Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Finding the Right Products for Your Farm

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At Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds, we take pride in our ability to identify the best corn hybrids and soybean varieties to match our customers’ needs. We take time to listen to our sales team, which includes our dealers, talk about the needs of farmers across Latham Country. Their information about desired characteristics helps direct our research and testing efforts.

The journey to finding new products begins with our robust collaborative access to germplasm. Latham’s Product Team works in conjunction with many germplasm sources, including our own, to fuel our search to find the best products for the specific geographic regions we serve. We also have great relationships with trait providers to bring needed traits into our products. After we either find or create the desired genetic combinations, we move into the evaluation stage of our process.

Our Elite Trial program continues to grow with additional test locations across our sales footprint. We are testing in every corner of Latham Country. This means that we test products where they would be sold, which allows us to find unique niche products that excel in a local environment.

To help position products to fulfill our needs assessment, our regional sales managers (RSMs) get an early look at the products we’re considering for our lineup. Having “in-trial” conversations about products with our sales team is a tremendous benefit to Latham’s Product Teams. In addition, conversations about products in trials helps builds confidence with our sales team to position products. We have consolidated both our corn and soybean evaluation processes into one Elite Trial system, which allows our product teams to assess data more easily.

Once we identify products from the Elite Trials that meet Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds’ standards and fulfill our customers’ needs, we release them for sale. We also place these new products in our Latham Showcase plots, as well as in the independent F.I.R.S.T. Trials program, to once again showcase the performance of these new products and to provide opportunities for our customers to gain confidence in their performance.

Latham’s track record of performance in our Showcase plots and F.I.R.S.T. Trials proves the system we have built works! Our process of beginning with a large diverse pool of genetics; testing potential new products thoroughly in all parts of our footprint; and proving our performance in our final stages of Latham Showcase and F.I.R.S.T. Trial plots complete our journey in finding outstanding products.

I’m so excited about the products we’re testing this summer and look forward to talking about them in more detail at our upcoming field days. Watch your mail and social media for more details coming soon!

Latham Seeds Precision Agronomy Advisors

July 14, 2021

Agronomics, Corn, Crop, Season, Seed Technology, Summer, Tech Tuesday

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Keep Track of the Little Details

How often do you make the same mistake?

Repeat mistakes happen when we don’t record exactly where we saw an issue in a particular field. Every year has its curveballs, and 2021 is no different. Planting progressed quickly, but then we experienced cold soils followed by really hot temps. Some areas also received a late frost and hail. Now, most of Latham Country is experiencing extremely dry conditions.

One of the best ways I’ve found to track environmental conditions and a crop’s response to it is Latham’s Data Forward™ app. I use this app to take specific field notes as I’m walking fields. This year IDC and other deficiencies made a big appearance once we received some rain and the soybeans started growing. You can use the Data Forward app to outline these areas. You can even create a management zone, using your phone, to make a map for spreading fertilizer or applying a product with your planter only in those areas.

Data Forward also can be used to drop a pin in tough areas, so you can take tissue samples to the lab. When the lab results come back, they will show up in the Data Forward app. How cool is that? You will never lose results this way. All of the details help you can really dial in your management. The first management step for IDC is selecting a top IDC-rated, Ironclad™ soybean variety. Only the toughest Latham® soybeans earn this designation. If IDC is a recurring problem, you could invest in a planter set up to apply a chelated iron product close to the roots. Another option is to invest in tile to help drain those lower areas with high pH or salt issues.

One unique tool on the premium version of our Data Forward app is satellite imagery. While sipping your morning coffee, you can discover problem areas in a field. Imagery is like that torque wrench in your toolbox… If you know how to use it, it can save you from breaking a lot of bolts. If you don’t, it’s just another ratchet in the toolbox.

By tracking what happens and where, we can make these changes to address agronomic challenges. Talk to your Latham dealer, Regional Sales Manager (RSM) or give me a call to learn more about how Data Forward can help you move your farm’s data forward with confidence!

Team Latham

July 14, 2021

Agronomics, Precision Ag, Season, Summer, Tech Tuesday

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Planting Depth Matters

The below is a look at an on-farm planting depth study conducted by our sales representative from southeast Iowa. Photos were taken in the same field, the same location, planted the same day with the same hybrid. The only variation between each is planting depth. The hybrid shown is LH 6477 VT2 PRO planted on May 12 and the photos are from the last week of June.

Planting depths are as follows:

On top of the ground to ¼-inch planting depth
¾ to 1-inch planting depth
1 to 1 ¼-inch planting depth
2 to 2 ¼-inch planting depth

Those planted at optimal depth have much better nodal roots and root mass to anchor that plant into the rapid growth stages we’re observing now.

