Not all Seed Treatments are Created Equal

A paper came out recently entitled : “Commercial biostimulant seed treatments showed minimal impact on soybean seed yield across the United States.” (Field Crops Research).

That caught our eye, because we’ve seen anything but “minimal impact” when using BioCoat Gold on soybeans. It made us feel bad for the other biostimulant producers out there who are wasting everyone’s time and money with their ineffective products.

Here are 3 ways that BioCoat Gold is different from other seed treatments:

1. Microbial Diversity

The products studied “contained from one to six microorganism species in the same product.”

BioCoat Gold’s label lists twenty-six species.

We know in biological systems that diversity is paramount. Different microorganisms serve different purposes, interact differently with different host plants and thrive in different environments. And in microbial communities, the sum tends to be much greater than its parts.

Relying on just one or even a few microbe species to do your heavy lifting is a bad idea.

2. Biological Support

The studied products were mostly just microbes. Putting microbes into denuded soil is like airdropping people onto a desert island: they can’t do much on their own, and in order to thrive they need more. In our desert island example, that would be things like power tools, tents, and some energy bars to get them started.

In the case of microbes, it would be things like biostimulants and mineral catalysts. That’s why BioCoat Gold also contains seaweed, humic substances, and calcium in addition to its microbes.

These additional ingredients provide a food source for biology, promote healthy root systems, help plants deal with stress, and support germination and early seedling development, and may also create chemical cues to improve early plant metabolism

3. Arbuscular mycorrhizae

Only one of the seed treatments in the study contained arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (Glomus spp.), and that product contained no other microbe families. BioCoat Gold contains 4 distinct Glomus species.

Once the seed has germinated, AM fungi become essential. They enhance nutrient uptake by serving essentially as an extension of the plant’s root system, improve water absorption for the same reason, which all helps the plant tolerate stresses like drought, salinity, and disease. They can also outcompete other microbes and improve soil structure.

Our experience with BioCoat Gold suggests a different conclusion should be drawn from the study: not that biostimulant seed treatments as a whole are ineffective, but that they underperform when they lack diversity, microbial support, and key mycorrhizal species.

Don’t want to take our word for it?

That’s ok, you don’t have to!

Now with the BioCoat Gold Guarantee, you’re 100% protected from risk: if BioCoat Gold doesn’t produce enough of a yield gain to cover its cost, you’ll get your money back.