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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Seed Treatment Fundamentals
Did you know up to 90% of seedling diseases are caused by 4 major fungi? These fungi kill soybean seedlings before emergence or damage the seed enough to reduce yield.

4 Major Fungi:
1. Pythium
2. Phytophthora
3. Rhizoctonia
4. Fusarium
Research shows that during the emergence stage alone 2.5 bushels of soybean yield are at risk due to seed rot and seedling blight. Latham SoyShield® brand seed treatments are best-in-class formulations designed to battle the toughest pathogens like Fusarium and Phytophthora.

Instead of viewing seed treatment as an input cost, consider it an investment – an insurance policy if you will. After all, it takes less than a bushel of soybeans to pay for the cost of treatment!

Wet, poorly drained soils favor the development of fungal pathogens that cause seedling diseases, which slow germination and plant growth. Seed treatments protect seedlings until they have a fairly well-established root system.

To help the seeds go through the planter better, Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds adds a proprietary blend of polymer and seed coating. Our customers say they waste less seed and see more even stands, resulting in better yield potential and ultimately an increased return on investment.

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds’ signature SoyShield^TM, a fungicide-only package, and SoyShield Plus^TM with fungicide and insecticide, protect seeds from disease and insect damage for up to 30 days. This time frame is longer than many other seed treatments and is typically an adequate window of protection.

SoyShield Plus includes an exclusive fungicide combination that provides excellent protection against seed and soil borne diseases including: Pythium, Phytophthora, Fusarium and Rhizoctonia. In addition, seed treatments can provide health benefits for more rapid and increased germination under certain conditions.

Some seed treatments also help protect against nematodes, which are becoming more prevalent. Many fully-loaded treatments may have innoculants, micronutrients or plant food. Interested in learning more? Talk to your local Latham® representative or leave your comments below. You’re also welcome to call us at 1-877-GO-LATHAM (1-877-465-2842).
Webspec Admin

December 22, 2020

Agronomics, Crop, Disease, Seed Treatment, Soybeans
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

2020 Corn Harvest Illustrates Importance of Planting Multiple Hybrids

This year will provide all of us with great information for positioning Latham® corn hybrids. As we pour over mounds of data from the 2020 corn harvest, “variability” best describes this season. Hybrids that have worked well in Latham Country are rising to the upper 10% or higher in plots, but we are seeing wider variation than in past years across F.I.R.S.T. Trials, SuperStrips™, MiniStrips and showcase plots.

The Latham lineup continued to perform well in F.I.R.S.T. Trials as you have seen or heard from John Latham’s weekly “Made to Win” video broadcast and frequent e-mails. Our F.I.R.S.T. Trials performance shows that, from early to late, the Latham portfolio offers great hybrids for your customers. Although your favorite hybrid may not have placed as high this season as in the past, most likely one of its recommended companion hybrids had a great year in 2020!

Reviewing F.I.R.S.T. data from the past three season shows that you have a strong lineup to present to your customers. The F.I.R.S.T. Trials results should provide you the confidence to promote a package of hybrids to each of your customers.

Showcase and SuperStrip performance provides data, showing an edge over our competitors and an improvement in consistency of favored hybrid performance. You might ask, “Why would this occur in these plots?” When planning our Showcase and SuperStrip plot sets, we work to create packages that perform well together. Your Regional Sales Manager has very good knowledge of the environments into which these plots get planted. Your help identifying grower challenges are key in helping your RSM position the best of our lineup in your plots.

These plots in 2020 showed us that fine-tuning the positioning of the Latham lineup provides strong performance that is widely adaptable with enough flexibility to help with our farmer-customers’ specific needs.

As we complete another season of pre-commercial testing in our MiniStrip plots, we are confirming the strength of our current lineup. The key hybrids that we talked about at Latham Dealer Kickoff, fall field days and early harvest presentations all rose to the upper percentile of our MiniStrips.

The stresses of 2020 provide us with an excellent opportunity to sort through the many options we have in new products. We have our eyes on some new hybrids and look forward to sharing more about them as they progress through the steps to become a Latham brand hybrid.

This season showed us just how important planting a third or fourth hybrid on your farm can be for your success.

