, all the way to our top-of-the-line Max) offers varying levels of protection.

We also recently added Saltro fungicide to the AgriShield line. This package can help lessen yield loss due to Sudden Death Syndrome—with no treatment, this pathogen could kill as much as half your yield.

Seed treatments can pay big dividends for farmers—especially when it comes to soybeans. Farming is not a perfect science, and there are no bullet-proof treatments. But in these times of higher input costs, it’s more important than ever to find a treatment solution that can maximize your ROI (and yields) from those inputs.

We're here when you need us — with all the seed treatment choices and none of the distractions. Check out our seed treatment guide, or get in touch with your local LG Seeds rep to make a treatment plan for your farm.