Warden II Cereals Seed Protectant: protect your seeds early, save time

and money later.

Writer: Mackenzie Derry
September 23rd, 2015
Growing up on my familys farm, seeing the advances in agriculture, I know first-hand that farming is much
more involved today than it was when our grandparents were farming the land. Today the options for seed treats,
fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides can overwhelm anyone. Some of the factors that agriculturalists have to take
into account include how much you want to spend and what you are trying to kill off or prevent from forming.
Warden II Cereals helps increase the germination rates, which speed up the overall growth of healthy plants, and
protect from early disease as compared to plants grown without treated seeds.
With this being said, treating your seed with Warden II Cereals is the most important and most effective
way of ensuring the maximum germination success as well as preventing early seed and plant diseases. There are
hundreds of studies out there comparing the best seed treatments, Warden II Cereals has come out on top. Warden
II Cereals, a WinField seed protectant, has been changing the seed treatment process since 2004. This pre-treat has
shown through the years that it not only protects the seeds from early seasons diseases and pests, it helps save time
and money by preventing several different sprays early to mid-season. This is because Warden II Cereals has been
proven to protect spring and winter wheat, rye, barley, oats, triticale and buckwheat from several kinds of seed rot,
blight, loose and false smuts, and early root rot.
According to Answer-Plot, Warden II is a combination of three fungicide package including Mefenoxam
(fungicide), Sedaxane (fungicide), and Difenoconazole (fungicide), which work together to create a protective layer
over the seed. This combination protects the seed from diseases such as Smut, Rhizoctonia, early root rots, seedling
blights, and Pythium Damping-Off, which prevent the growth of a healthy plant, hurting your yield. (See attached
pictures for descriptions.) When you look at the data WinField and Syngenta have accumulated, there is nearly 25%
more protection as well as a faster germination period, which is important to producing large yields. Beyond the
tests that these companies have, there are real results seen in the Red River Valley, especially in the damper soils.
When you compare the fields of treated cereals, literally side by side, you can tell that the fields have a higher
germination rate and the emergence rate is increased as well. We have seen this on our own farm especially.

Seedling Blight: Fungal

infection causing seeds to rot
and die.

Smut: Parts of
plant
turn to black
powder

Pythium Damping-Off:
Anamorphic Fungi,
causes discolored seeds,
will not germinate, dark
lesions
Early Root Rot

Typical application is 5-8.33 fl oz per 100lbs of seed,

which pencils out to be around $6 per acre. If you were to skip
treating the seed, you would be looking at not only more time
spent in the sprayer, but close to an additional $50 an acre on
average depending on your modes of action. If you compare the
two figures, it seems like a no brainer to pre-treat, however, if
you look on the popular Ag Blog AgTalk not every crop producer
is sold on the treatment. This could be because of the additional
early season cost, or the uncertainty if it will work on their farms.
However, if you look at the data that has come from test plots,
there have been 1.2-1.5bu increase with treated wheat
compared to non-treated wheat (see chart), with this, wheat is
also heathier with higher proteins as well. This is taken from
MKC, a reputable blog that shares test results and trends in the
agriculture world. After reading more about what these crop
producers are saying about Warden II, I believe not only that it
is a solid investment, but a way to protect the seeds you sew without an application of pre-emergent pest control.
For our family farm, time is money, and that $6 that is spent with seed treat compared to the additional hours in the
sprayer as well as the added input costs outweigh the slight addition to the cost of seed. This is why we treat our
cereals with Warden II and will continue to treat our seed with Warden II.
With all of this data, and all of the feedback Warden II Cereals has received,
I believe it is a solid investment. Time is money, and when you are spraying up to
four more times to try to control smut, blight, and scab, you are spending much
more than $6. I have seen this product in action, not just in the early season, but
mid-season as well. The field looks healthier, the plants are more uniform, earlier
maturing (see picture to the right). This is important too because that gives the head
more time to fill and to produce a higher yield with a higher protein score.
On our family farm, since we have been treating our wheat with Warden II
Cereals, we have seen less root rot, which is a problem in wetter soils. We has also
seen less smut and blight in the young plants, this has helped produce a less stressed
environment for these plants to grow. Through my experience and my work with
Warden II Cereals, it is in a crop producers best interests to invest in this seed
treatment for their operation. It is a relatively inexpensive blanket of protection for
the wheat sees and the young plants. I highly suggest that crop producers either
begin to treat their seed with Warden II Cereals, or to continue treating their seeds
Wheat treated with Warden II
with Warden II.

Cereals compared to untreated

wheat.

Works Cited
- Warden Cereals II: A combination of three fungicides for protection against wheat diseases, WinField
Solutions, 2015, Web September 21st, 2015
- Wheat to match each fields challenges, WinField Solutions and CROPLAN, 2015, web, September 21st
2015
- Spark winter wheat growth before planting, Holder, D.2015 Web, September 21st 2015,
- Maximizing wheat yields, MKC, 2015, web September 21st 2015

Pictures
-Field Day Success, Plains Partners, 2015 Web September 21st 2015
-2015 Wheat Varieties Ebberts Seeds, 2015, web September 21st 2015
-Wheat Seed Treatments 2015 University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2015, Web, September 25th 2015

-Important New York Vegetable Diseases Cornell University, 2015, Web, September 25th, 2015
-Wheat Diseases and Pests United States Department of Agriculture, 2015, web September 25th 2015
-Soybean Seedling Blight Integrated Crop Management: Iowa State University, 2015 web, September
25th 2015
-Soybean Seedling Disease Identification: Pythium Damping-off and Root Rot Mississippi State
University Extension Service, 2015, Web September 25th 2015