How Biological Companies Conquered the ‘Snake Oil’ Image

We’ve come a long in this industry, from seeing chemical seed treatments strictly as a way to avoid replant to expecting their biological counterparts to work near-miracles, writes Jackie Pucci at CropLife.

“As we are pushing our yields even further, seed treatments are really not only a contributor to crop establishment but to overall plant health, so we don’t have diseases and pests that attack those plants early that continue to nibble on yield potential all season,” says Jim Pullins, Technical Sales Manager with Verdesian Life Sciences.

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Fungicide/insecticide seed treatment only left vs fungicideinsecticide plus Heads Up Plant Protectant right

Fungicide/insecticide seed treatment only (left) vs. fungicide/insecticide plus Heads Up Plant Protectant (right).

Colin Dutcheshen, Vice President with Heads Up Plant Protectants in Saskatoon, SK, knows this well. With family roots in production agriculture, Dutcheshen explains, “Growing up on family farm in a small rural community, we were all too familiar with the here-today-gone-tomorrow snake-oil salesmen coming to town and promising remarkable products and product benefits, all guaranteed by a wink-wink and nudge-nudge sales pitch.”

Dutcheshen’s father, Joe, a pharmacist who also farmed 2,000 acres, knew the crops he was already growing had certain plant-extracted active ingredients, primarily triterpene glycosides, which were being tested to treat ailments from liver damage to melanoma back in the late 1990s.

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Meanwhile, his neighbors were struggling with Rhizoctonia in their seed potato crops, making them worthless for export. The elder Dutcheshen came up with a theory: That these same plant-extracted biochemicals may also control crop disease.

“We knew the active was tested and proven in healthcare, so being farmers first, we had to take the product to the field. These chemistries turned out to have a significant effect,” his son tells CropLife® magazine.

By nailing down the mode of action — Systemic Acquired Resistance — the company’s signature product, Heads Up, went on to receive EPA registration in 2006 and PMRA registration in Canada in 2009 in a variety of crops. It is the only EPA/PMRA-registered seed treatment for suppression of both Sudden Death Syndrome (Fusarium virguliforme) and White Mold (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) in soybeans.

Continue reading at CropLife.

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