--- On Sun, 5/12/13, randy oliver <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I've amazed that farmers have bought the sales pitch for
> seed treatments without demanding better data for return on
> investment.  

Randy, modern day seed treatments for corn and soybeans typically
contain not only a neonicitinoid for preventive control of nematodes
and insects but also two or three fungicides plus a beneficial bacteria
product as is explained in this 7 minute video pertaining to soybean
seed treatments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2txk6UYkUA

The video also makes the point that even though results from seed
treatment may vary, and performance may vary from location to location 
and from year to year they likely will pay off in the long run.

> The problem with that thinking is that such universal overuse of 
> any pesticide will insure that they will rapidly breed for resistant
> pests, and thus end the usefulness of that particular pesticide.

Hypothetically, but are a majority of the actualy corn and soybean
farmers complaining? Or just those on the outside looking in (e.g.
academics, anti-pesticide & anti-biotechnology organizations, some
beekeepers and alot of city folks)?

Paul Cherubini
El Dorado, Calif.

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