Latham Seeds Precision Agronomy Advisors

November 16, 2020

Agronomics, Disease
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Preliminary Trial Results Show It Pays to Use Saltro®

In September 2019 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved Saltro, a new seed treatment product from Syngenta Seed Care to control Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) and Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) in soybeans. For the 2020 growing season, Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds distributed about 50 trials to Latham® dealers and their customers. Each on-farm trial consisted of a Latham® soybean treated with SoyShield Plus™ that was planted side-by-side with that same soybean treated with SoyShield Plus and Saltro. The majority of these trials were conducted within the parameters of Latham SuperStrip™ plots where a check variety was used to adjust final yield calculations. To date, we have received yield results from 25 of those studies: 16 from Iowa, six from Minnesota and three from South Dakota. I believe it’s worthwhile to share preliminary results with you.

Comparing the harvested raw yield data, the 16 trials from Iowa showed an average yield increase from Saltro of 2.01 bushels per acre (bpa). The Minnesota plots gave an increase of 3.85 bpa raw yield, and the South Dakota plots came in at 2.24 bpa. Overall, there was a 2.30 bpa yield increase from using Saltro in the raw yield column. The results were very similar when the harvested yields were adjusted to the check. The Iowa plots came in with a 1.84 bpa increase. The Minnesota trials showed a 3.73 bpa increase, and the plots from South Dakota averaged 5.40 bpa better. The overall average in the adjusted yield column came in at 2.31 bpa!

It should be noted here that there were a handful of trials where the seed treated with SoyShield Plus and Saltro actually showed a yield decrease. While it is difficult to understand and even more difficult to explain, results like this are very common when doing research of this type and are usually attributed to experimental error. I also want to note that we did not see widespread infestations of SDS in 2020. Due to variable weather patterns and a fairly widespread drought, SDS didn’t show up in a lot of fields. We intend to proceed with a similar Saltro study in 2021.

BOTTOM LINE: While more experiment results will be sent to us yet this year, there is a trend for at least a two bushel per acre yield benefit from using soybean seed treated with Saltro. With a retail cost of approximately $13 for the Saltro, the added yield benefits in a year where SDS was not widespread are fairly substantial. Using the soybean market price of $10.50 per bushel as I write this article, the treatment acted as an insurance policy that paid for itself.

Check back with us during and after our Post-Harvest meetings to get the updated yield results from this study.

Mark Grundmeier, Product Manager

November 16, 2020

Agronomics, Disease, Emergence, Seed Treatment
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

The History of Latham® IRONCLAD™ Soybeans

Soybean Cyst Nematode, Iron Deficiency Chlorosis, Phytophthora Root Rot and Sudden Death Syndrome are just a few of the pests, diseases and agronomic issues that have contributed to lower yields and higher costs. Farmers, who needed protection against these agronomic issues, were hesitant to plant defensive soybean lines in fear of giving up yield.

Then in the late 1990s soybean breeding techniques were developed that could quickly identify cultivars that had sound defensive traits and were high yielding.

In 2011, Bill Latham, then head of Latham’s Research program, challenged our Soybean Product Team to find an idea or a concept that would help change the way farmers felt about defensive soybean products. Bill, an ex-Marine aviator, was a military history buff as were several other members of our team at that time. We remembered back to the pre-Civil War era when naval warships were made almost exclusively out of wood. Offensive firepower from these ships was quickly outmatching their wooden defense. Innovators at the time were quick to experiment with using iron plates over the wooden sides. Hence, the term “Ironclad” was born.

The first ever battle between two ironclads took place in 1862. The Monitor was the Union warship. The Confederacy had captured the Union ship Merrimack, plated it with iron, and renamed it the CSS Virginia. However, the battle has gone down in history as the Monitor versus the Merrimack. Although both sides claimed a victory, in essence it was a draw as neither ship could sink the other. It did, however, dramatically change the course of naval warfare. From that battle on, navies all over the globe began using metal plates over wood and eventually made their ships completely out of metal!

Back to 2011… After much discussion, it was decided to use the designation of IRONCLAD™ for Latham brand soybeans that had a resistance gene for Soybean Cyst Nematode, a gene for Phytophthora Root Rot and scores of 2.2 or better (on a scale of 1-5) against Brown Stem Rot, Iron Deficiency Chlorosis and either White Mold or Sudden Death Syndrome.

Latham’s first IRONCLAD soybeans were introduced in our 2013 Product Guide. It was quickly evident that these defensive traits were exactly what farmers in Latham Country needed to protect yield and increase profitability.

