Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
September 15, 2009
As more growers continue to look for yield and profit enhancement from soybean seed treatments, retailers face the challenge of treating more units of soybeans in 2010. The soybean seed treatment market is growing rapidly and products must now meet two demands - efficacy in the field and ease of use at the treater. The latest from the leader in that category, EMD Crop BioScience, is Optimize® 400 with LCO Promoter Technology® for soybeans.
Based on the popular Optimize® soybean seed treatment, the formulation of Optimize 400 has been specifically designed for optimal seed Treatability, delivering many new benefits to seed retailers as they are looking for ways to increase the efficiency of their seed treatment operation. The company is announcing the new seed-applied product in time for the 2010 seed treatment planning season.
Chuck Broughton, North American Soybean and Southern Crops Marketing Manager for EMD Crop BioScience, says Optimize 400 with Treatability is going to make it easier for seed treaters to provide growers enhanced roots, excellent plant growth and extraordinary return on investment.
“Optimize 400 represents recent advancements in three core areas that lead to better Treatability for retailers,” explains Broughton. “It was a culmination of improvements in the delivery mechanism for our patented LCO Promoter Technology, rhizobia selection for superior nitrogen fixation and inoculant formulation for higher rhizobia numbers.
In addition to the premium inoculant, the Optimize 400 contains EMD’s LCO (Lipo-chitooligosaccharide) Promoter Technology, a naturally occurring molecule that enhances root and shoot development, nodulation and nitrogen fixation immediately and independently of the environment and soil conditions. This means, better plant health and performance for growers.
One box of Optimize 400 contains the LCO Promoter Technology and inoculant in a breathable bag, plus a liquid additive in a new, easy-to-open plastic jug. Each box treats 400 units of soybeans, with up to 120 days on-seed survival. That means there is less product to handle, mix, pour and store on-site.
“Because Optimize 400 can survive on-seed for 120 days, it offers flexibility so that planting can occur right after treating or wait until conditions are more favorable,” says Broughton. “So whether you have the luxury of being able to treat in the winter months or need to treat all your beans within two weeks of planting, Optimize 400 provides the convenience to be able to do both.”
“Our extensive test market in 2009 also revealed that Optimize 400 had better soybean seed coverage and improved the efficiency of the seed treatment operation” said Broughton. “The Treatability message came out loud and clear.”
Optimize 400 is now available from participating retailers. For more information, go to www.emdcropbioscience.com.
Originally founded as the Nitragin Company in 1898 after a Milwaukee entrepreneur purchased rights to a commercial process for the production of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, Nitragin remained privately owned until 1982. In 1991 Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany purchased the business. Now headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, EMD Crop BioScience is committed to advancing crop-enhancing technologies and making these products available to growers worldwide.
Merck is a global pharmaceutical and chemical company with total revenues of € 7.6 billion in 2008, a history that began in 1668, and a future shaped by 32,700 employees in 60 countries. Its success is characterized by innovations from entrepreneurial employees. Merck's operating activities come under the umbrella of Merck KGaA, in which the Merck family holds an approximately 70% interest and free shareholders own the remaining approximately 30%. In 1917 the U.S. subsidiary Merck & Co. was expropriated and has been an independent company ever since.
