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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
#AsktheAgronomist – Why is Sulfur and Nitrogen Important?
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Mitigate Weather Risks with Best Management Practices
Weather concerns are top of mind as farmers across Latham Country look ahead to spring 2023 planting. Customers frequently ask us how to mitigate risk from the 2022 wet planting season.While we want to maximize the yield potential of early planting, 2022 data shows us that delayed planting can result in very good yields — and better yields than planting when conditions are unfit.
Consider these factors to successfully mitigate potential risks of delayed planting:
- Minimize compaction during field preparation.
- A uniform seed bed creates the best opportunity to plant your crop with precision.
- Minimize passes in the spring while creating a uniform seed bed.
- Be careful not to cause sidewall compaction of seed trench at planting.
- Plant your corn crop with precision. We want all plants to emerge within 72 hours. This creates the best root system to maximize water use through the entire growing season.
- Plant a consistent seed depth.
- Check for consistent seed spacing.
- Ensure great seed-to-soil contact.
- Delay planting if cold temps or cold rain is forecasted within 72 hours after planting.
- Promote a healthy root system with fertility. Good fertility programs maintain a healthy, strong root system to effectively use available water.
- Starter fertilizer gets corn plants off to the best start possible.
- Side-dress Nitrogen in a timely manner to nurse optimum plant health.
- Maintain a good fertility balance, using soil testing as a guide.
We suggest staying with a hybrid selection plan that does not vary significantly from previous years. A couple management changes at planting time to get your crop off to a great start will result in more success than totally changing your hybrid selection.
Remember, most corn yield is created in July and August. Get your plants off to the best start, so they can take advantage of that part of the growing season. Don’t get discouraged if you encounter a bit of a delay. Stick to the hybrids in your original plan through the end of May.
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- Minimize compaction during field preparation.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Match Hybrids to Your Management Style
Precision Agronomy Advisor, Phil Long Agronomists often tout the merits of selecting hybrids to fit your soil types, but it’s also important to select hybrids that match your management style.
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds’ Premier Agronomy Center provides opportunities for us to learn and share how Latham® products interact with the environment and perform under different management styles. In 2022, we adapted our stress wheel study to show how different Latham brand hybrids react to population differences. We planted 20 different Latham hybrids at both 24,000 and 36,000 plants per acre (ppa) to track how each hybrid adjusts its ear flex – or yield – to high- and low-competition environments.
Overall corn yield comes from three areas: (1) plants per acre; (2) ears per plant; and (3) weight per ear. If we look specifically at an individual corn plant, yield comes from these three areas: girth in the early season, length in mid-season and kernel depth in late season. The hybrid stress test helps us better understand how your favorite Latham hybrids adjust their yield in high- or low-stress environments, which in turn helps you better understand when to reduce stress for these hybrids.
For example, if a hybrid gets most of its yield from flex in girth, you should reduce early-season stress. Plant these hybrids in warm soils; provide fertility at the planter, and make sure nitrogen is in an available form early in the season. All hybrids determine girth based on how healthy or stressed the plants are from emergence to V7, so anything you can do to help them at that stage retains more yield.
The critical time for hybrids that flex in length is from V8 to R2. Making sure these hybrids are healthy in early summer is more important. Side-dress applications are beneficial to these hybrids.
The last group is those that flex in kernel depth, which occurs from R3 to R6 when the corn is filling its kernels, so nutrients move from leaves to the ear. These hybrids can benefit greatly from fungicide because it gives them extra time in the grain fill stage to add weight to the ear.
Although we always talk about hybrids flexing up for bigger yields, a corn plant thinks of it differently. It starts with very high expectations and then flexes down in each direction based on the stress it encounters during the season. Each hybrid’s genetics can vary by how much emphasis it puts on these three areas of yield.
We were intrigued by what we learned from our stress test in 2022 and look forward to learning more in 2023 about how our hybrids adjust their yield. Talk with your local Latham® rep to help you match our hybrids to your management style. Each local salesperson is supported by a team of seed specialists located across our six-state territory.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Three Keys to High-Yielding Soybeans
Our focus for Latham Premier Agronomy Center in Alexander, Iowa, is to showcase a broad lineup of independent options and to demonstrate how genetics interact with the environment and management styles (G X E X M).
In the Premier Agronomy Center this year, we tested 26 Latham® soybean varieties using 28 different management practices. My top take-home messages for our 2022 soybean plots are:
- August rains make soybeans. We received 11.8 inches of rain this season but 4.1 inches of it fell in August. Although we received below-normal moisture, the rain came at the right time. Our plots averaged 75 bushels per acre (bu/A) on about 12 total inches of rain!
- Don’t stress soybeans at early bloom. Weed control in soybeans is extremely important. I made a second pass of Liberty® in season, however, it reduced yields by 10 percent. Our showcase plots did not get the extra dose of herbicide and averaged 86 bu/A; the plots that received a second pass yielded an average of 78 bu/A.
- “Early” planting date is key to high yield. While earlier is better, “early” does not mean April 10 because we don’t want to risk stand loss to freezing temps. This year our first soybean plots were planted later than expected due to conditions. The plots planted May 13 averaged 5.5 bu/A better than the plots planted May 20. Seven days can make a difference in the number of nodes and pods retained, plus the canopy closes sooner.
