Corn grower Mark Adcock of Hammond, Illinois, has an additional reason to be glad he used polymer-coated seed to get a jump on planting this year - the product is helping him reduce the skyrocketing costs of propane.

“The Intellicoat® corn dries down better because you get planted earlier and can take advantage of more drying days in the field,” says Adcock, who farms more than 1,000 acres, including 600 of corn.

Field drying is more important than ever in 2005. Propane costs 30 to 40 cents a gallon more than a year earlier, according to a September 2005 report by the Food and Agriculture Policy Research Center at the University of Missouri. Current prices of about $1.30 a gallon are up 120 percent from the average price during October-November 2000-2003.

Like a growing number of his fellow farmers, Adcock uses Intellicoat® Early Plant® seed coating technology to help manage his work load and spread his corn planting risk. The polymer coating, which prevents germination of the seed until soil temperatures are optimal, protects corn in the soil and allows growers to plant up to four weeks earlier than normal while avoiding risk of chilling injury.

“I try to plant about 20 percent of my acres with the Intellicoat seed,” he explains. “My normal planting date is April 15. With Early Plant, I get started around April 1 and get in one to three days of planting. Then I wait to start my normal planting about April 10 or 15.”

The hybrids with the seed coating technology performed well.  “There’s no question. They were the best-yielding hybrids on the farm this year,” he says. But the reduced moisture at harvest is another reason Adcock is sold on using the Early Plant technology.

Data Support Drydown Advantage

Mark Adcock’s experience is not unusual. Beck’s Hybrids of Atlanta, Indiana, has tracked performance of Early Plant technology since 2002, says Scott Beck, vice president of the company. He says that avoiding late planting and reducing drying costs are the real economic benefits of the technology.

“We’ve compared overall performance of the coated seed, planted between March 18 and April 15, to uncoated seed planted May 14-June 1,” he explains. “Over those four years we’ve seen a 4.6 percent moisture advantage for the Intellicoat technology.”

Beck says his company’s research shows a significant yield advantage as well. “Early Plant technology has provided 62 bushels per acre average yield advantage when comparing plantings made March 18 through April 15 of Early Plant corn to uncoated corn planted May 14 to June 1,” he notes. “We’ve also seen an advantage of 14.9 bushels per acre in comparisons of coated and uncoated seed both planted during the same early-season period.”

Landec Ag, developer of the Intellicoat Early Plant technology, also has documented reduced harvest moisture, says Tom Crowley, President and CEO of Landec Ag.

“We have 126 head-to-head comparisons that show a 4-point drydown advantage,” Crowley stated. “The savings on propane more than covers the cost of the technology, and growers still have the benefit of planting their entire crop on time to maximize income per acre.”

Hybrids with Intellicoat Early Plant seed coating are currently marketed through eight seed partners: Beck’s Hybrids; Dyna-Gro Seed, a division of United Agri Products of Greeley, Colorado; Fielder’s Choice Direct of Monticello, Indiana; Heartland Hybrids of Dassel, Minnesota; Hubner Seed Co., Inc., of West Lebanon, Indiana; Legend Seed of De Smet, South Dakota; Ottilie Seed of Marshalltown, Iowa; and Seed Consultants, Inc., of Washington Court House, Ohio.

Landec Ag’s parent company, Landec Corporation (NASDAQ: LNDC), designs, develops, manufactures, and sells temperature-activated and other specialty polymer products for a variety of food, agricultural and licensed partner applications. 

Intellicoat and Early Plant are registered trademarks of Landec Corporation.