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Order seed treatment now or face confusion
Seed companies are hesistant to treat much canola due to uncertainty over
the status of lindane-based treatments. If you want a new treatment and have a
specific canola variety in mind, order it now. You may not get that seed and
treatment combination otherwise. By Jay Whetter
Over 2 million acres worth of lindane-treated canola seed sits in Canadian
warehouses. At $10 per acre, a conservative estimate, the value of that
mothballed seed is at least $20 million. Another 3 million acres worth of
lindane seed treatment is in barrels and jugs. All of it is off limits and
cannot be sold.
Canadašs voluntary withdrawal of lindane-based canola seed treatments took
effect July 2001, and the products, Vitavax RS, Foundation and Premiere Plus
have been deregistered. Voluntary withdrawal was proposed 2 years ago in
response to U.S. canola growers, who had lobbied that cheap lindane-based flea
beetle treatments, which are not registered for canola in the U.S., gave
Canadian growers an unfair advantage. Canola Council of Canada (CCC) and the
Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) bargained to remove lindane seed
treatments from the market by July 2001 in order to keep the valuable U.S.
market unrestricted. Other canola pest control products are registered in Canada
and not the U.S., but lindane's low cost, ease of use and effectiveness made it
a target.
PMRA is under pressure to reverse the withdrawal or at least delay it another
year to flush lindane-treated seed through the system. The seed and seed
treatment must be disposed of anyway, and what better way than to use it as
intended, argue seed companies. Chemical companies who spent millions developing
new flea beetle control treatments are in some ways happy to see their lindane-based
treatments go. Gustafson has Gaucho to replaced Vitavax RS; Syngenta has Helix
to replace Premiere Plus; and Aventis has Foundation Lite to replace Foundation.
As it stands now, the lindane-treated seed will be officially unavailable to
growers this spring. Scientific review of lindane by PMRA is due July 2002,
which would be too late for seeding. PMRA would need consent from the U.S.
regulatory body, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), before making a
decision anyway, lest they open the door to a canola trade dispute.
Interestingly, a new application to register lindane seed treatment for canola
in the U.S. is before the EPA. A decision is expected in the next few months. If
this registration comes through, the voluntary withdrawal in Canada would seem
unnecessary. The off-chance that lindane seed treatments are reapproved in time
for seeding would bring a fire-sale of lindane-treated seed. Seed and chemical
companies faced with this possibility do not want to treat huge amounts of seed
with new treatments, and have it go unsold. If you don't care what seed or seed
treatment you put in the ground, you might wait and take your chances. But if
you want a specific combination such as InVigor 2573 treated with Helix, 45A55
treated with Gaucho Platinum, or DKL34-55 treated with Foundation Lite, you had
better get your order in.
Currently, only 2 seed treatments, Helix and Gaucho, are registered for flea
beetle control. Foundation Premium, the Aventis product with the insecticide
active ingredient acetimiprid, is not registered. Aventis is stuck with its
fungicide-only treatment Foundation Lite for now. Most growers don't really need
flea beetle control anyway, says Aventis seed treatment manager Garry Van Den
Bussche. Most growers used lindane-based seed treatments because, at only $3 per
acre for insecticide and fungicide, it was cheap. New insecticide-fungicide
treatments are $5 and up, and at that price, growers more closely evaluate their
flea beetle situation.
Aventis found treatment-worthy flea beetle pressure at only one of 8 research
sites across the west in 2001, says Van Den Bussche. That was at Minto, Man., in
the southwest corner of the province. In Aventis grower surveys conducted in
2001, 40% of respondents answered that they had never seen flea beetles on their
farms. Of those who had seen flea beetles, fewer than half had seen them in the
past 5 years. "Yeah, there are some growers for whom insecticide seed
treatment makes sense," says Van Den Bussche. "But we're saying it
might not be for everyone."
"Growers could take the difference between insecticide-fungicide seed
treatments and a fungicide-only treatment and spend that money on better seed or
more fertilizer," says Van Den Bussche.
Foundation Lite, at $2.50 per acre, contains iprodione and thiram active
ingredients to control damping off and root rots caused by Rhizoctonia solani,
and seed-borne blackleg and alternaria. If you use Foundation Lite, and you do
get an unexpected flea beetle attack, Aventis has had good results with a foliar
application of its product Sevin. Aventis recommends you apply Sevin when flea
beetles are actively feeding and 25% of the leaf area has been eaten away. Sevin
costs $2.65 per acre plus application, and it provides 4 days residual control.
In many cases, canola grows out of its susceptible stage in that time. Manitoba
Agriculture insect specialist John Gavloski knows that some growers will take
Aventis up on their offer. "But if you use fungicide-only seed treatment,
scouting is critical," says Gavloski. "Under high pressure, flea
beetles can wipe out a field in one to 2 days, especially in hot and dry
conditions."
If you did not have flea beetles last year, your crops will be at lower risk
this year, but the insect could still show up. Flea beetles will travel long
distances in the spring in search of canola, says Gavloski. For the sake of crop
security, Syngenta and Gustafson do not recommend seeding canola without
insecticide seed treatment. "To go fungicide only is a huge mistake,"
says Tim Moyes of Gustafson. "When you notice a flea beetle outbreak, it is
generally too late to go and spray a foliar insecticide." The new Gustafson
canola treatment comes in 2 versions: Gaucho CS and Gaucho Platinum. CS has a
low rate of insecticide active ingredient imidacloprid for low to moderate flea
beetle pressure. Platinum has a high rate for high pressure. Platinum also
provides some protection from lygus bugs, seedpod weevils and aphids later in
the season. Fungicide active ingredients thiram, carbathiin and metalaxyl are
the same for both Gaucho treatments.
Helix, with the active ingredient thiamethoxam, also comes with low and high
rates of flea beetle protection. Standard Helix protects canola seedlings for up
to 21 days, and high-rate Helix Xtra protects for 28 to 35 days. Three new
active ingredients, difenoconazole, fludioxonil and metalaxyl-M, protect against
seed-borne blackleg, seed-borne alternaria, and seed rot, damping off, seedling
blight and root rot caused by rhizoctonia, pythium and fusarium pathogens. In
Syngenta and Canola Council of Canada research trials the past 3 years, canola
treated with Helix yielded 2 bu./ac. higher than canola treated with lindane-based
products, reports Ferdie Schneidersmann, head of the Canadian seed treatment
unit for Syngenta. Syngenta recently reduced the Helix recommended price to
between $4.20 and $5.50 per acre for the low rate. Helix Xtra is priced
"identical to an old lindane product plus Counter 5G", or at about $12
per acre, says Schneidersmann. The seed treatment choice for this year is still,
at this point, yours. You know the potential for flea beetle damage in your
area, and you will choose accordingly.
Schneidersmann and Moyes don't recommend you skip insecticide seed treatment,
but neither company has a fungicide-only seed treatment. Aventis reps say
fungicide-only treatment works if flea beetles are not a major pest, but Aventis
does not have an insecticide seed treatment registered. Obviously, companies
will promote the products they have. If you have your heart set on one
treatment, and you want a specific canola variety, you should place your order
soon. With the confusion over seed treatments, seed companies are not treating
huge quantities of seed on spec. In April, you will have to take what you can
get.
-- Page Newton
Page Newton writes for Canola Guide
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