It should be noted here that since the start of our Ironclad program, we have never had a #1 selling soybean that was NOT an IRONCLAD! Additionally, our 2021 Product Guide features 28 Ironclad soybeans out of the total 56 we have listed. That’s truly an amazing advancement during a short eight-year period of time!

Mark Grundmeier, Product Manager

November 10, 2020

Agronomics, Crop, Disease, Emergence, Soybeans
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Premature Plant Death with Bob Foley

Join Bob Foley as he discusses the impacts of premature plant death, why it is happening and how it could affect your harvest plan. #LathamSeeds

Laura Cunningham

September 17, 2020

Agronomics, Corn, Crop, Disease
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Latham’s 2020 Virtual Field Day Was “Made for You”
At Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds, we have hosted multiple field day on wheels. We’ve showcased emerging technologies that allow us to check crops from the air, but this is the first year we didn’t have to worry about the weather on our field day. It’s also the first time we a virtual day event.

Welcome to 2020! The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses around the globe to deliver information using technology like Zoom, Facebook Live and YouTube. Although we prefer to meet with farmers in person, our team of industry experts has developed some interesting and informative content for you. We hope you enjoy it and find it of value!

Below is a recap of our 2020 Latham® Virtual Field Day with links, so you can watch agronomic presentations from the comfort of your office or the cab of your tractor or combine:
- Fortunately, weather events did not affect our production fields. It looks to be another banner year for Latham seed production! You’re invited to join us for this 40-minute industry roundtable with Latham’s Product Team.
- In this “challenges of harvest” roundtable hosted by Bob Foley, farmers from across the Upper Midwest tell us how they’re managing harvest in not-so-ideal conditions.
- Put products and practices to the test on your on farm! Precision Agronomy Advisor Darin Chapman discusses on-farm research and the benefits. He covers how you can use “small data” to work on your own farm.
- Soybean Product Manager Mark Grundmeier provides tips for Selecting Soybean Products that are Built for Battle. Did you know farmers don’t have to give up yield when planting defensive soybeans? Mark talks about how Latham’s exclusive IRONCLAD^TM products are bred to combat local diseases.
- Latham’s Northern Product Manager Gary Geske explains how seed treatment helps maximize yield potential. He explains what makes Latham Seeds’ SoyShield® so unique, so elite and so effective.
- Latham Corn Product Manager, Lyle Marcus, shares how to maximize performance and reduce risk with Latham® corn hybrids in 2021. He also introduces eight new hybrids for spring planting.
- In this 20-minute workshop on seed placement and performance, Precision Agronomy Advisor Phil Long explains how to use Latham’s product guide to choose seed products for 2021. Did you know that placement can affect yield by up to 20 percent? That’s a 20- to 50-bushel yield swing! Phil walks us through how to match management style to product characteristics for best placement and performance.
One of the things we enjoy most about hosting field days is sitting at the table with Latham® dealers and customers. We always enjoy hearing about our customers’ families and learning more about farming operations. If you attend a Latham Seeds’ event, you can count on great conversation and a wonderful meal.

In true field day fashion, we are sharing with you a typical field day menu. Below are links to some of our favorite fall recipes:
- Harvest BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches, a recipe shared by Iowa’s Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Julie Kenney
- Sweet & Spicy Baked Beans
- Cranberry Waldorf Salad (Although this recipe isn’t from “The Field Position” blog, it’s a hit every time I make it for a group that visits Enchanted Acres pumpkin patch.)
- Apple Crisp
With the cool fall weather this week, we thought it would be the perfect time to share a new crockpot dish. Scroll down to find a recipe for Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken Fettuccine. Recipe and image sourced here.
Shannon Latham

September 11, 2020

Agronomics, Corn, Crop, Disease, Emergence, Fertility, Food & Family, Fungicide, Growth Stages, Insects, Poultry, Precision Ag, Recipes, Seed Treatment, Sides, Soil, Soybeans, Weed Control
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

2020 Latham Virtual Field Tour Recap
Find a recap of our 2020 Latham Virtual Field Tour. Latham’s product team shares insights on a variety of key topics geared toward success this harvest and into the 2021 growing season. If you missed the live session, no worries! Find our on-demand videos below of the field tour.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020: KICKOFF TO LATHAM’S VIRTUAL FIELD TOUR WEEK 2020

