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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
#FromtheField – Week of May 29, 2023
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Three Keys to High-Yielding Soybeans
Our focus for Latham Premier Agronomy Center in Alexander, Iowa, is to showcase a broad lineup of independent options and to demonstrate how genetics interact with the environment and management styles (G X E X M).
In the Premier Agronomy Center this year, we tested 26 Latham® soybean varieties using 28 different management practices. My top take-home messages for our 2022 soybean plots are:
- August rains make soybeans. We received 11.8 inches of rain this season but 4.1 inches of it fell in August. Although we received below-normal moisture, the rain came at the right time. Our plots averaged 75 bushels per acre (bu/A) on about 12 total inches of rain!
- Don’t stress soybeans at early bloom. Weed control in soybeans is extremely important. I made a second pass of Liberty® in season, however, it reduced yields by 10 percent. Our showcase plots did not get the extra dose of herbicide and averaged 86 bu/A; the plots that received a second pass yielded an average of 78 bu/A.
- “Early” planting date is key to high yield. While earlier is better, “early” does not mean April 10 because we don’t want to risk stand loss to freezing temps. This year our first soybean plots were planted later than expected due to conditions. The plots planted May 13 averaged 5.5 bu/A better than the plots planted May 20. Seven days can make a difference in the number of nodes and pods retained, plus the canopy closes sooner.
The key to higher yields is how all three components – genetics by environment by management – interact. Fertility tops my list, so I always make sure potassium is sufficient. Potassium is what gets soybeans (and corn) through stressful times and helps them better manage water loss on hot days.
Latham® soybeans have outstanding yield potential. But like all living and breathing organisms, our soybeans struggle to perform when they’re stressed at the wrong time. The key to top soybean yields is management: reduce as much stress as possible during the growing season because we can’t control the weather.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Latham’s Premier Agronomy Center Opens for Tours
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds’ Premier Agronomy Center at our company headquarters in North Iowa provides us with opportunities to collect data on real-world challenges. It also provides us with an opportunity to talk about the exciting new Latham® products, as well as management practices, that help you raise more bushels. This year we have 18 different plots (10 corn and 8 soybean) to demonstrate different techniques.
Interested in seeing Latham’s Premier Agronomy Center? Plan a visit! Latham Dealers are encouraged to make arrangements with their regional sales manager (RSM), so they can bring their customers throughout the growing season. We will be open for public tours on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 4 p.m.
Here’s what you can see inside Latham’s Premier Agronomy Center… As you drive west on 180th Street in Alexander, Iowa, you will see our Latham Showcase plots featuring our top corn and soybean products. Next to that are corn and soybean seed treatment demonstration plots. I also planted my hybrid stress research up front. Twenty different Latham hybrids were planted from 22,000 to 36,000 plants per acre, so we can pinpoint when each hybrid flexes and how we can better manage them in-season.
The second tier of plots contains high-yield plots (corn/beans) where we “throw the kitchen sink at it,” so to speak, to try to add some extra bushels. Our soybean Iron Deficiency Chlorosis (IDC) plot uses tactics like in-furrow chelated iron products with increasing population to overcome the challenges IDC can bring. We have a silage demonstration plot with a planting date demonstration. You’ll also see a sneak peak of Latham’s corn breeding program alongside some great observation plots featuring planting depth.
The third tier of plots are “long-term plots” that include cover crops, no-till and continuous corn. These practices come with many challenges, so we have several different products/treatments including in-furrow fertilizer, biologicals, in-furrow fungicide, and biological products for providing nitrogen to corn. We also have included herbicide demonstrations, showing how cover crops can increase water infiltration during pounding rains, as well as also reduce herbicide costs and improve weed control in soybeans.
All growing season long we’re providing opportunities to learn from our demonstrations in the Premier Agronomy Center. Follow @LathamSeeds on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. We share our weekly “Ask the Agronomist” videos, as well as season-specific information.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
#AsktheAgronomist – Dicamba Tips
Phil Long, precision agronomy advisor, dives into Dicamba and highlights ways it can be affective in your herbicide regime.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
#AsktheAgronomist – Dicamba Tips
Phil Long, precision agronomy advisor, dives into Dicamba and highlights ways it can be affective in your herbicide regime. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and stay up-to-date with agronomy news in the industry.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
#AsktheAgronomist- 2022 Soybean Considerations
What are the top three challenges facing soybeans this year? Precision Agronomy Advisor, Phil Long, addresses planting, weeds and Soybean Cyst Nematode issues in Latham Country. Check out our #AsktheAgronomist series to learn more about industry news and agronomy.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Changes to Soybean Research Program a Resounding Success!
Latham Soybean Research Plot I’m pleased to inform you that the changes we made to our soybean research program were a resounding success! The decision to hire other companies to plant and harvest our Latham Elite trials allowed our Product Team members to observe and take notes at a greater number of locations and across a wider geographic area. In previous years, our own crew could only plant and harvest 11 or 12 locations in Iowa and southern Minnesota. We would then hire another company to do the same at about five or six locations in northern Minnesota and North Dakota. This year we were able to plant and harvest 33 locations in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota!
Latham Seeds’ Product Team will evaluate the yield data and correlate notes taken to see which products are a good fit for Latham Country. During that same time, Latham’s Regional Sales Managers (RSMs) and Dealers will be surveyed to determine what products are needed based on input they receive from our customers. Then, and only then, will new products be added to our 2023 lineup.
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 again showcase the performance of these new products and to provide opportunities for our customers to gain confidence in their performance.
