Manage Challenging Weather Conditions with Your Seed Treatment

When building a house, a sturdy foundation is the first step to ensure the rest of the house stands on its own. The good foundation for the crops in your field is a healthy, well supported seed. Higher yields start with a uniform stand. 

The best way to secure your foundation is to apply a seed treatment. Seed treatments help keep pests away from your seeds, support germination and vigor, reduce abiotic stress, increase yields and establish healthy roots.

Providing seeds with a good foundation has always been important to growers. Given the increase in extreme weather conditions over the last 20 years, a sturdy foundation is essential now more than ever.

Here’s how a seed treatment can set your crops up for a successful planting season, regardless of the weather – with a special look at a crop that thrives in  less than typical ideal conditions, winter wheat.

Understanding Extreme Weather’s Impact on Agriculture

The weather can make or break a growing season for any farmer. Unfortunately, extreme weather events have only increased in recent years. From 2000 to 2019, there were 7,348 major natural disasters around the world, compared to 4,212 natural disasters from 1980 to 1999. In 2023, extreme weather amounted to $21 billion in crop losses. 

The weather is a variable no farmer can control. But, by not taking strategic action to prepare for extreme weather events, you could be leaving yourself vulnerable to germination or crop failures, lower yields, planting delays and reduced profits.

What are extreme climate events in agriculture?

Preparing for extreme weather means preparing for all the unexpected weather that could impact your area. This includes heavy rains and flooding, lack of moisture and drought, high winds, hail, pests and diseases as well as freezing temperatures.

Heavy rains and flooding:

• Erosion from heavy rain can impact topsoil, reduce soil fertility and productivity
• Can cause nutrient leaching in neighboring water supplies 
• Operational delays (planting, harvesting, transportation of crops, etc.)
• Can rot plants
• Spreads fungus and mold in soil

Lack of precipitation and drought:

• Reduces photosynthesis
• Damages plant tissue
• Reduces growth
• Reduces crop quality
• Increases premature flower or fruit development or drop
• Crops can struggle to grow and potentially die

High winds:

• Erosion from high winds can impact topsoil, reducing soil fertility and productivity
• Can cause nutrient leaching in neighboring water supplies 
• Operational delays (planting, harvesting, transportation of crops, etc.)
• Can damage plants 

Hail:

• Bruise or puncture crops
• Damage leaves
• Breaks branches
• Strips plants of protective covering, leaving them vulnerable to pests and diseases

Freezing temperatures:

• Causes abiotic stress 
• Reduces growth
• Cold snaps can kill plants

Pests and diseases:

• Changes in temperature and humidity can create favorable conditions for pests and diseases for outbreaks
• Can reduce yields 
• Can kill crops

There’s no stopping the weather, but we can lessen the impact of these incidents by taking risk mitigation actions. One way to prepare your crops for the worst is to provide them with the protective layer of a seed treatment when crops are most vulnerable to the weather.

The Role of Seed Treatments

Seed treatments are biological, physical, or chemical materials added to seed prior to planting. The materials can include everything from biological organisms, nutrients, colorants, and chemicals, but each one plays a specific role in the seed’s development. 

Some common reasons growers decide to add a seed treatment include: 

• Disease control
• Protection from pests
• Improved germination
• Improved vigor
• Reduced environmental stress
• Improved nutrient management
• Activating beneficial microbes at the spermosphere
• Improved yield potential

Common diseases seed treatments protect against include everything from clubroot to loose smut to black leg and white rot. Without a seed treatment, you could see a reduction in yield and quality of your crops. 

For example, if your wheat seeds contract stinking smut, they can be rejected at the elevator – leaving you with a loss for the season. Due to the smell, livestock will reject wheat infected by smut, reducing its overall feed value. 

Choosing the Right Seed Treatment

Growers have been using seed treatments for thousands of years (since the mid-1600s) for good reason. They play a crucial role in protecting seeds and seedlings from disease, insects, and environmental stressors. Modern-day seed treatments can also impact plant growth and development throughout the season. But how do you know which seed treatment is right for your crops? 

First, Consider Your Field’s History 

No one knows your fields like you do. What pests and diseases have plagued you in the past? How has your soil and crops reacted to high-precipitation and low-precipitation years? The historical data is a smart starting point for any seed treatment plan. 

