Multiplex Gene Editing: How It’s Transforming the Future of Farming
At a time when the world’s population is increasing, cropland is decreasing and climates are changing, it’s more important than ever to equip farmers with new technology and tools to take the guesswork out of planting decisions. One such tool is multiplex gene editing, which quickly adjusts a plant’s DNA to improve its resiliency and to use fewer natural resources like land and water.
Multiplex gene editing turns up the volume on regular gene editing by implementing multiple types of edits to plant genomes. For example, vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts and kale all started from different parts of the same wild mustard plant — but didn’t fully develop into their own varieties until breeders chose to amplify certain traits. Today’s corn is no different, having been bred from a plant that looks nothing like corn looks to us now.
Farmers recognize benefits from multiplex gene editing more quickly because no government agencies are involved. Additional benefits include:
More uniform seed size, which increases planting efficiency.
Increased water utilization.
Changing the leaf shape, which allows for better light interception and photosynthesis to improve yields.
With a high-performing lineup designed specifically for your field, Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds is well-positioned to increase yields — year after year.
Contact Latham’s product team or your RSM/DSM for more details on multiplex gene editing and other pioneering advancements that we’re working on for your future!
There’s more to fall than getting the combine ready. To ensure healthy, productive soils next year, think about doing these three things now:
Review your field data
Correct compaction
Add a cover crop
Whether your fields produce bumper crops or have lower-than-average yields, take the time after harvest to assess soil fertility levels, replenish depleted nutrients, determine reasons for high- and low-yielding areas and evaluate overall soil health. Doing this can help give your crops a head start for next season.
Soil samples and yield maps can predict the future
Begin next season’s preparations by pulling post-harvest soil samples and assessing this season’s yield maps. Soil samples will identify any phosphorus or potassium deficiencies, while yield maps will show the amount of nutrients removed from the soil by this year’s crops. This information will help you determine crop nutrient amounts for next season, based on actual numbers rather than estimates.
If post-harvest conditions allow, farmers can make partial (or base) nitrogen applications in the fall. Then test soil nitrate levels in the spring to determine the additional amount needed to meet next season’s crop performance goals. This ensures that nitrogen will be available in the soil at planting, as well as throughout the remainder of the growing season. If weather delays spring applications, this nitrogen management strategy provides you with more time to assess fertility needs based on early-season crop and soil conditions.
Consider fall nitrogen applications with a stabilizer
If you can make a fall nitrogen application, consider the effects of soil texture, soil moisture levels and soil temperature to avoid leaching and denitrification issues. Fall nitrogen applications should not be made until your soil cools to 50 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, when soil bacteria begin to go dormant. Fall-applied nitrogen must be used with a stabilizer to prevent it from converting into a mobile nitrate form that can move off-target and run off into nearby waterways. If manure is part of your nitrogen strategy, consider also using a stabilizer.
Ease spring workloads with simple steps
If your fall soil samples identify phosphorus (P) or potassium (K) deficiencies, you can apply these nutrients any time after harvest. To ease spring workloads, broadcast applications may be made in the fall and incorporated into the soil. If a spring application works better, P and K can also be applied prior to planting.
Another important issue to assess in the fall is soil compaction. Before doing any fall tillage, check compaction depth to help you determine the proper tillage tool to use. Accurate tillage depth and the tillage speed will loosen soil and prepare it for next season.
Taking field notes on what you observe in late August and early September can provide valuable information as you move into harvest, as well as confirm or reprioritize agronomic goals for next year.
Notes I take this time of year generally answer these questions:
What diseases are the most prevalent?
Which areas of the field exhibit poor growth or yield potential?
Should I conduct a pre-harvest yield estimate?
Late-Season Scouting Suggestions
Evaluate areas of poor crop growth and potential yield. There can be multiple reasons why a crop didn’t grow well in portions of a field or yield estimates are low in some spots.
To help determine if soil fertility and health is the cause, try these steps:
Mark on a map or GPS reference the location, so you can take directed soil samples after harvest.
Pull paired samples. Take one composite soil sample in the poor growth area and then take another composite sample in an area of good growth nearby in the same field. (Soil sample bags are available from many sources and easily available through your local university or co-op.)
Use yield maps. These are another great data layer to compare and contrast what you observed during scouting in late August.
Think About Pest Management While Scouting
Observe the severity and distribution of diseases, insects, and weeds in a field to help make future adjustments to pest management plans.
For example, Goss’s Wilt and bacterial leaf streak are two bacterial diseases found this year in cornfields with no previous history. Tar spot is also a new disease that carries over in residue the following year. Hybrid selection for improved tolerance or resistance to these bacterial diseases maybe something to talk about with your seed dealer this fall.
Some hail and wind-damaged fields now have a late-season weed flush in portion that might warrant a more aggressive herbicide program next year.
Scouting Now Can Help Predict Yield Potential
The most compelling reason to scout fields in late summer is to estimate yield potential. There are differing techniques on estimating corn yield in terms of how to sample and the number of ears to pull. I suggest using information from satellite or drone images to direct sampling across the variability that exists in all fields.
Another word of caution is with the seed size factor used to calculate kernels/bushel with the extremely dry grain fill period we have experienced in parts of Latham Country. For dry areas, that number may need to be much larger than normal.
Scouting late in the growing season is almost always hot, itchy, sweaty, wet and uncomfortable! However, the insights gained with field observations — when paired with knowledge of the growing season — can help tweak management decisions going forward. This will ultimately lead to more productive growing seasons in the future.
