Winnipeg grain handling equipment maker Ag Growth International and seed and ag chem firm Bayer CropScience are working together on a new on-farm seed treater for North American farmers.
The two companies’ development and co-marketing agreement, announced Wednesday, would see Ag Growth work with Bayer’s proprietary SeedGrowth technology for precision application of seed treatments in cereal and specialty crops.
Product lines made by Ag Growth’s subsidiaries across Canada and other countries include grain augers and belt conveyors, grain bins and grain aeration systems.
The new seed treater is to be available in demo units this spring for a full commercial launch in the fall of 2013, ahead of the 2014 seed treatment season.
Read Also
Feed Grains Weekly: Price likely to keep stepping back
As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
The new on-farm treater would feature electronic controls, a metering conveyor and peristaltic metering pumps to make sure a seed treatment product is accurately applied, the companies said in a release Wednesday.
"Working with AGI, the industry leader in portable grain handling equipment, will help us bring SeedGrowth technologies to growers and will enable them to accurately apply seed treatment and maximize their returns," said Brent Collins, Bayer CropScience’s director of cereals marketing in Canada.
"The seed treatment market continues to grow in North America and the seed treater was developed to fill a void in precision on-farm seed treatment application equipment," the two firms said.
Bayer CropScience already deals in commercial-scale batch- and drum-style seed treatment equipment and operates a "centre of excellence" for seed treatment application technology at Monheim, Germany, home to the company’s global head office.
Bayer took a 50 per cent interest in U.S. seed treatment and treater equipment maker Gustafson in 1998 and bought out the remaining 50 per cent from Crompton Corp. (now part of Chemtura) in 2004.