Mark Grundmeier, Product Manager It has been my great honor and pleasure working for the Latham family for more than 25 years – first, as an agronomist, then as Soybean Product Manager and, for a dozen or so years as overall Product Manager. When Bill and Don Latham hired me in 1996, I had high hopes this would eventually lead to this being my dream job. I was looking for an opportunity to work in Research and Product Development. It certainly was everything I had hoped it would be. I can honestly say that I’ve never regretted the decision – not even once!
Along the way, I’ve met farmers, dealers, sales personnel, fellow employees and colleagues from numerous areas. I am proud to call many of you my friends. I’d like to thank the Latham family for placing their trust in me. I especially want to thank John, Shannon and Chris for allowing me to “spread my wings,” so I could be more involved in all of the products we handle. As for the future, I know that I’m leaving the company in the best of hands.
This is the final article I will write for TECHtalk as I am retiring at the end of 2021. I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family, traveling and pursuing some hobbies that I’ve put on hold for a few years. I wish you all the best as you continue to work in this great business of agriculture. May God richly bless you always!
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
Prepare Now for a Fight Next Season
Mother Nature throws a few curveballs each season and 2021 is no exception. Our crops are suffering from drought, but weeds are thriving across Latham Country. Herbicides are not as effective when weeds are not “actively growing” as has been the case this season. Grass herbicide tank mixes were much less effective this year due to dry growing conditions and antagonism in the plant.Because weeds always find a way to succeed and survive, we need an integrated approach to manage them. Below are few things you can do this year to combat weeds next year:
- Document the worst fields. Latham’s FREE Data Forward® app scouting tool allows you to drop a pin in the field where you see weed escapes. Late summer is the best time to do this as you’re doing yield estimates and late-season field visits. As the crops mature, you can easily see those green weeds poking though. Then later this fall make sure you’re selecting the right herbicide- resistant traits in your soybeans to put up the best fight against them in 2022.
- Spray early and layer residuals. Don’t go away from applying residual herbicides just because Latham is offering Enlist® E3 and Xtend® traits. No matter which soybean traits you’re planting, residual herbicides should be part of the program. Layering herbicides in the early season and then in your post application will be most beneficial. In 2021, we sprayed taller weeds. Then drought prevented soybean rows from closing quickly enough, so we had late flushes of weeds after a rain. Prepare to spray weeds when they are small, regardless of soybean growth.
- Try cover crops. Cereal rye reduces the density of waterhemp early in the growing season, which in turn allows herbicides to be more effective on smaller weeds, according to a multi-state study funded by the United Soybean Board. If you have a field with strong waterhemp pressure in corn this year, cereal rye is an excellent tool to help prevent your fields from being overrun by waterhemp next year.
- Dig out the iron. I saw row cultivators appear this year in areas to help slow down the weeds and allow the soybeans to close the rows. Extra tillage is not advantageous for the soil structure and limiting runoff, but in a year when herbicides are less effective, sometimes we must drag the iron to the battlefield.
It’s all about an integrated approach. No matter how many options we have for herbicide traits, weeds will always foil our best efforts. It’s time to put on our fighting gloves and manage each field based on its weed control needs.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
5 Key Takeaways from XtendFlex® and Enlist E3® Systems
Based on a recent needs assessment poll conducted by Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds, the top two soybean trait technologies for 2022 planting will be Enlist E3® and XtendFlex® soybeans.Both technologies have triple-stacked traits, featuring tolerance to glyphosate (Roundup) and glufosinate (Liberty®) herbicides. Enlist E3 soybeans also are resistant to 2,4-D Choline herbicides (Enlist Duo® & Enlist One®). For XtendFlex® soybeans, the 3rd tolerance is to dicamba herbicides like XtendiMax®, Engenia® and Tavium®.
Do everything you can now to keep resistant weeds from gaining a foothold in your fields. Following are five key takeaways for effectively using weed control programs with both trait packages:
- Start with a clean field. One or two tillage passes may be necessary to take care of emerged weeds. For no-till operations, a good burndown herbicide program is needed.
- Always use a pre-emergent herbicide program whether before or after you plant. Consult your local ag chem retailer for herbicide recommendations for your area but try to use a program with multiple herbicides and sites of action.
- Use a strong (multiple site of action) post-emergent herbicide program.
For post-emergent applications in Enlist soybeans: I like what I’ve seen when Enlist One and Liberty are applied together. Pay attention to weed size, the stage of your crop, and label rates. If needed, you can use a second application of Enlist One if you wait at least 12 days and it’s before the full bloom stage (R2).
For post-emergent applications in XtendFlex soybeans: You CANNOT tank mix any dicamba-based product with Liberty! I like applying XtendiMax (plus applicable tank mix partner/s) either pre-emergence or early post-emergence and then having the flexibility to come back at or before R1 with Liberty. This maximizes the benefits from this new technology while keeping you in compliance with the EPA-approved herbicide labels. Applying XtendiMax early also decreases the chances of off-target dicamba movement to sensitive crops.
- As always, read and follow all label directions for herbicide use. Whoever applies these herbicides is directly responsible for knowing the labels, including all setback and buffer requirements.
- Knowing what is planted where is a matter of crop life and death. All forms of dicamba and 2,4-D belong to the auxin (Group 4) chemical family but react differently, depending on the herbicide trait package being used. Remember, this family primarily controls broadleaf weeds. Most grasses show little or no effect from the application of Group 4 herbicides. XtendFlex and Xtend soybeans are tolerant only to dicamba-based products and can be killed with an application of any 2,4-D product. Likewise, if you spray Enlist E3 soybeans with dicamba, they will die.
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Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds
#AskTheAgronomist: Soybean Cupping and Recovery
Each year, many farmers observe cupping in soybeans for a variety of reasons ranging from herbicide drift to environmental factors. Precision Agronomist Phil Long covers how to stage damage and evaluate recovery potential.
