Status of 2013 Seed Supply
An early fall harvest means many farmers have finished (or are nearly finished) with fall tillage and ready to confirm their 2013 seed selections. That’s why I’d like to take this opportunity to assure you that Latham Hi-Tech Seeds has adequate supplies to meet your needs for 2013.
As an independent seed company, Latham Hi-Tech Seeds is able to source genetics and traits form multiple providers. We were fortunate to have corn production acres in eight states, which allowed us to spread the risk of crop failure in one particular region. Most of the soils in these production areas are heavy, and the lighter soils were irrigated. We further mitigated our risk by crop planning for three times more than our estimated sales.
Latham is more than able to meet demand for Hi-Tech Hybrids even though 2012 yields overall were lower than we had originally estimated. While a few hybrids are still in short supply, we’re planning to produce additional quantities of these hybrids in South American this winter.
We’re also pleased to share with you that soybean harvest went better than we had expected, given the extremely hot and dry conditions we faced in North Central Iowa this past growing season. Supplies will be tight on certain brands, but overall, our production growers harvested more bushels than we had expected. Dry years often result in small seed size and lower germinations from cracked seed coats. While it’s too early to tell about seed quality for 2013 planting, we take great pride in our hands-on soybean production strategy.
Latham’s production process has allowed us to produce the highest quality soybean seed over the past couple of years. Our plant is built to be as gentle as possible on the soybeans, so we are hoping this can help overcome the dry conditions. (Some of our handling equipment is the same as that used by a maker of corn flakes. You know it’s gentle if it keeps a corn flake intact!)
Last season farmers who planted Latham® Hi-Tech Soybeans noticed a drastic difference when our soybeans had 10% higher germination than our competitors. We heard more than one customer tell us he was surprised when the actual germination was higher than the number we had placed on the tag. The reverse situation occurred on the competitor’s soybeans, and the tag on the bag actually showed the germination to be 4% better than the true germ.
Every bag of Latham® soybeans is stamped with the word “quality.” It’s a word by which we measure our work – from product selection to service. Dedication to quality is at our foundation. And after 65 years of service, it’ become our mantra. Thank you for partnering with Latham. Here’s to 2013!
