Latham sales reps routinely spend time in the cabs of combines each fall, checking out yields and getting feedback directly from our farmer-customers. This year I said, “Why should sales reps have all the fun?” and climbed aboard a few combines myself!
Thanks to all the customers who let me ride along. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning every time I climbed into a cab and saw the yield monitor climb, mainly because I knew that every extra bushel pulled was extra revenue for our customers – and that’s what we’re all about at Latham. But I’m not going to lie — seeing Latham hybrids out-yield our competitors by 20 bushels per acre or more didn’t hurt my feelings.
I was usually tweeting (sending out messages on Twitter) during my combine ride-alongs. Here’s just a sampling:
Rode in the combine of another happy customer. His Latham corn went 10 bushels better than the competition, yielding 212 bu/A in c-on-c.
I rode in the combine w/ a customer Fri. whose Latham RR2Y Soybeans averaged 77 bu/acre. That’s the kind of whole-field average we like 2 c!
It’s 75 and beautiful and I’m on yet another farm visit for the day. I’m starting to feel a little bit guilty about calling this “work.”
Driving to work today, I shared the road with farm equip., school buses and livestock trailers. I’ll take that over a traffic jam any day.
It was the perfect day. Great customers and a lot of time in the combine. Okay and beating the competition by 20 bushels wasn’t bad either.
You can learn more about Twitter and sign up for a free account here. Follow us on Twitter at @LathamSeeds! If you already have a Twitter account, let us know your Twitter handle by commenting below and we’ll follow you!
Harvest is complete across Latham Country and what better way to wrap up the season than sharing the success of our customers? I always feel like harvest at Latham is a bit like Christmas: we eagerly wait results, but with the knowledge that no matter what the surprise will reveal, it’s going to be good.
Today I’m excited to introduce two new Latham radio commercials that highlight customers’ yield results from this season. I was surprised by how much fun I had stepping into the recording booth to create these commercials, but I wasn’t surprised at how much fun it was to read the success stories of our customers and hear the enthusiasm with which they shared their incredible yield results.
Take a minute to listen if you can and please let us know what you think!
Now that temperatures are cooler and we’ve turned the calendar pages to the festive month of November, I can’t help but think about warm, comfort foods and holiday entertaining.
As a working mom, I look for every opportunity to save time. That’s why I love crock pots and make-ahead salads! Since I’d be remiss not to “talk turkey” this month, below is one of my favorite turkey recipes to feed hungry groups with ease. I’m also including an easy-to-make cranberry jell-o salad recipe with Caramel Apple Cheesecake for dessert. Mash some real potatoes, open a can of green beans and call it good… Menu planning doesn’t get much easier than that!
Herbed Turkey Breast
Ingredients: 5 to 6 pound turkey breast, fresh or thawed
2 T. butter or margarine
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. fresh parsley, minced
¼ c. garden vegetable-flavored cream cheese
½ tsp. dry basil
½ tsp. rubbed sage
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. garlic powder
Directions: Place turkey in stoneware. Combine remaining ingredients and brush over turkey. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 4 hours.
Cranberry Pineapple Salad
Ingredients: 2, small packages of cranberry (or raspberry) flavored gelatin
1 ¾ c. boiling water
1, 16-oz. can jellied cranberry sauce
1, 8-oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained
¾ c. orange juice
1 T. lemon juice
½ c. chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions: Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Then break up the cranberry sauce and stir it into the liquid gelatin. Add pineapple, orange juice and lemon juice. Chill until partially set. Stir in nuts. Pour into an 11x7x2 dish. Chill until firm; cut into squares. Serve on lettuce leave and top with a dollop of mayo.
NOTE: While this red salad looks pretty against a dark, green lettuce leaf, I rarely take the time to serve it this way. It just becomes so fancy! Perhaps I should try it this holiday season…
There are several factors to consider when managing soybean production in no-till conditions: variety selection, insect management, disease management, fertility management and weed management.
“Choosing a variety is the single most important decision a soybean producer can make to maximize yield,” says Aaron Saeugling, Iowa State University Extension Field Agronomist. He also recommends that growers choose varieties that have the ability to excel in a given environment because no-till varieties requires more than just picking the highest yield variety in a seed plot.
As for fertility management, Saeugling says fall is the best time to build your farm’s fertility program. You need a quality soil sample for the basis of fertilizer. Click here to read Tuesday’s blog post for soil sampling guidelines.
For more tips on no-till soybean management read the complete article here.
Source: Iowa Soybean Association’s E-Gold Standard Newsletter.
It feels like I’ve been giving a play-by-play account of growing conditions across Latham Country for the past six months. We’ve covered everything from seed bed prep to SDS detection and fall harvest results. Most farmers across our six-state marketing area are finishing fieldwork and, now that temperatures have dropped, are applying anhydrous.(http://www.iowaagriculture.gov/press/cropAndWeather.asp)
The time is also right to focus one’s attention on next year’s seed needs. The following reports by Latham’s regional sales managers offer tips and insights on product performance in their areas. To view yield results in your area, visit www.lathamseeds.com.
