Reduce Risk by Planting a Portfolio of Products

Mother Nature threw us some real challenges during the 2016 growing season. Some areas of South Dakota were extremely dry from June until late August. North Dakota was hit by strong winds and hail. Much of Iowa received higher than average rainfalls.

While the conditions vary by state — and even within a region — there is one thing we all have in common and that’s “risk management.” We can spread our risk by planting three different Latham® hybrids of different maturities. Planting 1/3 of our acres to an early hybrid, 1/3 to your typical relative maturity (RM) and 1/3 to a little later maturity will help us improve overall yield!

The value in working with a financial planner comes from diversifying one’s portfolio and reducing financial risk while maximizing returns. For the same reasons, it’s advantageous for corn growers to work with a knowledgeable seed representative to create a diversified hybrid seed corn portfolio.

No financial planner worth his weight is going to advise clients to invest solely in mutual funds or high-risk stocks. That’s also why farmers shouldn’t choose their seed portfolio based only on top-yielding varieties in F.I.R.S.T. Trials. Choosing seed based on growing conditions in one location during one year is like picking your stocks based on only last year’s performance without considering factors that might cause market shifts.

The stakes are too high to not manage risk. Latham Seeds’ Seed-2-Soil® program helps corn growers determine which hybrids will help minimize risk while maximizing returns.

PLANTING A “PORTFOLIO” OF CORN HYBRIDS HAS MULTIPLE BENEFITS:

1. HEDGE RISK WITH DIFFERENT GENETICS. As an independent seed supplier, Latham provides you with more seed product choices — more genetic options — than companies that rely on a single supplier for their genetics.
2. PLANT HYBRIDS WITH VARYING MATURITIES. Different flowering dates help reduce yield loss due to heat during pollination. Some years hybrids don’t want to dry down and the earlier products can really pay off while the exact opposite happens in other years.
3. BALANCING OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE CHARACTERISTICS. Each year presents its own set of challenges: weed pressure, insect pressure, heat stress, moisture stress, emergence issues, disease pressure, overall yield. That’s why planting both “offensive” and “defensive” products is advantageous.