Stewardship at Bayer SeedGrowth

You never work alone

Bayer CropScience takes product stewardship very seriously. The company supplies high-quality seed-applied solutions in combination with the best management practices around the world. Focusing on risk mitigation, innovation, and partnerships is crucial for sustainable agriculture – to maximize yield and avoid negative impact on human health and the environment. With its integrated system and its fourfold competence, Bayer SeedGrowth enables a stewardship approach that offers customers support in whatever part they play in the seed treatment business.

Seed treatments – beneficial in every respect

Before looking at Bayer’s diverse product stewardship, it’s important to understand why seed treatment is so crucial for modern sustainable agriculture. Seed treatment is an ancient agronomic practice. For more than 3,000 years, seed treatments have been a highly sophisticated means of protecting seed from pests and diseases and ultimately improving yields. Bayer SeedGrowth has more than 100 years of unmatched experience and expertise in seed treatment.

The benefits of seed-applied solutions for the farmer include:

  • Secure field emergence
  • Uniform and healthier plants
  • Reliable, sustainable yields
  • Protection from pests and diseases

However, concerns about the potential impact of seed treatment on operators and on the environment require the best possible stewardship measures that support the safe use of seed treatment products.

Fourfold holistic approach

Bayer SeedGrowth, the fully integrated system of seed-applied solutions, stands for fourfold competence in seed treatment products, equipment, coatings, and services. Especially when it comes to products, Bayer is continually working on new solutions and specific recommendations for their safe use. In doing so, Bayer focuses in its stewardship approach on the three pillars: risk mitigation, innovation, and partnership. And to maximize the benefits derived from product use and to minimize potential risks to human health or the environment, this offering is enhanced by comprehensive and practical stewardship measures:
  • Individual information, training and recommendations for the highest possible standards of application quality and increased skills of breeders, treaters, distributors and growers, such as optimized loading and dosage of products, personal protective equipment (PPE) training measures, the best handling, storage, seed cleaning equipment, treatment, and transport practices, waste management advice, and certification.
  • Personal support and 24/7 service during the seed treatment season for all steps in the seed treatment process, such as recipes, modifications of sowing machines, plant certifications.
  • Detailed follow-up and ongoing monitoring of on-seed application quality (seed loadings, Heubach values, etc.).
  • Ongoing efforts to develop new solutions and specific best management practices.

When this combination of Bayer SeedGrowth seed-applied solutions and product stewardship is implemented in practice, the outcome is sustainable agriculture that benefits all stakeholders.

The ten Stewardship Commandments for good seed-applied solutions

1. Purchase

Buy only high-quality treatment products as only these ensure meeting the highest standards of safety for you and your business.

2. Transport

Equip transport vehicles with suitable safety provisions.

3. Storage

Make sure your storage area is in line with the label requirements and properly constructed – to keep the product secure and in good shape.

4. Quality

Use only best-quality seeds to achieve optimum seed treatment quality, clean them gently to reduce organic dust levels, and calibrate the seed sizes (esp. for corn).

5. Safety & Cleanliness

Pay special attention to safety through regular and thorough cleaning and maintenance of the treatment facility.

6. Recipe & Methology

Precisely follow the approved and tested recipe as well as the required treatment steps and correct physical parameters (temperature, mixing speed, time, etc.)

7. Protection

Ask everyone directly involved in the treating process to wear protective clothing to avoid contamination.

8. Training

Organize regular operator training measures to ensure the whole treatment process is executed in the safest possible way.

9. Waste

Organize waste management in optimal fashion.

10. Distribution

Make sure that the treated seeds are handled, stored, and transported safely.

Stewardship in practice

Have a look into the Bayer SeedGrowth™ stewardship leaflet and find out more about the ten stewardship commandments for good seed-applied solutions.


Stewardship Leaflet (opens in new window)

Our Stewardship Offering

Products: We want seed treatment to be safe for the seed, the operator, and the environment. So we’re continually working on new solutions and concrete recommendations for safe use (e.g., optimized loading and dosage) with our partners and customers.
Coatings: Our coatings limit dust-off through improved formulations, tailor-made film coatings, and increased customer usage.
Services: Before, during, and after application we support our customers in assuming responsibility for themselves, bystanders, and the environment, e.g., through guidance, personal protective equipment (PPE) training measures, the best handling, storage, seed cleaning equipment, treatment, and transport practices, waste management advice, and certification.
Equipment: Since our expertise in equipment design is a key factor in correct treatment practices, we consider this in our own models, and we also collaborate with other machine manufacturers who share our passion for providing