Bolt-On At-Plant Micronutrients
New for the 2024 season, Loveland Products introduces Awaken FlowBoost. This is a new seed lubricity agent applied at plant as a talc/graphite replacement which also provides a micronutrient package (5% phosphate, 1% iron, 3% mnagenses, 2.5% molybendum, 10.5% zinc.)
Rian Bernhardt, Loveland Products seed treatment marketing manager for North America says the company’s technical representatives developed the exact formulation for Awaken FlowBoost realizing the opportunity in the market. He says this is a expanding product segment, which Loveland sees as a growth category for retailers as well as an agronomic yield booster.
What The Product Delivers
“Seed stewardship and safety is a top priority,” he adds. “This is a corn-based seed fluency agent, and it provides the same performance for lubricity as the traditional products—we knew we couldn’t give up the performance of the lubricity compound.”
In side-by-side singulation test trials, Awaken FlowBoost provided a 99.7% singulation rate. The company says it’s compatible with any planter system.
There’s a trifecta of benefits: seed singulation, lower dust off and delivery of micronutrients.
“We’re honing in on seed stewardship and safety—we’re replacing talc and graphite and lowering dust off issues,” Bernhardt says. “And it’s important to see what we’re offering with this micronutrient package.”
How This Boosts Early Season Crop Nutrition
It’s formulated to be an additional source of micronutrients needed by the crop early in the season.
“The product is not a crop starter replacement, but this could provide a nice bolt-on to a farmer’s current starter program,” he says.
Compared to other competitive products, Bernhardt says Awaken FlowBoost delivers 2.5X the nutritional value.
The target markets for Awaken FlowBoost are corn and soybean acres. Loveland also says the product has good responses in cotton and cereal grains.
“We’re targeting this product specifically to farmers who are planting earlier,” Bernhardt says. “Those who are planting in cold wet soils can get help with the abiotic stresses that we see in early season planting because of the boost given by Awaken FlowBoost. That’s where we saw the strongest results.”
Before the official 2024 lauch, Loveland Products conducted many in field tests.
“Last year we had several trials across the U.S. focused on the corn belt’s east and southern regions,” he says. “We heard good feedback on early season root development and plant development.”
The company has not found any product or crop compatiability issues with the seed treatment.
“Additionally, we tested the micronutrients to ensure they don’t have any negative impact on rhizobia or other effects,” Bernhardt says.
Handling And Storage Considerations
Application rate is 3 oz per unit of seed. It is applied directly in the planter box at the time of planting, or the product can also be used as a seed finisher. The product is available in 50 unit pails and 200 unit pails with resealable lids.
“As long as you can keep it dry, your storage is as long as you want it to be,” he says. “That’s a good aspect of this product is it’s ease to store and handle.”
