Biological Nutrition Outperforms

Date:  05/31/2023

On soybeans in North Carolina, the field that had Pacific Gro applied in-row at planting came up beautifully.  The grower standard field had to be re-planted.

The field started with biological inputs received 2 gallons Pacific Gro Sea Phos and 2 quarts Sea Crop, per acre pop-up on the seed. This crop came up with 128,000 population final stand.  Both fields were planted with conventional treated seed.

The comparison field relied on the seed treatment.  It suffered bad damage from slugs and wireworms and had just 30,000 population established. The producer re-planted it.  

Why would a biologically treated field resist damage from slugs and insects? 
Two reasons: Strong healthy plants are less appealing to slugs and other 'garbage collectors'. And Pacific Gro and Sea Crop provide the nutrition that supports beneficial soil microbes. 

Research explains the benefits of strong, diverse microbial communities, which can provide resilience to fungal disease and insect and slug pressure. This can repair some of the damage done to the microbial community by chemical seed treatments. Neonicotinoids in particular upset nature’s balance.  These systemic insecticides control soil and foliar pests – but at a cost to the beneficials that provide crop resilience. Scientific studies have demonstrated the long-term and non-target effects of neonicotinoids on agroecosystem microbes, as well as insects and bees. 

Treating seed is a proven technique for protecting your crop from early-season diseases, damaging insects, and unpredictable growing conditions. Adding biological fertility at planting improves crop resilience and reduces risk. There are also new biological seed treatment products that have been proven to protect against insects and disease and produce a good crop more economically.  These are important advancements in crop management.