Fall | | Latham Hi-Tech Seeds

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

From the Field Crop Reports: October 11

Northeast Iowa & Southeast Minnesota

Craig Haaland

Harvest has been at a stand still since last Thursday in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota due to rain falls totaling 4 to 5 inches.

This field of LH 5099 SS looks fantastic! Many farmers are pleasantly surprised with some of the bean yields so far.

With the fields too wet to work, it’s a good time to order seed for 2018. Take advantage of Latham’s early order and early pay through Oct. 15. Talk to your local dealer or the RSM for more details!

Northwest Iowa

Darin Chapman

Climate FieldView gives us a good look at our past and future. The weather doesn’t look promising for harvest! By this time last year, most farmer’s were finishing soybean harvest.

Southern Wisconsin

Greg Mair

This plot harvested in Cambridge, WI., averaged 65.9 bu/A even though it was planted June 1. Stay safe and happy harvesting!

Northern Minnesota

Ken Highness

What a way to start off the week! This picture was taken this Monday morning in Norman County, Minnesota. A few more drying days are needed before harvest will resume.

Central Iowa

Bryan Rohe

Jackson Seed Sales in Oskaloosa, Iowa, took out a Latham corn and soybean SuperStrip plot on October 9. Latham’s 6175 won the plot at 245 bu/A and Latham’s 3184 Roundup Ready Xtend soybeans won at 71 bushel.

Oskaloosa was extremely dry most of the growing season, however, the Latham corn and soybean performed well under stress.

Eastern Iowa

Jerry Broders

Soybean harvest is continuing quite nicely!

Southeast North Dakota

Gary Geske

Another huge pile of feed! Latham® dealer Kyle Geske took these pictures of a customer chopping a Latham experimental conventional silage hybrid. More than 25 tons per acre makes for a big pile and trucks lined up to dump!

Eastern North Dakota

Brian McNamee

Soybean harvest rolling right along in North Dakota. I would guess a bit over 60% of total soybean acres are off across the state. Harvest conditions have been excellent once we got rolling. Many customers are even finished and looking at moving to corn. A few in fact are finding fields to cut and dryer than expected.

Riding with a customer near Berlin, ND, as he makes his last pass of soybeans for the year.

Latham 3397 VT2 PRO in the Rugby, ND, area looks like we might have another year with above-average kernel weights/density. If true to form, yields may be exciting to see!

Southern Minnesota

Brandon Wendlandt

Harvest is still stalled here in southern Minnesota, but many farmers hope to get back in fields tomorrow.

If you’re unable to get into the fields, now is a great time to sit down with your seed dealer and plan for next year. Use Latham’s trademark FieldxField crop planning tool to maximize your profits. Contact your representative today for the best products and pricing!

Northeast South Dakota

James Keltgen

Night time lows dipped to 25 degrees early Tuesday morning, bringing a killing frost to Northeast South Dakota.

Latham’s first soybean SuperStrip in NE SD was taken out Tuesday.

The weather has finally turned around here! Fields are drying out, and some farmers are back in motion with harvest. Soybean yields are running in the 50s and 60s around Watertown.

A hard freeze Monday night into Tuesday morning will make some soybeans easier to combine.Initial reports on corn indicate high test weights, pushing 60 pounds, where moisture was adequate!

West North Central Iowa

Bart Peterson

5095 VT2 PRO, which was planted April 11 by Rolfe in West Central Iowa, is running 16.5% moisture with 60.5 test weight. Yields across the field have been good with a high of 272 bu/A and a low of 210 bu/A.

West Central Iowa

Larry Krapfl

We’ve had 10 days of wet weather, including freezing rain, so no combines are moving. Harvest is at a stand still.

Southeast South Dakota

Ramie Coughlin

Harvest kicked into full gear during the weekend in some areas. Along the I-29 corridor, however, farmers report soybeans are still at 15 to 16% moisture with even wetter ground. Farmers in those areas are hoping to get in by this weekend.

Monday night we had a good killing frost across the majority of southeast South Dakota. We should be able to reap the benefits of the that in the coming days.

Yield reports are slow to come in for my territory as much of it is too wet yet. Be sure to follow Latham Seeds on Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where yield results are being constantly shared. You can also view plot results in your area at www.lathamseeds.com. Results are being entered daily!

