Paintbrush strokes dividing page

EASTERN IOWA

Jerry Broders

This customer is finishing up corn planting by Center Point. Most growers in Eastern Iowa are winding down with corn and moving to soybeans.

CENTRAL IOWA

Bryan Rohe

Soybeans planted early in Central Iowa are confused, which is a sign of imbibitional chilling damage. “Confused seedlings” either emerge incorrectly or not at all because these seeds absorbed water when soil temperatures were less than 55° or 60° F for an extended period of time.

Bryan

NORTHEAST IOWA & SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA

Craig Haaland

Soil temperatures are warm enough for planting, but we received 5 inches of rain last week. Many farmers held off planting when they saw rain was in the forecast, and that turned out to be a good decision for many. After four good days of drying conditions, we had hoped planters would get rolling on Tuesday. Very few soils were dry enough yesterday and then we received another 0.7” last night. We need more drying weather! We need fit soil conditions for best results.

Craig

WEST NORTH CENTRAL IOWA

Bart Peterson

This photo was taken on Thursday, May 4, about 4 miles east of Humboldt in West Central Iowa. Total rain fall last week in that area was 4 inches. Due to snow and rain the last two months, farmers in Humboldt County have maybe only 20% of their corn in the ground.

Bart

NORTH CENTRAL IOWA & SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA

Cory Greiman

We’re seeing signs of winter kill. When alfalfa plants break dormancy, plants are susceptible to cold crown temperatures. Spring snowmelt, combined with late-season snow, may have frozen these plants. Other factors that affect winter kill include: stand age, alfalfa variety, soil pH, soil fertility and cutting management.

Cory

NORTHWEST IOWA

Darin Chapman

Northwest Iowa farmers are behind on planting due to continued rainfall. We are looking forward to performing multiple hybrid on-farm research. The photo shows a multi-hybrid and variable rate seeding prescription written with Latham Hi‑Tech Seed’s Data Forward Precision Ag Program. We are able to place two different hybrids (LH 4955 VT2 PRO and LH 5095 VT2 PRO) where they should show best performance on the right soil, at the right seeding rate.

Darin

WESTERN IOWA & EASTERN NEBRASKA

Larry Krapfl

Another field in Western Iowa is being planted with Latham® LibertyLink 3158 soybeans.

SOUTHERN WISCONSIN

Greg Mair

Field conditions in Wisconsin were good for planting lots of acres on Monday and Tuesday.  We got two Latham® Corn SuperStrip plots planted: one in Cambridge and another in Watertown.  SuperStrip plots are replicated trials of a specific hybrid sets for each maturity range.  We use them to evaluate hybrids across Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds’ entire regional footprint to determine field-by-field placement, which helps our customers maximize profit on every acre.

SOUTHERN MINNESOTA

Jay Nelson

According to the latest planting report, corn planting is only 9 percent complete in Minnesota. That’s 9 days behind last year and 16 days behind the 5-year average, making some growers more focused on the calendar date rather than planting conditions. Keep in mind that we’re still well within optimal planting dates, so you can afford to wait for fit soils in order to avoid season-long problems. Wet soils are easily compacted, and sidewall compaction can lead to dramatic decreases in yield.

Jay

NORTHERN MINNESOTA

Ken Highness

May 8 has been our best day this spring in the Red River Valley with a high of 86 degrees! We planted a Latham® SuperStrip plot on the farm of our dealers Mike and Dave Bergquist.

Ken

SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA

Ramie Coughlin

Fields have finally dried off enough for planters to roll in full force for the past week. We have had some really nice high temperatures and a few very windy days to dry things out nicely. Right now most growers are focusing on corn. A few have planted soybeans, depending on what fields are ready to go. I expect to see a shift to beans start happening within the week.

Ramie

EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA

Brian McNamee

The tractors, seeders and planters keep rolling. Scattered rain showers haven’t slowed down our planting progress. Actually, we could use a rain here. Farmers are chasing planting depth, and we could use more moisture before we continue planting alfalfa. Soybean planting got underway on Monday. We’re providing seed with a smile, right to the field and into the drill!

 Brian