b'Conducted once per year, the trials include early season notes that feature vigor, emergence and end-of-season yield. Two specific hybrids are utilized for all treatments that are submitted for the trial.This provides consistency and assures there is no geneticYou get to see your seed treatment solution interaction to confuse the resulting data, explains Frans.IPSA has the capability to treat a wide range of products, socompared to other products and controls and have the association prefers participants to send in the treatment anddata that some of the seed companiesIPSA application protocols. If a member would rather treat the seed themself, IPSA will arrange for the seed to be delivered so it canmemberswant to see. be treated and then sent back to the association.David LongThe rest is up to us.We will package and distribute to our testing locations throughout the Midwest and prepare for plant-ing, she adds.Teamwork Makes the Field Trial Dream WorkTo run the field trials like the well-oiled machine it has become, IPSA has entered a long-term, strategic partnership with GroAlbaugh has been involved in the IPSA trials for nearly 10 Alliance, a long-standing member of the association. The collab- years, and has continued to participate for three reasons: the oration will go into effect beginning in the 2023 growing season.interest of Albaugh customers, the range of data provided and Gro Alliance is a family-owned, independent companythe quality of the information.just like the IPSA members. We understand the challenge thatThe members are our customersor our potential custom-companies face in trying to differentiate their businesses anders and they like to see data from these trials. Everyone is using find margin opportunity, says Jim Schweigert, president of Grothe same lots of seed (vigor, yield, traits), so it takes the bias out Alliance. By partnering with IPSA on the Field Trial Program, weof the data sets, adds Long. Since it is presented and analyzed will help expand the products that IPSA members can evaluate.by the IPSA team, we can use the data in our summaries. There Also, we will coordinate with professional testing organizations,is flexibility when working with IPSA. You get to see your seed so the data is relevant and actionable. treatment solution compared to other products and controls and With the multitude of seed treatment and enhancementhave data that some of the seed companiesIPSA memberschoices on the market in the seed industry today, it can becomewant to see.difficult for seed companies to determine what products will offer the best value and greatest performance for their brand.How to ParticipateProduct choice is of the utmost importance, leaving companiesIf a member of IPSA is interested in participating in the field with two choices, says Schweigert: either test the productstrial, they can kickstart the process by reaching out to Frans or themselves, or pay someone else to test. Marc Neuman, director of new business development, nurs-The solution is quite simple for members, he believes. ery services for Gro Alliance. The program is offered to IPSA IPSA Field Trial program solves this problem by doing themembers as a benefit of their membership and is provided at no work for them. This program allows every IPSA member accessadditional cost.to performance data for a variety of products tested acrossThe process begins with a simple conversation where Frans a wide range of geographies and conditions. This unbiased,or Neuman will explain the ins and outs of the trials, identifying professional data that compares seed treatment/enhancementwhat the members goals are for participating.products from companies across the industry is invaluable toApplications for trials begin in the fall, with the deadline falling those deciding which products to trust on their seed. on March 1, 2023. After a company has sent in their application, they must send in their seed to the Gro Alliance facility located Members Value Simplicity and Integrity in Mount Pulaski, Ill. Gro Alliance will collect the data and present For members of IPSA, the appeal of the trials is the simplicity oftheir findings to IPSA, who will then share the information with the process and the quality of the information gleaned from theinterested members.testing. IPSA does not limit the number of companies that partake in We like working with IPSA because the process has beenthe trials, nor the number of products that a single company can easy. They send us the seed for the trials, and we treat the seedsend in for testing.with our seed treatment solutions. We then return the seed to beIn short, its professionally managed, unbiased test results on included in the trial, explains David Long, seed treatment techni- dozens of seed treatments and enhancements. They will receive cal manager for Albaugh, LLC. The hard work happens on theiractionable information to help them decide what to put on their side. They do the work with the contractors to place the trials inseed to give their brand a competitive advantage, and their cus-multiple states. At the end of season, they provide companiestomer better profit potential from their farm. It really is a win-win like Albaugh with data compared to standardsand in somefor both IPSA members and seed treatment and enhancement casescompared to other companies solutions. companies, concludes Schweigert.SW6/ SEEDWORLD.COMJANUARY 2023'