Invigorating Seeds And Crops With Magnation Technology
Magnation’s Seed Maximizer™ boosts seed concentration, accelerates germination rates, improves root structure, promotes crop uniformity and increases yields.
As seasoned farmers will tell you, seed germination can be a tricky business. Even best practices and use of state-of-the-art equipment can’t guarantee that seeds that will germinate successfully and productively. Seeds are living organisms and although they are inert before germination, non-germinated seeds are in a state of “quiescence.” Quiescence means that the seeds are at rest until desirable conditions trigger germination, but they are alive and respiring at a low metabolic rate.
What does it take to properly “wake” the seeds so they can flourish? Factors such as soil temperature, soil moisture, storage temperature, management of plant residue, and weather conditions, all have an impact on whether or not a seed will successfully germinate. Ultimately, germination is triggered by absorption of water through the seed coat. Corn kernels must absorb (imbibe) about 30 % of their weight in water before germination begins. Less than optimum absorption of water may slow or stop germination. Repeated wetting and drying cycles can decrease seed viability.
Since fast and complete seed germination is an important part of producing healthy crops, growers are always looking for ways to improve this process. Recently, farmers have been experimenting with an innovative method that is proving to be extremely successful. By running seeds through a custom-engineered cylinder that produces a specifically designed magnetic field inside its tube, the dormant seeds awaken, and the resulting growth and health of the crops are measurably improved.
The seeds become energized in the process, not only accelerating germination rates, but producing other benefits such as improved crop root structure, disease resistance and increased crop yield have also been demonstrated.
An Oakland, California-based company called Magnation is responsible for the product, designed and manufactured in the U.S. The system is called the Magnation Seed Maximizer™. Among others who are currently discovering great success with the treatment, one Nebraska farmer, Scott Borman, has seen amazing results from using Magnation Technology.
After getting many benefits from using a water irrigation treatment product from Magnation, Borman decided to test out the Magnation method for seed germination. “Last year we split our planter in half and we used Magnation treated corn seeds on one side and non-treated seeds on the other side,” said Borman.
“On the Magnation side we saw about a bushel increase per acre. In addition, my neighbor, who has the farm next to ours, tested the Magnation for his soybean seed germination, and we saw an increase of 6.5 bushels per acre on his crops. Right now, the price of beans are about $9.00 per bushel; that means you’re getting $58 per acre more by treating the seeds with Magnation. So for 650 acres of soybean, he’s getting over $38,000 more per growing season by running the seeds through the Magnation system.”
Corn and soybean aren’t the only crops that have been thriving because of the treatment. Gary Dickey, a farmer from Del Norte, Colorado, has been using Magnation on his barley and hay seeds. “By using Magnation, germination is good and quick, with better water penetration and moisture retention.