Supporting seed treatment industry with equipment and expertise

Date:03-16-2017

How do you get the most out of our products? By using them the right way! That’s why we’re not only making plant protection products but also the equipment to apply them.

Martin Gruss, Global Head SeedGrowth at Bayer Division Crop Science

For us at Bayer SeedGrowth®, supporting our customers in the best possible way means helping them choose the correct products for their seeds and providing advice on how to use them. Our approach? We produce treating equipment and offer training so our customers can learn how to operate it. And despite having an extensive portfolio, our experts are constantly working on developing even better solutions.

By keeping in touch with our customers, we learn what they need, and our Research & Development teams focus on meeting these requirements. Easy-to-handle solutions that are as convenient as possible and adapt to the specific needs of the operator are what customers require these days. And, as always, the safety of our users and the environment is a top priority. Our developers are currently working on ways to use 3D printing in our replacement parts supply process. We intend to use this state-of-the-art printing technology to supply replacement parts for our machines. Just imagine if a part in one of our machines malfunctions, all we have to do is send the customer a 3D-printable file. Then all they need is access to a 3D printer, and they’ll have the spare part in almost no time. And this can be done anywhere in the world, with no shipping or customs issues whatsoever.

Another innovation is BaySTEP®. This add-on product for batch treaters helps operators determine the exact endpoint of the seed treatment process. By using structure-borne noise measurement, it ascertains the perfect time to discharge the seeds. The result? BaySTEP achieves higher treatment quality. The abrasion of the treatment product is reduced, which results in the perfect amount of product remaining on the seeds. Additionally, dust generation and emission are minimized to increase operator safety and decrease the impact on pollinators living in and feeding on the fields where seeds are sown. And BaySTEP optimizes and improves seed treatment processes by reducing operating time while simultaneously increasing output.

Our new product BaySTEP helps operators determine the exact endpoint of the seed treatment process.

The demand for seed-applied solutions is increasing around the globe, for example in Latin America and Asia. But growth in these markets means increased capability to build the new equipment. So, in 2015, we opened our Equipment Innovation Center in Shakopee, Minnesota (USA). Here, our experts produce 40 different kinds of state-of-the-art machinery for seed-applied technologies. And they don’t keep their knowledge to themselves — the facility also has an advanced R&D section and a training facility for up to 120 people. Why did we build this plant there? Because if there is one thing that Shakopee and Minnesota have plenty of, it’s space. But, on a more serious note, Shakopee is home to exactly the kind of skilled workers we need. That is, workers who are not only good at what they do, but also have innovative ideas.

And we’re very proud of this think tank, the center is truly unique. Sustainability was a central consideration during the planning and constructing of the site. The results include grassland set-aside as a natural habitat for honeybees and other beneficial insects as well as the installation of water-saving drip irrigation instead of lawn sprinklers. What our plant in Shakopee stands for, above all, is our drive to constantly develop new ideas — and sharing that knowledge with our customers.