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Join us for the first session of our 2020 Virtual Field Day as John Latham shares about our 73 years of quality and innovation. What does this mean for our dealers and customers across Latham Country? Tune in to find out! #LathamSeeds
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/38HPu0W5AG0
- Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=716833985567673&extid=wucYcQA8x7m2HAf4
Tune in above for a roundtable with Latham’s Product Team hosted by President John Latham.
- 0:35 — Introductions
- 2:06 — What soybean technologies can farmers be looking forward to in the future?
- 3:50 — Has any of the extreme weather affected our corn supply?
- 5:45 — What additional agronomy videos are coming down the pipeline?
- 8:50 — Can the Data Forward app help with yield estimates?
- 11:25 — How to prepare yield monitors to gather accurate yield data?
- 16:30 — Late-season visible differences in treated and untreated seed
- 18:00 — Update on XtendiMax renewal
- 20:25 — 2021 corn line-up sneak peak
- 24:00 — What makes the word INDEPENDENCE so meaningful at Latham Seeds?
- 28:30 — Can we fix yield data after harvest?
- 29:25 — When is the best time to soil sample?
- 32:40 — Seed treatments: where can farmers cut some costs?
- 35:45 — John Latham’s update from ASTA
Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2668478816588211&extid=ca2iM5vffbodkI4Y

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/O8FHM7ESu9M

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2020: MAXIMIZING YOUR 40 CHANCES

Join us for a 35 minute segment as farmers tell all about managing no-so-ideal harvest scenarios hosted by Bob Foley.
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wapZOMosW9w
- Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2769613716607152&extid=qtyQfwe76nz099nQ
Join us as Precision Agronomy Advisor Darin Chapman discusses on-farm research and the benefits of testing ideas for the future.
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dQGiV3n9SwQ
- Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=230182775092324&extid=2gNkqUOjZDfEUmW4
Join us as Corn Product Manager, Lyle Marcus, discusses how to maximize performance and reduce risk with Latham® corn hybrids in 2021.
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TqU1IGTj-VU
- Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=313068009801743&extid=LSYK1tpv18TZXFtt
SPECIAL FEATURE! 20 Minute Workshop hosted by Precision Agronomy Advisor Phil Long. Did you know that placement can affect yield by up to 20%? That’s a 20-50 bushel yield swing! Phil will walk through how to match management style to product characteristics for best placement and performance.
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3GijMR2w6nw
- Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=887477738448432&extid=vfxO7xfB1W1Jr5XH
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2020: MANAGING SOYBEANS ON OFFENSE AND DEFENSE

What does it mean for a product to be Built for Battle? Mark Grundmeier shares insight into our highly offensive and defensive soybean product options.
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_EGw1UA4-b4
- Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1233891166969244&extid=LS56ewVr5vxXKVKA
Join us as we discuss how to protect the yield potential of soybean genetics from day one with expert Gary Geske.
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mNxBtFDryHk
- Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1945198385604293&extid=9ycIGoHLwzgBYFjq
Mark Grundmeier and Gary Geske share key insight on diversifying your soybean options to maximize performance and reduce risk.
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Q9I5hS-y8fU
- Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1233891166969244&extid=LS56ewVr5vxXKVKA
Laura Cunningham

September 10, 2020

Agronomics, Corn, Crop, Disease, Emergence, Fertility, Fungicide, Growth Stages, Insects, Precision Ag, Seed Treatment, Soil, Soybeans, Weed Control
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Select Products Built for Battle with Mark Grundmeier
What does it mean for a product to be Built for Battle? Tune in on Sept 10 at 8 AM as Mark Grundmeier shares insight into our highly offensive and defensive soybean product options.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_EGw1UA4-b4

Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LathamSeeds/posts/10158763253662138
Laura Cunningham

September 9, 2020

Agronomics, Crop, Disease, Emergence, Soybeans
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Maximize Performance and Reduce Risk with Latham Hybrids

Join us as Corn Product Manager, Lyle Marcus, discusses how to maximize performance and reduce risk with Latham® corn hybrids in 2021.

Laura Cunningham

September 9, 2020

Agronomics, Corn, Crop, Disease, Emergence, Fertility, Fungicide, Growth Stages
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Ask The Agronomist: How to Manage Late-Season Soybean Troubles

Tune in as Phil Long discusses 3 common late-season soybean issues. With harvest around the corner it’s time to take final field notes and make a harvest plan! #LathamSeeds

:40 — Topic introduction

1:20 — Soybean Yield Estimates

3:20 — Sudden Death Syndrome

6:10 — White mold

8:20 — SCN

Laura Cunningham

September 3, 2020

Agronomics, Crop, Disease, Soybeans