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As we roll into late summer, it’s important to continue to scout soybean fields for signs of disease, insect pests and weed escapes. The notes you take today can have a significant impact on this year’s crop and also help you make more informed decisions in future years. Soybean aphid scouting should be well underway at this point. Aphid pressure has been relatively low throughout most of Latham Country to this point, but it’s important to remain diligent in checking your fields. The generally accepted economic threshold for this pest is an average of 250 aphids per plant with more than 80 percent of plants infested and an increasing aphid population. You’ll need multiple scouting repetitions to determine what is happening with aphid populations in your field.
Two-spotted spider mites are another insect pest in soybeans that have the ability to rapidly increase in population under the hot and dry conditions some of our geography has faced. If mites are positively identified and causing plant damage — and hot, dry conditions are expected to persist — control measures should be considered. Field border treatments may be an option as infestations of spider mites are often confined to field edges.
Late summer is also when several soybean diseases show up, including Sudden Death Syndrome, Frogeye Leaf Spot, White Mold and others. South Dakota State University has a detailed article on late-season soybean diseases.
Knowing which diseases are present in your fields can help determine which variety to plant next year. Planting varieties with disease resistance can be the most effective and the most economical method of disease control. Latham® soybeans have great resistance to the major diseases that occur in our trade territory including: Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN), Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), Brown Stem Rot (BSR), Iron Deficiency Chlorosis (IDC), White Mold and Phytophthora.
Soybean pests and diseases can be very serious issues. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at 402-620-5790 or check in with your dealer.
By now you should be scouting your fields weekly for signs of disease. Other factors to consider when deciding whether to spray a fungicide include:
Anticipated environmental conditions. Environment plays a significant role in disease development. Hot, humid weather favors gray leaf spot. Wet, warm (64 to 81°F) conditions favor infection and spore production by the fungus that causes northern leaf blight. Dry weather halts the development of most fungal diseases.
Planting date. Infection at earlier growth stages will have a greater impact on yield. We usually see gray leaf spot starting on the lower leaves around the end of July and beginning of August. This year corn has been planted at essentially three planting dates. It is possible that the later planted corn (mid-May) will be at a greater risk for yield loss from foliar disease.
Corn-following-corn fields. Many foliar disease pathogens survive winters in crop residue. Infested residue on the soil surface significantly increases the risk and development of tar spot, gray leaf spot, northern leaf blight and eyespot.
Fungicide activity. Most fungicides are effective against disease for 14 to 21 days. Corn takes approximately 60 days from silking to physiological maturity, depending on the hybrid. Therefore, spraying a fungicide too early could negate any beneficial effect against disease development that occurs during grain fill.
Plant health. In the absence of disease, fungicides might only increase yields by five to six bushels per acre. This barely covers the cost of the fungicide plus application.
Stalk rots. Foliar fungicides will have no direct effect on stalk rots. The fungi that cause stalk rots systemically infect the corn plant, and available fungicides are not systemic enough to be effective against stalk rot pathogens. However, foliar disease severity is highly correlated with stalk rot prevalence. Leaf spot diseases reduce the area of photosynthetic tissue and increase susceptibility to stalk rot. Therefore, fungicide applications may indirectly reduce stalk rots by managing foliar disease and reducing plant stress.
Tar Spot. Currently, there are multiple fungicides from multiple companies that work to help control tar spot in corn. However, fungicide efficacy is often largely controlled by fungicide timing. In most instances, a fungicide application between the VT growth stage (tassel emergence) and R2 growth stage (blister) is most effective for controlling tar spot. Furthermore, a mixed-mode-of-action fungicide product is often more effective than a single-mode-of-action product. In severe tar spot situations, two fungicide applications may be required. However, this is often dictated by history of severe disease and conducive environmental conditions in a field.
All these points reiterate the importance of tracking disease and continually scouting your field.
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Do Fungicide Applications Increase Yields? Scout Your Field Before You Decide.
There is considerable interest across the Corn Belt in applying fungicides to field corn. When corn prices were down below $2 a bushel in the past, it was easy to say “no” to fungicide. This growing season, the high price of corn and rising disease risk due to increased corn-after-corn acreage has many farmers considering fungicide applications to increase yields.
Before applying a fungicide to corn this season, it would be smart to know the resistance to foliar disease of the hybrid being grown. The most common foliar diseases are tar spot, common rust, gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight. Back in the mid-1990s, research demonstrated a single application of fungicide could be profitable; however, profitability was strongly influenced by gray leaf spot susceptibility. In other words, the chance of increased yield and making a profit was only likely for highly-susceptible hybrids. On intermediate and moderately-resistant hybrids, any yield benefit would not cover the costs of the fungicide application.
Many foliar diseases start on the bottom leaves of a corn plant and gradually move up the plant, depending on environmental conditions. Scouting the field can give us a very good indication of disease pressure in that field.
The best time to start scouting is now through tasseling. Look for disease development on the lower leaves of the corn plant up to, and including, the ear leaf. Remember: The ear leaf and leaves above that contribute 75 to 90 percent of the carbohydrates to grain fill. These are the leaves needed for protection. If disease is not present on the leaves below the ear leaf, a fungicide application may not be warranted. Continue scouting on a weekly basis.
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At a time when the world’s population is increasing, cropland is decreasing and climates are changing, it’s more important than ever to equip farmers with new technology and tools to take the guesswork out of planting decisions. One such tool is multiplex gene editing, which quickly adjusts a plant’s DNA to improve its resiliency and to use fewer natural resources like land and water.
