Dairyland Seed Co. recently announced a major advancement in soybean seed packaging by switching from 50 pound units to 140,000 seed units for 2005. The company is taking the guesswork out of ordering soybean seeds and estimating seed and technology costs per acre by allowing producers to order soybean seed needs based on seed count.

“This new packaging will benefit producers by giving them exact numbers of soybean seed needed for more accurate planning,” explains Tom Strachota, CEO of Dairyland Seed. “The bottom line is that producers will receive more accurate seed supplies with less waste on a consistent basis.”

Previous packaging relied on total seed weight for packaging. The problem with this method is that seed size can vary significantly from year to year, seed field to seed field, and variety to variety. Therefore the number of seeds in a package varied when packaged by weight. When seed size is small, too much seed is sent to the producer. Alternatively, when seed size is large, too little seed is delivered, resulting in seed shortages and second shipments.  Either way, this results in increased shipping costs for all parties, and potential planting delays when supplies are short.

“Our customers have told us that since they plant soybeans based on seed count, not weight, they would prefer to buy them that way as well,” Strachota says. “Producers now will be able to more accurately plan their needs.”

Soybean seeds will be packaged with 140,000 seeds per unit when packaged in single units and 40-unit mini-bulk bags. Producers will order seed just as they have in the past, based on their planting rate.

“A soybean seed unit will range from a maximum of 58 pounds to a minimum of 40 pounds, depending on the seed lot,” Strachota says. In the event that seed size is large for a particular seed lot, mini-bulk bags will be split so no mini-bulk package will weigh more than 2,000 pounds to ensure safe handling.

 “Our research and production staffs reviewed soybean seeding rate recommendations from across the Midwest,” Strachota says. “A package with 140,000 seeds at 90 percent germination provides 126,000 viable seeds. This equates to 1 unit per acre planted at the lowest recommended rate (125,000 seeds per acre) and two units per acre planted at the highest rate (250,000).

“Producers determine their planting rate and can now order the exact amount of seeds they need,” Strachota says. “We’ve added efficiency and taken out the guesswork.”