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northeastern Ohio | We now have extenders that can keep the rhizobia alive for up to 120 days. It is convenient to have the seed all treated before it arrives on your farm. All you have to do is load and plant.
Convenience has a price. There is extra cost for the extender. There is application cost. And you will lose rhizobia numbers every day that it is on the seed.
At 120 days, you are down to the minimum number. At 2 weeks, you have lost some rhizobia, but not a great amount.
Rhizobia number is probably cut in half every month. If you start at 3 million per seed on day 1, you would have 1.5 million per seed at day 30. Then 750k at 60 days. 375k at 90 days. And finally 187k at 120 days.
In my research, I've found that maximum yield is achieved at 1 million per seed. If you apply 1 million at planting with a planter box product and no extender, that is about a third of the cost as the above example with no yield reduction.
Take the money you just saved and buy a talc applicator for your seed tender, seed wagon, or fill auger. It makes innoculant application easy. If you are a small time operator, buy a flower bulb auger and use your cordless drill to mix right in the planter hopper.
I'm not anti-extender. It is a great development! Since the introduction of extender around 2012, innoculation across the US has increased significantly and national yields have grown with it. It is a tool that many are using to make planting easier and quicker. | |
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Soybean innoculant