North Central Iowa & South Central Minnesota

Cory Greiman

Here is live feed from a yield monitor in a field near Garner, IA. This field of LH 5215 harvested on October 10.

October 11, 2017

#FromTheField Crop Reports, Fall, Season
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

From the Field Crop Report: Oct 4

Northeast Iowa & Southeast Minnesota

Craig Haaland

Soybean yields are all over the board, depending on when and where the rain fell during the growing season. This field of Latham® L 2186 Liberty went 60 bushels per acre and averaged 12.5% moisture in Grundy County.

Moisture was getting really low, running at 10% or lower. Rain across northern Iowa and southern Minnesota this week should even these soybean fields out. Hopefully, we’ll catch a break in the weather so everyone can get rolling again.

Eastern Iowa

Jerry Broders

Soybean harvest is going at a whirlwind pace in Eastern Iowa. Soybean yields have been exceeding expectations given the growing season this year. Be sure to check out our plot results. We’ll also update F.I.R.S.T. Trials results on our website www.lathamseeds.com.

North Central Iowa & South Central Minnesota

Cory Greiman

Final tally on a field of Latham 1787 LL beans at Zach Greiman’s farm in Garner was surprising! Cattle were killed in the July 10^th hail storm. Crops were devastated, but this field went 67 bushels per acre.

West North Central Iowa

Bart Peterson

We harvested a Latham® SuperStrip soybean plot on Friday, Sept, 29, at the Ricklefs’ farm near Rolfe, Iowa.

Central Iowa

Bryan Rohe

Corn yields are way better than farmers were forecasting before harvest, and I’m hearing yield reports of 175 to 210 bushels per acres. I’m seeing some ear rot, but nothing too concerning at this point.

Soybean yields are also better than expected. On sandy soils with limited rain fall, however, plants are shorter and not yielding as well.

Northwest Iowa

Darin Chapman

Only a few soybeans have been taken out in Northwest Iowa, but the yield are better than expected. Latham L 1787 Liberty did 70 bushels/acre in Hartley, and L 1328 L went 60 bu/A near Estherville.

Western Iowa & Eastern Nebraska

Larry Krapfl

Harvest 2017 is a waiting game.

I left home early on the morning of October 4 and traveled to Norfolk, Nebraska. The amount of crops is the field is amazing!

Honestly, I didn’t see a field where the crop had been taken out. I talked with one farmer who hasn’t yet turned a wheel, and he has 7,000 acres to harvest. One dealer received 1.7 inches of rain over the weekend, so his combine is parked. He doesn’t think any fields within 20 miles of his farm have been combined. Another dealer received 2.3 inches of rain over the weekend, and he has yet to start combining. He said this weekend’s forecast calls for another 2 inches of rain.

We’re hoping for a drier week ahead!

Southern Wisconsin

Greg Mair

Sunrise on this field of Latham 2228 R2 soybeans was quite the sight! As soybeans are harvested across Wisconsin, farmers are relatively surprised. Yields have been better than expected afte a cool, wet growing season. On average, yields are in the low 60’s at 10.5% moisture.

Eastern North Dakota

Brian McNamee

Harvest has been slowed across North Dakota with consistent but sporadic rainfalls. Early harvest reports are good. Farmers are reporting average to above-average yields, despite experiencing one of the most challenging years in recent history.

In this picture the grower Bryan Kenner of BK Seeds, Maddock ND is squaring up the test plot right before we took it off. It will continue to be an interesting fall. We have a lot of new products and technologies available in testing. It is definitely one of those revolutionary times in agriculture.

Southeast North Dakota

Gary Geske

We got a bird’s eye view of this field of LH 5062 GT/LFY silage corn east of Anselm, North Dakota. It’s running more than 32 tons per acre, and the customer is harvesting at a rate of 270 tons per hour.

Northeast South Dakota

James Keltgen

Harvest has been delayed due to heavy rainfall. From 7 to 10 inches has fallen in the last week! Dry areas in Central South Dakota received some rain, as well. Yield reports of 30 to 50 bushels have been coming in from that area.

Silage appraisals of LH 5062 LFY near Kranzburg have been running 190 to 220 bushels!

