“70 is the new 50”
Bill Latham, Chief Technology Officer
“70 is the new 50.” Although I turned 70 years old this year, I’m not talking about my age. Rather I’m talking about the new expectations of our customers.
So many Latham customers are getting whole-field yields in the 70s and 80s now that 70 bushels per acre (bu/A) has become what a 50-bushel was 30 years ago. Latham soybean genetics, stacked with the Genuity® Roundup® Ready 2 Yield trait, is giving us yields that we’ve never before seen. The precise insertion of the RR technology without yield drag, combined with Latham genetics, is a winning combination. Our soybean lines are bred to fight common diseases – and yield robbers in our area – like Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN), Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), Iron Deficiency Chlorosis (IDC), as well as Phytophthora Root and Brown Stem Rot.
During the 45 years I’ve spent developing soybeans varieties, I’ve never seen anything like this! We’ve all seen test plots go over 70 and 80 bushels before, but this year we are seeing whole fields average over 80 bushels for the first time. At Dows, Iowa, an 80-acre field of Latham L2084R2 went 77.8 bu/A over the scale. At Lancaster, Wisconsin, an 84-acre field of Latham L2084R2 made 79 bu/A, and in Hawkeye, Iowa, an entire field of Latham 2183R2 broke the 80 bushel barrier!
I hope none of you believe 50 or even 60 bu/A is good enough. We hear from many farmers, who are planting our competitors’ products, say they’re excited about yields in the high 50s. Recently, I spoke with a Pioneer customer who said, “This year I got 59 bushels from my Y series soybeans. Those are some of the best yields I’ve ever had.”
“That’s a shame” I replied. “Your neighbor down the road is getting 75 bushels from Latham beans with Genuity Roudup Ready 2 Yield trait. 70 is the new 50.”
Keep in mind that Pioneer’s Y series soybeans contain the old Roundup Ready 1 technology. What is that old technology costing you?
