As the ag community gears up for the growing season, the time is now to decide what seed they want to use.
A seed agronomist out of Nebraska says that farmers should take this time to reflect on how crops did in 2023.
While farmers in the west have seen multiple years of drought, they should plan for a successful crop season this year.
According to Mark Grundmayer, “Last year, in the face of some seriously dry weather, we had quite a few growers contemplating cutting back on how much nitrogen or fertilizer was applied, cutting back their seeding rates and just trying to bare bone their inputs as much as they can. I think one thing we learned last year was we were one good rain away from harvesting some good crops on both corn and soybeans. In my opinion, my experience, that if you plan for disaster, there’s a pretty good chance that’s what you’re going to get when you’re all done.”
He also stresses the importance of genetic diversity in seed decisions, noting its role in mitigating risks.
“Genetic diversity gives us a chance to help growers mitigate as much risk as they can, from flowering dates, heat tolerance, stress tolerance, moisture stress tolerance, early season vigor, late season stock quality; it’s one of the first and probably the easiest tool that we can use to help mitigate risk, which is one thing that all growers need to be really good at every year,” Grundmayer explains.
If you’re looking for support in achieving your yield goals or need any suggestions, reach out to a local seed agronomist.