Northwest Iowa
With harvest complete and most field work and fertilizer applications done, the only thing left is anhydrous ammonia application in Northwest Iowa. Applicators will be in full force this week as the weather continues to be favorable. Now it’s time to turn your attention to next year’s seed needs. Genuity® Roundup® Ready 2 Yield Soybeans jumped ahead of the pack, proving themselves as “the bean” to plant next year. There are many different corn hybrid options to fit your farming operation with equaled success. Latham® Hi‑Tech Hybrids with Genuity® VT3 TripleProTM provide an excellent package with late-season insect control. Latham hybrids with Agrisure® 3000GT have come on strong as well, offering Ignite® as an option for weed control. Visit www.lathamseeds.com to review yield data in your area.
Central Iowa
Bart Peterson says field work is nearly complete across North Central Iowa and anhydrous applications will be complete by the middle of next week. Field work is about 50% done in West Central Iowa and farmers are just starting to apply anhydrous there. Now is a great time to get your seed ordered for 2011. Many Latham® products will be in demand, so order now while quantities are strong. Below are Bart’s “top picks” for hybrid seed corn and soybeans in his territory.
Harvest is pretty much complete in the northern and central parts of Travis Slusher’s area with some corn left to be harvested in the southern part. The fall weather has provided many producers great conditions for fall tillage, along with a lot of tiling and terrace and waterway work being done. Much of the fall fertilizer has been applied. Farmers are beginning to apply NH3 as temperatures have dropped.
Central Iowa
Harvest, for the most part, is complete across Kevin Meyer’s area. Producers have taken advantage of one of the nicest falls in recent memory by catching up with some items that didn’t get done a year ago. Now is a good time to study crop notes and finish building a crop plan for 2011. Strong performance and a diverse line-up of Latham® products offer some great options for next year’s plan.
Wisconsin
A few soil samples are being pulled to see what nutrients will be needed for next year, and Wisconsin farmers are now applying fall fertilizer. They’re also cleaning up the equipment used during harvest, says Steve Bailie. Last week’s winds, reaching 50 miles per hour, caused problems for fields of corn that had not yet been harvested. Many growers who have corn remaining in their fields will have a few problems getting the corn fed into the heads of their combine.
South Dakota
Bill Eichacker says corn harvest in South Dakota should rap up this week. Many farmers are completing field tillage and fertilizer application is going strong.
Now that fall harvest is complete, it’s the perfect time to take a walk in your fields. A recent Wallaces Farmer reminds readers to collect soil samples (1) to determine whether soybean cyst nematodes (SCN) are present, and (2) to develop management strategies to control nematode numbers in those fields that are infested.
“The key to profitable long-term soybean production in SCN-infested fields is to prevent SCN from increasing,” says Greg Tylka, Extension nematologist at Iowa State University. Taking soil samples this fall can help save you money in the long run.
Soil Sampling Guidelines
The more soil cores collected and the smaller the area sampled, the more accurate the results will be.
Soil cores should be from the upper eight inches of soil.
If corn or some other non-host crop was last grown in the field, it doesn’t matter if soil cores are collected in the previous crop’s row.
Click here for the full list of soil sampling guidelines and to read the complete article.
The excitement continues for the Iowa State football team as the Cyclones captured another big “W” on Saturday against Kansas. It’s a great time to be a fan.
Last Thursday I posted about Latham’s sponsorship of the Locker Room Show. Hopefully, you got a chance to tune in after the game and listen to Coach Rhoads and the players recap their performance.
I was especially proud this season of ISU’s win over Texas. I can empathize with what it’s like to take the field as an underdog – at Latham, we compete against the “big dogs” every day. But just as ISU has proved, underdogs shouldn’t be underestimated. We continue to offer the broadest, deepest lineup of corn hybrids and soybean brands available in the marketplace. And that’s why the same sense of pride I had for ISU as they captured the win against the Longhorns is similar to the feeling I have when customers call in with winning results against our competition.
One of the things I enjoy most about being a parent is the opportunity to relive all of my favorite memories from my own childhood. When I think about “Halloween pasts,” I remember how much excitement I felt about choosing my costume and going trick-or-treating with my cousins. Each week I religiously read TV Guide to see when “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” was going to air and marked my calendar so I’d be sure not to miss it. And Halloween preparations also meant my mom and I would be busy in the kitchen.
Making “Great Pumpkin Cookies” became an annual tradition. This tradition lives on, and this week my son spent some time after school baking up these delicious holiday treats in my mom’s kitchen. Because they’re as fun to eat as they are to make, we’d like to share our treasured recipe with you. I’m also including the “Charlie Brown theme song” in case you need a little background music as you bake.
What are your family’s Halloween traditions?
