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Berwick-upon-Tweed
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18:40
- 22 January 2026
Seed treatments: Do they make a difference?
In a time of rising input costs and farmgate prices under pressure, growers need certainty that every investment is giving a positive return. The impact of technical seed treatments on emergence, rooting, disease control and subsequent yield can be significant and using the correct treatments is vital to getting the most out of your crop as part on an integrated crop management plan.
Each year, we run an extensive programme of spring malting barley and distilling wheat variety trials, with four sites from Portsoy in Aberdeenshire down to Beal in Northumberland.
Working closely with plant breeders, farming partners and end users, these trials play a crucial role in helping us evaluate the agronomic, malting and distilling performance of new and existing varieties, while also allowing us to assess any regional differences.
Understanding seed treatments
Seed treatments can vary greatly in what they offer, from basic disease protection through to nitrogen fixing. We include a seed treatment focus at each of our trials sites where we compare a selection of treatments side-by-side.
These are all applied to one variety for each site, ensuring that we are able to analyse and quantify the benefit that these treatments can provide. With new seed treatments entering the market all the time, the importance of putting these products through their paces with our technical team has never been more important.
Beret Gold
Producer: Syngenta
Beret Gold is our first choice Single Purpose Dressing fungicide seed treatment for wheat and oats to control seed and soil borne diseases. It contains fludioxonil and has low dust and excellent flowability through the drill.
Rancona i-Mix
Producer: UPL Corp
Rancona i-Mix is our first choice Single Purpose Dressing for barley to control loose smut, leaf stripe and seedling blight diseases. It contains ipconazole and imazalil.
Latitude
Producer: Certis Belchim
Latitude is a specialist fungicide seed treatment containing silthiofam that is applied specifically to protect crops from the soil borne Take-all disease in second winter wheat and winter barley. Latitude is typically used in conjunction with a Single Purpose Dressing.
(L-R), Skyscraper which has been applied with single purpose dressing of Beret Gold, Latitude and Vibrance Duo.
Vibrance Duo
Producer: Syngenta
Containing fludioxonil with the SDHI, sedaxane, Vibrance Duo provides the best possible control of seed borne diseases in winter wheat, while also improving bio stimulation in the plant. It aids root network development, nutrient use efficiency and reduces susceptibility to drought stress.
In our winter wheat trials, we have seen improvements when using Vibrance Duo in the form of more fibrous roots and in root mass over a Single Purpose Dressing. Additionally, we tend to see consistent gains in yield from the use of Vibrance Duo.
Ympact
Producer: Corteva
Ympact is an advanced biostimulant seed treatment which enhances seedling growth by optimising metabolic processes and abiotic stress tolerance. It provides essential micronutrients and stimulates improved root network rhizosphere health. Ympact brings yield gains and supports higher grain quality under stressful conditions.
In our winter wheat trials, we have seen similar results to Vibrance Duo and improved yield and quality results in spring barley. If you want to get the best from your spring crop, ask for Ympact on your seed.
New Manganese Solution
Producer: De Sangosse
Manganese is a seed treatment designed to supply readily available Manganese to cereal crops. Plant uptake and translocation to new growth is excellent and the risk of frost damage is reduced. On known Manganese deficient soils, an appropriate seed treatment is essential to reduce yield loss and co-application of Ympact & Manganese delivers the best results for both yield and quality.
One of our 2025 spring barley trial sites was known to be deficient in Manganese and indeed clear visual signs of Manganese deficiency were observed through the spring. All plots received foliar Manganese, but the highest yielding treatment against the SPD was Ympact + Manganese.
Recommended seed treatments
Recommended barley seed treatment options
From our trials, we recommend that the best seed treatments for barley are:
- Rancona i-Mix: Due to its excellent control of seed and soil borne disease.
- Ympact: Due to its provision of nutrients essential for early plant development directly to the plant via enhanced root networks.
- Manganese: Due to its ability to bridge the hunger gap in deficient soils to prevent yield loss before foliar supplements are effective.
Recommended wheat seed treatment options
From our trials, we recommend that the best seed treatments for wheat are:
- Beret Gold: Due to its excellent control of major seed and soil borne disease.
- Latitude: Due to its ability to specifically target Take-all soil pathogen for successive cereal cropping.
- Vibrance Duo: Due to its stimulating germination and seedling vigour, with particular response seen on improving root network development.
Why do we conduct trials?
Our trials allow us to evaluate the performance of seed treatment products, existing and innovative, ensuring our portfolio only offers the best and most appropriate for our growers. Our decisions are data led, focused on delivering quantity and quality without compromise to the supply chain.
By gathering data across different geographies, we can identify how varieties perform regionally – from disease resistance to yield potential – helping us and our growers make more informed decisions.
Barley samples from our trials are then micromalted in the on-site lab at our malting division Simpsons Malt to assess their distilling characteristics well ahead of official data being released.
This gives us a technical and commercial edge by allowing growers to see what varieties will most likely suit end-user requirements. Wheat varieties are also assessed for distilling performance.
Get in touch
If you would like to discuss seed treatments, please either contact your farm rep, get in touch via email at agrochemicals@mspagriculture.co.uk or call us on 01289 330022.
If you are interested in finding out more about our trials click here, head to our YouTube channel or attend one of our regional trials events in June and July.