Conduct a Soil Test

If you’re unsure of what might be in your fields, you can always get a soil test to be safe. A comprehensive soil test can give you the full picture of your soil’s health and quality, including pH levels, soil structure, chemical composition and biological makeup. 

What are you planting?

Seed treatments should be tailored to the type of crop you’re growing this year. What are their common threats? What are some ways you could protect them from those threats? Also, what did you plant previously? Could that plant have introduced anything your crops may need extra protection from this year? 

What you previously planted, and what you plan to plant will play a big role in building a comprehensive seed treatment program. 

Work with a Trusted Crop Advisor

As always, make sure you work with a trusted crop adviser. They can help you assess any potential risks and rewards of each kind of seed treatment before planting. 

Seed Treatments for Specific Weather Conditions

Part of picking out a comprehensive seed treatment is planning for the worst while hoping for the best. Unfortunately, it usually doesn’t make sense to create a seed treatment that can protect your seed from everything as this could impact your return-on-investment and bottom line. 

Instead, take a look at the conditions, pests and diseases that are common in your field and consider which seed treatments could provide you the best insurance for a successful year. 

If you know your area is prone to drought, consider a seed treatment that improves water productivity, retention and helps new plants cope with abiotic stress. 

If your area often experiences excessive moisture and flooding, you’ll want to include protection against fungal diseases and root rot as a part of your seed treatment plan.

When planting into colder than average temperatures, your seed treatment should improve germination and seedling vigor.  

Regardless of the conditions expected during this planting season, all crops can benefit from an abundant and diverse spermosphere. 

PhycoTerra^® ST: A Leg Up for your Crops, Regardless of the Weather

All seeds can benefit from a supercharged spermosphere. Roughly 75% of soil microbes in farm soils are dormant due to starvation. If beneficial microbes aren’t active, they can’t support your seeds, or your crops as they grow. 

The spermosphere is a 2 to 12 mm wide area around your seed and its first impression with the ‘real world’. The microbes in the spermosphere are critical to supporting your newly planted seeds. By feeding them a superior food source like PhycoTerra^® ST, you’ll wake them up and in return, they’ll support your seed’s germination, stand establishment, yield production and reduce abiotic stress.

A healthy, active, abundant and diverse microbiome is not only good for managing the stress that comes with extreme weather. It also creates an inhospitable environment for pathogens (or better known as disease-suppressive soils), protecting your seeds when they’re at their most vulnerable stage. 

Supporting spermosphere microbes is a smart investment for any crop. Yet, some crops are planted into less-than-ideal conditions and need the support even more than others. A great example is winter wheat.

Case Study: Winter Wheat Seed Treatment Pros and Cons

Winter wheat is a crop that’s seeded in the fall, germinates, grows roots, gets well established and acclimates before going dormant during cold winters. When planting winter wheat, you could have to plant into wet soils, especially if it’s already begun to snow in your area. While the crop is hardy, this is a difficult growing season for any crop. 

A seed treatment can help you support your crops when planting into colder conditions by mitigating abiotic stress from low temperatures, keeping diseases and pests at bay and increasing yield potential. 

Common Winter Wheat Diseases

Common winter wheat diseases include: 

• Pythium
• Rhizoctonia
• Common bunt
• Loose smut (can result in yield losses up to 40%) 
• Seed and seedling rot
• Common root rot
• Fusarium root (emergence reduced by 80%)
• Black chaff (reduce grain quality, cause 40% yield loss and can reduce germination)
• Crown diseases

Planting later in the season is often a reason growers forgo a seed treatment. Unfortunately, there is no weather or planting window that can help a grower avoid these diseases when planting winter wheat. 

Pythium thrives in cold, wet soils and rhizoctonia and fusarium prefer warmer, dry soils. Regardless of the weather conditions, your winter wheat will need extra protection. 

Another reason growers consider skipping a seed treatment is for financial reasons. But, relative to other farm expenses, it’s a low cost for what you gain in return. 

Given that you’re putting your seeds into an environment where it’s fed on, setting stand establishment up for success can support your winter wheat yield goals. Also, some fungicide seed treatments can also improve germination and vigor if seeds contain some level of scab, black point or other pathogens.