P.S. While the cookies are baking, your aspiring artists can try their hand at making jack-o-lantern or Frankenstein luminaries. This also makes a great “rainy day” activity. Check out this Website for more ideas to fight boredom when kids are stuck inside: http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/bored.htm#in
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT WITH HALLOWEEN LUMINARIES
Materials
Glass jar of any size
Paint brush or 1” foam brush
Tissue paper, cut into approximately ½” wide strips
Black and white construction paper (other colors as desired)
Paper maché paste or wallpaper paste
Electric candle
Instructions
Coat the jar with paste and smooth on tissue paper. Don’t worry about making all of the strips nice and neat; it actually makes a neat effect when strips are placed every which way. Cut out eyes, nose and mouth; adhere to jar with another coat of paste. Put on one final coat of paste, making sure all of the tissue strips are covered. You’ll see that we also used a glue gun to adhere bolts to Frankenstein’s head. Last fall my daughter and I made jack-o-lantern luminaries. For directions on how to make these, click here: http://www.craftideas.info/html/recycled_jar_pumpkin_b.html
As a proud Iowa State University alum and a die-hard Cyclone fan, I couldn’t be happier about the huge win the Iowa State football team had last week over their ranked opponent, Texas. (In fact, one of the biggest wins in school history!)
Email blast that was sent out to Cyclone fans after the big victory at Texas.
John and I both graduated from the College of Agriculture at ISU and are proud to support our team in any way we can. One way we support the Cyclones is by sponsoring the Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds Locker Room Show, a post-game show where analysts, coaches and players share their thoughts about the game.
To keep the momentum going from the big win, you can vote for Coach Rhoads as Coach of the Year at www.coachoftheyear.com. (Note: You can vote daily!)
Cyclone fans will reunite this Saturday for ISU’s Homecoming. The Cyclones will be taking on Kansas with kickoff at 1 p.m. Be sure to tune in to Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds Locker Room Show following the big game! For a listing of which stations air the show, click here.
Which team will you be rooting for this weekend? Go Cyclones!
This year’s harvest is starting to wind down, the weekly weather and crop conditions survey released October 25 shows 86% of Iowa corn acres have been harvested, 35 days ahead of last year and 25 days ahead of the 5-year average. Soybean acres harvested are 97% complete, 24 days ahead of last year and 19 days ahead of the 5-year average. (Source: Wallaces Farmer)
South Central Iowa
Harvest is winding up across South Central Iowa, so many producers are doing fall tillage, tiling and fertilizing. Travis Slusher says gale-force winds this week will put corn that is still in the field under an extreme stand-ability test. Corn yields have been variable to say the least, but there have been some very good performances. Latham® Hi‑Tech Hybrids that did well in this area include LH 5645 3000GT, LH 6003 3000GT, LH 6032 RR, LH 6056 VT3, LH 6394 3000GT and LH 6598 VT3. Some of the standout soybean varieties in this area are L2735R2V, L2984R2, L3186R2, L3268R2 and L2987L.
Central Iowa
Kevin Meyer reports harvest is almost complete in his territory. Fall fertilizer and tillage is underway with fall anhydrous application set for the end of this week. Soybeans had a very good year, even with a strong presence of SDS in the area. Latham® Hi‑Tech SoybeansL2182R2 and L2440R2 performed very well against the competition with a 6 to 10-bushel advantage. New products in our soybean lineup, along with proven performance of the Roundup Ready brands, offers some great yield opportunities on soybean acres in 2011. Kevin’s customers saw strong performances from Latham® Hi‑Tech HybridsLH 5228 VT3, LH 5376 VT3 and LH 5494 3000GT; LH 5896 VT3 and LH 5877 VT3 PRO rounded out the season with great stalk strength and grain quality in the 108-day maturity. There was a big improvement in dry down and test weight from the 2010 as compared to 2009 crop.
Wisconsin
Steve Bailie reports most growers in his territory have finished their 2010 harvest of corn and beans. With higher yields, this year many bins are full so growers have had to take the remaining crop to the local elevator or to the river. It’s an inconvenience, but it’s not a bad problem to have, especially considering market price has been above average this fall. Corn yields this year were higher than in the past years. Steve was amazed by yields on hybrids with the Roundup Ready® trait next to the stacked hybrids. One hybrid that did particularly well in Wisconsin is Latham®LH 4999 RR, which has been pulling yields above 200 bu/A in many locations across the state. LathamLH 4999 RR is an amazing refuge corn choice for growers here. With wet, windy weather in the forecast this week, it’s a great time to finish crop planning and finalizing your 2011 seed purchases.
West Central Iowa
The northern region of Bart Peterson’s territory is done combing corn and soybeans. Field work is mostly done there, as well. Anhydrous is being applied. The western half of Bart’s territory has finished soybean harvest and 10 to 15% of the corn has yet to be combined.
Northwest Iowa
Big yields require replacement of fertilizer to ensure big yield opportunity for next year, says Tom Larson. Potash is the most over looked product when going from corn to soybeans. Consult with your fertilizer specialist about soybeans.
Northern Missouri
Rick Foster reports harvest is still moving along and was slowed a little this weekend with 1 inch of rain.