<font color=LimeGreen>Biodegradable polymer seed coating on soybeans.
August 30, 2000
Soybean Could Boost Farm Income, Protect
Soil, Slow Crop Disease, Agronomist Says
Associated Press
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A Purdue University agronomist has developed a
polymer-coated soybean that could allow farmers to squeeze two crops into
the same field in a single season.
Tony Vyn's biodegradable polymer seed coating permits farmers to sow
soybeans between rows of standing wheat in late spring, when wheat is less
vulnerable to trampling by machinery.
The coating delays soybean germination for about two weeks, a period that
accommodates the wheat harvest and leaves enough time for soybeans to
produce a good yield before a killing frost.
"The coating system is quite exciting," Mr. Vyn said. "It offers quite a few
opportunities for farmers."
More southerly climates, including southern Indiana, already allow for a crop
of wheat followed by soybeans.
But Mr. Vyn predicts the coated soybeans could help producers as far north as
Michigan and Wisconsin squeeze crops of both wheat and soybeans into their
short growing seasons.
Mr. Vyn said that not only would wheat and soybeans in a single field protect
soil and slow diseases, it would boost farm income by $50 an acre.
The polymer shields the seed from moisture and delays germination until the
polymer absorbs a preset amount of heat from the soil. Mr. Vyn is working
with delays of eight, fifteen and 25 days.
Some Indiana farmers are intrigued by the double-crop idea.
"That's an innovative idea," said Clayton farmer Ben Edmondson. "It's the kind
of information farmers need to keep thinking about."
Mr. Edmondson used to raise double-crop wheat and soybeans southern-style,
but he quit about a decade ago because of poor wheat prices and the risk of
soybeans being bit by frost.
If the polymer proves commercially viable, Mr. Edmondson said he would be
interested in trying it.
Intellicoat Products, the Monticello-based marketing arm of Landec Corp. of
Menlo Park, Calif., will begin selling the coated seeds in 2002, said product
manager Alan Barbre.
Landec announced in early August that it will build a coating facility in West
Lebanon, Ind., near Danville, Ill.
Intellicoat is considering coating seeds with a thin layer of insecticides that
would cut costs and be more environmentally friendly.
Mr. Vyn, who is conducting the research on behalf of Intellicoat, thinks wheat
acreage could double in central and northern Indiana over 10 years, to about
one million acres.
Intellicoat expects the coating to be received in agricultural markets outside the
so-called wheat and soybean relay, as well, with corn as the largest.
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