Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
March 2, 2017

Risk management is key to successful crop production in this economic climate.  Soybean Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) and Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) are two pests that cause an estimated total economic loss of $1.6 billion per year, according to the USDA*.
 
ILeVO® seed treatment is the only product that offers effective protection against SDS and nematodes like SCN in the seed zone throughout the critical growing period. Managing these pests is critical to protecting yields, and ILeVO seed treatment has shown its value at harvest.
 
Over 300 university SDS trials between 2011-2016 show ILeVO increased yield on average 4.7 bu/A vs. fungicide/insecticide base, with yield increases greater in fields with higher levels of disease infestations.
 
“ILeVO continues to demonstrate its return value for growers against these yield-robbing pests across varying levels of disease pressure,” said Jeremiah Mullock, Bayer seed treatment product development.
 
Iowa grower Mark Doty agrees. In the past, Doty had seen yield losses of up to 50 percent as a result of high pressure levels of SDS in his fields. Last year he had a soybean yield difference on his treated and untreated fields.

“On the fields where I used ILeVO, in 2016 it depended on how severe the SDS infestation was but if I had sudden death in that field the ILeVO beans were significantly higher yielding than [non-treated]. We saw up to a 20-bushel difference. In some fields where the infestation wasn’t that bad, it might have been two or three bushels. It just depended on how bad the sudden death problem was,” Doty noted.
 
Wisconsin retailer Joe Slosarczyk had a similar experience with ILeVO in 2016. "ILeVO seed treatments, have shown a positive ROI in our area. Even if you’re not seeing the [SDS foliar] symptoms we know that it gives a positive ROI and really it helps protect that investment that you already have in that crop for that season.”
 
Iowa retail agronomist Kyle Dop was looking for control of SDS. “Two years ago these fields had a big record of SDS and we wanted to see if we could reduce the amount of SDS in the fields,” Dop shared. “Everything that I’ve seen so far with ILeVO shows that you’re definitely getting a positive return on the investment,” he said. “We finally have a product [for SDS] that we believe in [and] that works.”
 
Minnesota grower Brian Hager conducted strip trials in 2016. In addition to a yield benefit, he also saw a noticeable difference of visual SDS symptoms during the growing season.
 
"The ILeVO [treated soybeans] stayed much greener and seemed a lot healthier than the beans that were not treated with it. And then come harvest time when we did the actual yield test, we found that the ILeVO beans were like five to eight bushels better than the beans without it.”
 
For more on ILeVO seed treatment and how it provides risk management of SCN and SDS to deliver the potential for higher yields and increased ROI, contact your local retailer or Bayer sales representative or visit the ILeVO website.
 
*Based on USDA 2016–2017 marketing year projection for average soybean price of $9.10 per bushel. We can add an asterisk to clarify this within the release.
 
Bayer is committed to bringing new technology and solutions for agriculture and non-agricultural uses. For questions concerning the availability and use of products, contact a local Bayer representative or visit Crop Science, a division of Bayer, online at www.cropscience.bayer.us.
 
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Website: http://www.bayercropscience.us

Published: March 2, 2017