Ed Winkle sees things from both sides of the field's edge as a farmer and crop adviser with HyMark Consulting LLC in Martinsville, Ohio. For the 2010 corn crop in his area -- both on his own acres and his customers' -- he saw a 20-bushel-per-acre yield boost from using a seed inoculant along with his corn seed treatment.

Look at inoculants with your seed treatment. I rarely plant bare seed anymore.

Winkle used the SabrEx Root Inoculant, made by Advanced Biological Marketing, on his acres. SabrEx, according to a company report, combines talc with a graphite blend "containing proprietary Trichoderma strains."

Such inoculants and seed treatments, like both SabrEx and Monsanto's Acceleron seed treatment, promote better root growth by staving off many common seed- and soil-borne pests.

"Acceleron insecticide and fungicide seed treatment products for corn can provide protection from seed-borne and soil-borne diseases and control early season insect pests including seed corn maggot, white grub, wireworm, corn flea beetle, corn leaf aphid, grape colapsis and southern corn leaf beetle," according to a report from Monsanto.

Winkle is a member of the Agriculture.com Corn High Yield Team Expert Panel.