Des Moines, Iowa, USA
October 11, 2010

Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, today announced the company's Pioneer Premium Seed Treatment offerings for the 2011 planting season, which are products that have been tested by Pioneer Agronomy Sciences and selected as top-performing seed treatments complementing Pioneer genetics.

"Most corn seed is treated today, and more soybeans are being treated each year," says Mick Messman, Pioneer senior marketing manager for North American seed treatment. "When making seed purchase decisions for the 2011 planting season, growers also would benefit from the latest seed treatment offerings from Pioneer."

New for Corn

New for 2011 corn seed treatments is the addition of VOTiVOTM biological nematicide as a bacterial barrier between corn nematodes and roots. The Pioneer Premium Seed Treatment Program includes a combination of VOTiVO and Poncho® 1250 insecticide seed treatment to control white grubs, wireworms, grape colaspis and seed corn maggots. Poncho 1250 also helps with aboveground pests such as billbug, chinch bug, flea beetle and black cutworm while providing low to moderate corn rootworm protection.

The combination of Poncho 1250 and VOTiVO provides Pioneer customers access to one of the most comprehensive seed treatment products to protect against insects and nematodes. This combination is available on selected hybrids.

Corn growers not selecting the Pioneer Premium Seed Treatment option of Poncho 1250/VOTiVO will continue to receive Cruiser Extreme® 250, the standard treatment from Pioneer seed processing plants. Cruiser Extreme 250 is a combination of Cruiser insecticide and Maxim® XL, Apron XL® and Dynasty® fungicides, which protect against secondary insects and diseases such as Rhizoctonia, Fusarium and Pythium.

Soybeans Go Green

For the 2011 planting season, the Pioneer Premium Seed Treatment for soybeans now will have a green polymer coating. The components remain the same: Gaucho® insecticide plus Trilex® and Allegiance® fungicides. The green coating ensures complete seed coverage and allows seed to flow well through the planter, while dramatically minimizing dust.

"Of course there is a strong visual connection between Pioneer green and the Pioneer Premium Seed Treatment for soybeans," Messman says. "The new polymer coating ensures fungicide and insecticide coverage on the seed. It also should help seed flow through bulk seed tenders and planters, minimizing dust and improving planting accuracy."

Pioneer suggests growers use all components of the soybean premium treatment for maximum protection, leading to a strong healthy stand. However, Messman says growers can choose the components they need. The insecticide offering helps control the overwintering population of bean leaf beetles, which may serve as vectors of the bean pod mottle virus. It also suppresses early infestations of soybean aphids. The fungicide components help control Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, Pythium and Phytophthora pathogens.

Growers may obtain the Pioneer Premium Seed Treatment offering for soybeans either from a Pioneer production plant or gain added flexibility by having it applied by a local Pioneer sales professional with seed-treating facilities. Optimize® 400, a signal molecule and inoculant, is part of the Pioneer Premium Seed Treatment offering applied by local sales professionals.

"This year has offered a great example of the value of treated soybeans," Messman says. Keith O'Bryan, Pioneer agronomy research manager and seed treatment testing specialist, agrees. O'Bryan heard positive comments from growers whose soybeans sat in cold soil for two weeks but still emerged.

"Growers who have been farming 20-plus years say they've never seen soybeans stay in the ground that long and emerge successfully with good stands," he says. "They contend it was their seed treatments. In the past, they probably would have needed to replant."

Customized Options

"Pioneer continues to provide seed treatments that help Pioneer® brand products reach their greatest genetic potential," Messman says. The Pioneer Premium Seed Treatment offering further enhances the Pioneer product performance equation which includes three key components - unique proprietary genetics, industry-leading traits and seed treatment options. These new seed treatment options provide growers even more effective choices to protect the right product on the right acre.

To learn more about seed treatments and the Pioneer Premium Seed Treatment offering, contact a local Pioneer sales professional.

® Apron, Cruiser Extreme, Dynasty and Maxim are registered trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company.
Allegiance®, Gaucho®, Trilex®, Poncho® and VOTiVOTM are trademarks of Bayer.

Website: http://www.pioneer.com

Published: October 11, 2010