The key to higher yields is how all three components – genetics by environment by management – interact. Fertility tops my list, so I always make sure potassium is sufficient. Potassium is what gets soybeans (and corn) through stressful times and helps them better manage water loss on hot days.
Latham® soybeans have outstanding yield potential. But like all living and breathing organisms, our soybeans struggle to perform when they’re stressed at the wrong time. The key to top soybean yields is management: reduce as much stress as possible during the growing season because we can’t control the weather.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
The Importance of Corn Planting Date and Depth
At the Latham Premier Agronomy Center, we have many demonstrations including different corn planting dates and planting depths to show how these two important factors influence yield year after year. Research shows that 50 to 75% of corn yield increases during the past 70 years came from genetic advancements, which leaves 25 to 50% of that yield increase to changes we’ve made to our farming practices.
Planting date and planting depth are cultural practices that have led to increased corn yield. Fifty years ago, farmers were talking about planting earlier than mid-May. Today we talk about planting earlier than April 15!
Our adapted hybrids produce the best yields when planted in the first week to 10 days of May. This is usually due to disease, stand loss or slow growth early in the corn life cycle. This is something we know well, and it’s why Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds includes emergence and early vigor scores in our product guide.
Matching the right hybrid to the right field and planting it at the right time can lead to outstanding yields – but only if you also plant at the proper depth. Planting corn at the proper depth allows the crown to establish approximately three-fourths of an inch below the soil surface.
Why is crown development so crucial? If the crown is pushed to the soil surface due to shallow planting, at least one set of nodal roots typically establishes above ground. We want nodal roots to develop below ground to anchor the plant and to also increase the corn plant’s drought tolerance. Corn should be planted about 2.5 inches deep, which allows it to establish the crown just below the soil surface. Shallow planting depth causes issues with germination due to dry soils.
We look forward to harvesting our demo plots at Latham’s Premier Agronomy Center and sharing results with you throughout the summer. Have a safe spring season!
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
#AsktheAgronomist – Tough Start
It’s been a tough start to the 2022 season with delayed planting and cool weather. Phil Long, precision agronomy advisor, unpacks GDUs across Latham Country and when corn and soybean stands will really take off. Check out more agronomy videos.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
#AsktheAgronomist – Stand Count
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
#AsktheAgronomist – Emergence
Precision Agronomy Advisor, Phil Long, brings us an update from the field. He shares what to keep an eye on with this late spring and how emergence may be quicker than normal.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
#AsktheAgronomist – Soil Temperatures
When will it be time to plant? Our agronomist shares current soil temperatures that include conventional tillage, no till and soil with a cover crop. The good news is that the ideal planting time is still yet to come as we approach May!Subscribe to our YouTube Channel today: https://www.youtube.com/user/TeamLathamSeeds -
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Try Something New!
Precision Agronomy Advisor, Phil Long A common theme you will hear when listening to national corn/soybean contest winners is they always use a few acres to try something new. Latham’s Forage Products Manager, Corey Catt, has written numerous articles, encouraging growers to use a few acres to experiment on their own farms with products, seeding rates and management practices.
While third-party research plays an important role in helping us choose seed products, it’s also important to conduct your own on-farm research. Here are a few ideas to try this growing season. If you have acres that struggle with Sudden Death Syndrome, try treating a few soybean units with Latham® SoyShieldTM Plus with Saltro and run a side-by-side comparison. Another idea is to apply sulfur to soybeans and measure your results. Experiment on a few corn acres with Xyway® 3D in-furrow fungicide or try a phosphorus-enhancer, such as Encompass from TALC USA.
You could create quite a list of new products, different tillage/planting practices, in furrow fertilizers, or in-season practices that you could try to break your farm’s yield plateau. Here are some tips to make the most of your on-farm research efforts:
- Use a decent farm, or part of a decent farm, to do your research. Use a farm that has soil types and drainage/topography characteristics that represent a lot of your acres. Don’t pick the less desirable ground in terms of fertility. If pH, phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), levels are wacky, you won’t learn much when trying a new in-furrow treatment, biological or fungicide. Basic needs must be taken care of before you can add more yield.
- Keep it short and simple (K.I.S.S.). Weather and soil types cause enough variation in any research that you don’t need to add complexity. Try one thing at time, so you’re not adding multiple factors into the equation. For example, run a planter pass with Xyway mixed in your starter fertilizer and then shut it off the next pass. Do these two “treatments” at least three more times across your field to reduce the influence of soil types on your results.
- Garbage in, garbage out. Make sure your monitors/globes/planting equipment have the latest update, so you can capture the data when it’s go time. Layout your research, so your combine can capture it. This is very important! For example, if you harvest with an 8-row head, change “treatments” on 20-foot increments.
Mapping what you do this spring will allow you to analyze it next fall. You will want to look at how that new product did in your heavy soils, lighter soils and whether it is worth expanding on more acres next year. Every year is different, so keep weather in mind as it is usually the #1 influencing factor. Start small to find out what works best on your farm. I am happy to help you figure out what new thing to try on a few acres. Give me a call and we can chat more about it at: 641-692-0370.
