Farm Horizons
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Dec. 5, 2016
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Page 14
Selecting seed for 2017 growing season
Seed is one of the major expenses in a
and soybean recommendations. If we
crop budget, so growers need to do their
use this growing season as an example,
Dave Schwartz our growing season was much longer
homework when selecting genetics for
Certified crop advisor
their farming operation.
and wetter than normal. We will set a reGold Country Seed
There are hundreds of products to
cord for the longest growing season, and
choose from, so here are a few suggesin parts of the state, the wettest year, as
tions to consider.
well.
• An agronomist at the University of
So, naturally, full-season varieties and
Minnesota once told me, “Farmers base their decisions more offensive lines topped most plots. Be careful about
too much on what happened last year,” rather than the loading up too much on very full-season lines for 2017.
past five or 10 years, and I think he is right.
Normally, full-season lines will yield best, but be sure
I find myself doing this when it comes to making corn to have a mix and not stack the deck with all full-season
products.
• For fields that are in continuous
corn, select hybrids that have good
roots and stalks, and have a good
disease package – especially for
Goss’s Wilt. Continuous corn fields
simply have more stress than fields
in a two- or three-crop rotation, so a
healthy root and stalk are important
traits to select. In warm dry summers, continuous corn fields can
yield as much as 30 percent less
than rotated corn.
• For soybean growers in a corn/
soybean rotation, select soybean
lines that have a good disease
package. Oftentimes, one of these
diseases – phytophthora root rot,
brown stem rot, white mold, and
occasionally sudden death – infect plants and reduce yield. White
mold is especially common in fields
that have a livestock manure history. Lowering plant populations to
140,000 seeds or less will also help
manage white mold.
• Work with your seed dealer to
select products that are a good fit
for each field. Some products have
better drought-tolerance. Others
are more offensive, and should be
placed in your most productive soils.
Fields coming out of alfalfa should
not need rootworm protection.
These are all things best discussed with your seed dealer, to find
a package of products that best fit
your operation. n