Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Get an “Early Look” at New Products

We have an exciting product lineup in store for 2022!

In September 2020, Bayer CropScience announced the approval of XtendFlex® soybeans for the 2021 growing season. Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds was prepared and launched seven new soybeans in this exciting new technology. We believe this new trait gives farmers an extra tool for battling the ever-increasing problem of herbicide-resistant weeds.

For the 2022 season, we are introducing these six new XtendFlex products:

L 0254 XF – This 0.2 soybean carries the C-gene for Phytophthora, full resistance to Brown Stem Rot and excellent tolerance to Iron Chlorosis. Avoid SCN-infested fields.
L 0984 XF – Featuring the Rps3-a gene for Phytophthora, this new 0.9 product also has strong tolerance to SCN, Brown Stem Rot, White Mold and Iron Chlorosis.
L 1383 XF – This new Ironclad has L 0982 R2 as a parent! It has the Rps-3a gene, full resistance to Brown Stem Rot and good scores for White Mold, IDC, SCN and Stress.
L 1784 XF – L 1858 R2 is a parent of this new 1.7 soybean! It features strong SCN, full resistance to Brown Stem Rot with very good scores for Iron Chlorosis and Stress.
L 2786 XF – This new line has the Rps1-c gene for Phytophthora, full resistance to Brown Stem Rot and strong tolerance to SCN, White Mold, Iron Chlorosis and Stress.
L 3086 XF – Replacing L 3058 XF, this SCN bean features the Rps1-c gene, full resistance to BSR and great tolerance to White Mold & Stress. It’s a fantastic Ironclad for no-till acres.

On the Enlist E3® side, we are adding four new soybeans:

L 1219 E3 – This 1.2 bean carries the Rps1-c gene for Phytophthora and strong tolerance to SCN, SDS, Stress and Iron Chlorosis. It also has the Excluder gene for high-salt soils.
L 1558 E3 – Here’s a 1.5 Ironclad that features the Rps3-a gene for Phytophthora, full resistance to BSR and great scores for SCN, Sudden Death, Iron Chlorosis and Stress.
L 2458 E3 – This new E3 line has the Rps1-k gene, full resistance to BSR and strong scores for SCN, Sudden Death, Frogeye, Charcoal Rot, Stress and Iron Chlorosis.
L 3479 E3 – Highlights of this new 3.4 bean K-gene for Phytophthora include complete BSR resistance, great SCN tolerance and strong scores for Sudden Death, IDC and Stress.

Our Product Development Teams have really done their homework for next year! Be sure to check out next month’s blog when we will highlight new corn products for 2022.

The legacy that we build our product decisions on is based on a foundation of quality and performance. We believe this foundation benefits Latham® dealers and their customers because we provide seed that is bred specifically for their geographies. Rest assured WHY we do what we do will never waiver!

Mark Grundmeier, Product Manager

July 14, 2021

Crop, Season, Soybeans, Summer, Tech Tuesday

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

Walk Fields for a Better Bottomline

The 55 mile-per-hour drive-by is one of the most common ways farmers check how crops are doing, but there are some things you just can’t see from the pickup. It really can pay to walk through fields.

Call your Latham® Dealer and ask him or her to walk through your Latham products. That way you can both monitor how the products are doing. You can note whether you need to adjust which products are planted on each field next year.

Crop Health and Uniformity

Corn: Uniform stand and growth stage are more important than seeing dark green seedlings. There is a direct relationship between the amount of productive leaf area and yield. How healthy are the plants in general? How many leaves does a plant have compared to its neighboring plants? Leaves are the factory that produces the ear, so you want leaves to stay green and unimpeded by insects or diseases, which decrease the leaves production. Take stand counts and compare those counts to the counts you get when you walk fields in August for yield estimates.

Soybeans: Soybean yield is all about the August rains and potential pods. What is there to see now? The row should be closed by R1 (beginning flower) or as close to it as possible. The second most important thing to evaluate in June is how many nodes it has before R1. Our soybeans are all indeterminate, which means they keep putting on more nodes after R1. Your goal is for soybeans to produce as many nodes as possible, so you get as many pods as possible. Early planted soybeans should show more nodes than fields planted later.

Early Season Stressors

Corn: Be sure to bring a shovel. Dig some plants up and evaluate whether the nodal root system is developing well, or whether it has hit any compaction or shows signs of insect feeding. By this time, Corn Rootworm larvae are getting started. Although you won’t see the full extent of their damage, which is closer to pollination, this is still a great time to compare different corn traits and potentially in-furrow insecticide treatment. If your roots aren’t healthy, the plant won’t yield to its full potential regardless how green it looks on top. Note foliar diseases like Anthracnose or insect damage because you will want to follow up on those areas closer to pollination.

Soybeans: The shovel should go into the soybean field, too. Dig some plants and evaluate what the roots look like. Brush off the soil, and use your knife to split some of the nodules. You should see some that are red (producing nitrogen) and some that are green (getting ready to produce nitrogen). The lateral roots off the main taproot should reach across 30-inch rows by now. Although they are very small, Soybean Cyst Nematodes should be a focus at this point in the season. They are often confused with nutrient deficiencies, so take a deeper look. Wash some roots or send some samples to your land grant university because SCN can rob 20% of your yield without you even knowing it. Planting the right genetics protects yield.