Planting Depth 2 — On top of the ground to ¼-inch planting depth

Planting Depth 3 — ¾ to 1-inch planting depth

Planting Depth 4 — 1 to 1 ¼-inch planting depth

Planting Depth 5 — 2 to 2 ¼-inch planting depth

July 14, 2021

Agronomics, Corn, Crop, From the Field, Season, Summer

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

#AskTheAgronomist: Pollination and Silk Growth, Part 2

In Part 2 of this series on pollination and silk growth, Latham’s Pre-Commercial Product Manager Bob Foley further explains how the silk to pollen interaction translates into final yield. Watch Part 1 of the series here.

July 14, 2021

#AskTheAgronomist, Agronomics, Corn, Crop, Season, Summer

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

#AskTheAgronomist: Pollination and Silk Growth, Part 1

Latham Pre-Commercial Manager Bob Foley explains silking and pollen growth with a look at development over a multiday time frame. Knowing the stages of growth can help you understand how various stressors affect your crop. Watch Part 2 of the series here.

July 14, 2021

#AskTheAgronomist, Agronomics, Corn, Crop, Season, Summer

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

#AskTheAgronomist: Fungicide Considerations in Dry Weather

To apply fungicide or not to apply fungicide? This question is on the minds of many growers as we continue through a relatively dry growing season. Precision Agronomist Phil Long discusses the pros and cons of fungicide in both corn and soybeans.

July 7, 2021

#AskTheAgronomist, Agronomics, Corn, Crop, Drought, Fungicide, Season, Soybeans, Summer, Weather

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

The SoyShield Plus Saltro Difference

These photos, submitted from a field in southeast Iowa, show a side-by-side comparison of Latham SoyShield Plus with Saltro against eight competitor entries. Click here for more information on Latham’s Seed Treatment offerings.

SW Iowa Comparison 2 — Eight competitor entries.

July 2, 2021

Agronomics, Crop, Seed Treatment, Soybeans

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

#AskTheAgronomist: Mid-Season Soybean Pests

It’s time to start looking between rows to see what stressors, outside of dry weather, may be impacting your soybean crop. In this week’s #AskTheAgronomist, Latham Precision Agronomist Phil Long shares how to identify and address mid-season pests such as soybean aphids, soybean gall midge and spider mites.

June 30, 2021

#AskTheAgronomist, Agronomics, Crop, Insects, Season, Soybeans, Summer

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

#AskTheAgronomist: Long-Term Heat Stress in Soybeans

In part two of our #AskTheAgronomist series on heat stress, Precision Agronomist Phil Long covers how hot, dry conditions affect soybean growth and decision-making moving forward.

June 22, 2021

#AskTheAgronomist, Agronomics, Crop, Drought, Season, Soybeans, Summer, Weather

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Invest in a Tissue Test

Leaving no yield in the field is always an important goal, but it’s especially important when commodity prices are as strong as they are. It literally pays to harvest more tonnage! In-season testing will verify whether your growing plants’ nutritional needs are all met, which helps your alfalfa and corn silage crops reach their full potential.

It’s more challenging to determine actual alfalfa and corn silage yield and correlate yield to plant nutrient removal than it is to do so for corn or soybeans. A more accurate way to determine soil and plant needs for alfalfa is in-season soil sampling combined with plant tissue sampling.

The chart below provides examples of tissue sampling methods. You will find a link to full descriptions here: www.dairylandlabs.com/agronomy-services/plant-tissues. I like to add this layer of fidelity on at least a few acres as it gives me a sense that I have done my best. The lab results you get will indicate if a nutrient is still lacking and the amount to supplement. NOTE: It’s helpful to provide a soil sample (at least 10 cores) from area of tissue sample.

For Best Results

Modern alfalfa plant genetics have a lot of capacity to yield, but plant nutrition is key to achieving those top yields. Potash, phosphorus, boron and sulfur are key nutrients. The top yield-driving nutrient is potassium. Split-applying potassium to alfalfa tends to provide the best results.

Alfalfa will remove 50 to 55 pounds of potassium per dry matter (DM) ton, so a total of 300 pounds may be removed per acre in one season. A split application of 150 pounds of potash per acre will help avoid any leaching potential. NOTE: Alfalfa consumes more potash than it needs, a condition called luxury consumption. If you apply more than 200 pounds of potash per acre in one application, there is a high potential for luxury consumption. The plant can only use a certain amount for yield, but an alfalfa plant will continue to consume as much potash as it can. Potash will increase plant tissue concentrations. As a result, it can cause negative animal health issues when the forage is fed.

To maintain maximum animal health, as well as plant health, it’s important to study both data from your field and from your alfalfa plants. Mosaic® fertilizer has a great nutrient removal chart, which correlates expected yield with critical nutrient removal rates.

Maintaining peak nutrition keeps alfalfa plants healthier, so they live longer. More live plants when you plan to rotate to corn can provide up to 100 pounds of nitrogen credit or even greater. It pays to keep alfalfa happy!

June 16, 2021

#AskTheAgronomist, Agronomics, Alfalfa, Corn Silage, Crop, Season, Summer, Tech Tuesday