Common Winter Wheat Pests

Common winter wheat pests include: 

• Wireworm
• Hessian Fly
• Aphids / Russian Wheat Aphid
• Wheat Stem Sawfly
• Cereal Leaf Beetle
• Armyworms
• Cutworms
• Wheat Curl Mite

Don’t let your seeds become a snack for pests. Especially when all of these pests and diseases can be managed with a comprehensive seed treatment plan.

Things you can’t protect winter wheat against: If exposed consistently to sub-zero temperatures, plant tissues can be damaged permanently.

Supporting Winter Wheat Spermosphere Microbes

While winter wheat is a hardy crop that can withstand cold temperatures and winter conditions, these are still difficult growing conditions. Winter wheat needs to germinate and establish quickly before even colder temperatures set in.

Supercharging the spermosphere of your winter wheat can help improve the soil quality and structure around the seed. This creates an ideal environment to support germination, stand establishment, and early vigor. Beneficial microbes in the spermosphere also reduce abiotic stress for new plants — helping them cope with unexpected weather events. 

An application of PhycoTerra^® ST on winter wheat seeds has been found to produce an average of 10:1 ROI and an extra +4 bu/acre on real farms. Check out some of our trial results below.

Can you broadcast winter wheat seeds?

You can broadcast winter wheat seeds, but a drill is the best way to plant winter wheat. It allows for even distribution of seed and good seed to soil contact to ensure even germination. The higher population and faster germination rates reduce weed competition. 

That said, you can broadcast winter wheat seed, which could allow you to cover more acres. This is ideal if you’re planting late in the season. If done right it can be effective, cheaper and faster than drill seeding. Consider applying light tillage to improve seed to soil contact, as broadcast seeding does limit seed’s contact to soil.

If left on the surface of the soil, seeds can dry out and germination can be slow. Also, if weeds are a concern, broadcast seeding does have a reduced wheat population and slower germination rates. This makes weed competition easier and could rob your soil of nutrients (NPK) and water your wheat needs. 

Growers who are planting late, or that plan to do broadcast seeding should especially consider a seed treatment. 

Does winter wheat need to be covered?

No, winter wheat does not need to be covered. In fact, it can benefit from a bit of snow in two ways. Snow provides insulation for young plants, so they’re protected from extreme fluctuation in temperatures. It also provides soil moisture in the spring as the snow begins to help and can increase yields.

Keep in mind that genetics play a notable role in how tolerant your winter wheat is of cooler temperatures. 

How do you treat winter wheat seeds?

How you should treat your winter wheat seed depends on a handful of variables. Before treating your seed, consider:

• Your field’s historical data: What pests and diseases have plagued your wheat previously? Are any extreme weather events common, or somewhat common in your area (like drought or flooding)?
• Changing considerations: Are you expected to have an especially cold start to fall? Or high rates of precipitation? If so, you may need something to help your wheat establish and manage abiotic stress. 
• Variety of winter wheat: What variety of winter wheat are you planting? Some are hardier than others. 
• Yield goals: While every grower would like to maximize their yields, how will an extensive seed treatment impact your bottom line and return on investment? 
• Compatibility: What types of seed treatments are you willing to prioritize over others if there is a compatibility issue?

With regards to compatibility, PhycoTerra^® ST is very compatible and easy to apply to existing seed treatment programs. The product is pasteurized, shelf-stable with minimal storage requirements.

Still unsure what kind of support your seeds may need after answering all these questions? Consider conducting a soil test and working with a trusted crop advisor to build a seed treatment plan for your winter wheat. 

How Can Farmers Better Manage Their Own Farms to Prepare for Extreme Weather Events? 

Growers know that you could be having an incredible season, and then one event, one afternoon can change everything. When you have a handful to thousands of acres of crops, it’s hard to protect them from the weather. There’s no glass case to place your farm in to keep the weather from harming your crops. 

But, you can prepare for the worst with a proactive seed treatment plan. Make sure you consider supporting microbes in the spermosphere, especially if you’re planting a crop that must survive a difficult growing season – like winter wheat.Want to learn more about the results you could achieve on your farm by supercharging your spermosphere? Fill out a contact form to speak with one of our experts.