Remember: Green above ground and white below ground or inside the stem means the plant is healthy. Use the Data Forward App or another tool to record specific areas of a field, so you can come back to those spots later in the season and again the following year. Noting trends from season to season will guide you into better management. Field-by-field planning leads to higher profits.

Team Latham

June 16, 2021

#AskTheAgronomist, Agronomics, Corn, Crop, Soybeans, Tech Tuesday

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Call in Your A-Team

The most successful farmers are those who spend substantial time checking for disease, insects, stand uniformity and plant health. When things don’t look good, it’s time to call in your A-Team!

The Oxford online dictionary defines A-Team as “a group of elite soldiers or top advisors or workers in an organization.” Your A-Team needs to be a group of expert advisors, who can help you diagnose problems and make recommendations to solve those issues. This group might include your Latham® Dealer or RSM, an agronomist from your chemical retailer or local co-op, a county or state Extension expert, or a private consultant that you’ve hired for this specific purpose. Do not rely only on “coffee shop talk” or advice from neighbors or friends.

With your A-Team in mind, below are five things to watch for as we approach soybean pollination:

1. Overall population and stand. I believe that the period between planting and first bloom is the most critical time for soybean growers. Across most of Latham Country, Spring 2021 was dry enough to plant early yet too cool to stimulate consistent growth and vigor. Stands were uneven. Seedlings had a sick, yellow appearance, which can lead to the onset of diseases and pests.

2. Yellow soybeans. Soybeans can turn yellow (or chlorotic) for many reasons, including Iron Deficiency Chlorosis (IDC), Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN), high soluble salts, chemical burns, insects and diseases. Your A-Team can help determine what has caused this.

3. Soybean Aphid. I venture to say the Soybean Aphid is still the #1 insect pest across Latham Country. This insect overwinters in our region as eggs laid on the buckhorn species of trees and shrubs. Winged adults will move to soybeans in early to mid-June. Throughout the summer, most soybean aphids are females that reproduce asexually and rapidly. They can infest a whole field in a matter of days.

4. Soybean Gall Midge. This new insect species is causing damage in areas of southeast South Dakota, southwest Minnesota, eastern Nebraska, western Iowa and more recently in Northwest Missouri. Researchers expect to see adults in early to mid-June, however, information and management for this pest are still in the discovery stage.

5. Hail. Farmers don’t need to look for hail, but it too often finds them! Knowing what to look for and how to react is key when deciding what to do after a hailstorm. Soybean plants that are cut off below the cotyledon node have no chance of surviving. Plants that are severely bruised and easily fold over at the impact site have a very poor chance of surviving. However, plants that are only missing one cotyledon or missing both with the growing point still intact have a very good chance of survival. My best advice is to abstain from evaluating fields that received hail as soon as it is dry enough to do so. Instead, give the plants at least a week to see if new growth will occur. That way you can see what you have for a viable population.

Mark Grundmeier, Product Manager

June 16, 2021

#AskTheAgronomist, Agronomics, Crop, Disease, Emergence, Insects, Season, Soybeans, Summer, Tech Tuesday

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

#AskTheAgronomist: Evaluating Frost Damage in Corn and Soybeans

Parts of the upper Midwest experienced below-freezing temperatures during the last few days of May. In this week’s #AskTheAgronomist, Latham Precision Agronomist Phil Long covers how to evaluate frost damage in corn and soybeans.

June 2, 2021

#AskTheAgronomist, Agronomics, Corn, Crop, Frost, Season, Soybeans, Spring, Summer, Weather

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

#AskTheAgronomist: Early Season Soybean Scouting and Stand Counts

Latham Precision Agronomy Advisor Phil Long discusses some tips and tricks to evaluate soybean growth and progress while scouting.

May 26, 2021

#AskTheAgronomist, Agronomics, Crop, Emergence, Season, Soybeans, Spring, Summer

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Check Those Soybean Stands!

Soybean stands can suffer from a wide variety of problems that will reduce population. Hail, diseases, insects, cold soil temperatures at planting, compaction, and planter failures can all affect the stand individually and in combination.

Stand reductions almost never occur evenly across the field. Here are some basic steps to help evaluate soybean stands and decide if re-planting is necessary.

Take 10 stand counts in the area with the worst damage and 10 counts in the part of the field that was not affected or affected just slightly. At each point, measure off 10 feet of row and count the number of live, viable plants. Then calculate the average of your 10 points and compare them to the table below to see how many plants per acre you have remaining.

A stand of 100,000 evenly distributed plants generally gives you optimum yield. As the growing season progresses, however, it is much more difficult to establish a good stand. A stand of 75,000 on May 15 is inadequate, but you might be better off leaving a stand of 75,000 plants if it is July 1.

Planting soybeans on or before June 1 averages 95% of expected yield. In a five-year Latham Seeds’ study, there was no significant yield difference in soybeans planted before May 15. Planting dates included late April, early May and mid-May. We did not see yields drop to 85% or lower until after June 15.

Our results are similar to studies done by university researchers. If you farm below the line from Watertown, SD through the Twin Cities and over toward Green Bay, Wisc., I recommend staying with soybeans in your normal maturity until mid-June. After June 15, consider the precipitation expected in late June and early July because the biggest threat to establishing a late soybean crop is lack of rainfall. If you are north of that line, you may need to switch to an earlier variety a week or so sooner.

May 12, 2021

#AskTheAgronomist, Agronomics, Crop, Soybeans, Spring, Summer