Southeast South Dakota

Ramie Coughlin

This has been a busy week in eastern South Dakota! Soybean harvest was gearing up last week but got shut down by rain over the weekend. Eastern SD has received anywhere from 4 to 13 inches in the last two weeks. Yield reports are coming in slowly, but the August rain did our soybeans some good. I want to highlight some 1858 R2s on sod in East Central South Dakota. No wonder this Latham® soybean brand scored the highest yield of any brand for two years running in the F.I.R.S.T. Trials!

Northern Minnesota

Ken Highness

Although Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds doesn’t sell sugar beets, I’d be remiss not to talk about it because so there is so much sugar beet production in my territory. This picture was taken at the Hampton receiving station on Oct. 3.

Sugar beet harvest is in full swing up and down the Red River Valley. Growers transports their sugar beets by truck to a receiving station where it is then transferred to one of the five factories for processing. Harvest starts in early September and continues until all sugar beets have been depleted, which occurs in May the following year.

Southern Minnesota

Brandon Wendlandt

Harvest has come to a halt for everyone in southern Minnesota any where between 2 and 5 inches of rain fell during the past few days. The small amount of soybean yields that have been reported are running in the upper 50s to lower 60s, which is better than expected. Sure hope it dries up soon, so we can get back in the fields!

October 4, 2017

#FromTheField Crop Reports, Fall, Season
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

From the Field Crop Reports: Sept. 27

Northeast Iowa & Southeast Minnesota

Craig Haaland

This field of Latham® L 2228 R2 in Chickasaw County is about ready to be combined.

A few started rolling last weekend. In Grundy County, a field of our popular L 2084 R2’s went 73 bushels per acre. Also, our L 2186 Liberty beans in Black Hawk County went 64.5 b/A across two fields.

Switching to corn, our first field of LH 5215 VT2 PRO harvest in Black Hawk County went 230 b/A with 23% moisture.

Rain and Monday and Tuesday this week will halt harvest for a day or two.

Eastern Iowa

Jerry Broders

Soybean fields are starting to empty in Eastern Iowa. Early maturity soybeans are being harvested. Yields are good and moisture levels of the soybeans are dropping. Rain Monday night and Tuesday morning delayed combining, but we should be back in the field Wednesday afternoon.

North Central Iowa & South Central Minnesota

Cory Greiman

Arial view of the colors of fall with the soybeans turning and corn drying down and hitting full maturity.

West North Central Iowa

Bart Peterson

Farmers in West Central Iowa started combining soybeans last Friday, Sept. 22. Latham dealer Troy Johnson and his crew are harvesting a field of L2258 Liberty soybeans.

Central Iowa

Bryan Rohe

Central Iowa is the midst of soybean harvest. Yields between 56 and 72 bushels per acres are being reported across different areas.

Northwest Iowa

Darin Chapman

Look at the cluster of pods on these Latham 2186 Liberty Link soybeans! This field was affected by Dicamba tank contamination early on, but it doesn’t look like it will stop these soybeans from yielding!

Western Iowa & Eastern Nebraska

Larry Krapfl

In fields this week I have seen ear rot in many fields in my area! This picture shows Diplodia which is a corn fungus.

Southern Wisconsin

Greg Mair

A heat wave during the past 10 days really helped move crops along. Soybeans harvest is just getting underway with moisture reports of 9 to 10 percent, which is drier than desired. Given all the moisture we’ve had this season, I didn’t think I would say this, but growers would welcome a nice shower or two.

This field of LH 5509 SS was in much need of some heat units to push it closer to maturity. This ear, pulled Monday, is roughly 50% milk. Luckily, there doesn’t appear to be a chance of frost until after October 14 in southern Wisconsin.

Southeast North Dakota

Gary Geske

In spite of extremely dry weather during the summer, this field of Latham L 1086 LL soybeans still yielded more than 45 bushels/acre near Enderlin, ND.

Northeast South Dakota

James Keltgen

A few farmers started combining soybeans last week before the rain fell. Early reports had yields running in the teens and 20s in areas affected by drought. Variability is being noticed as yields have been anywhere from 18 bushels/acre to the 50+ bu/A. Widespread rain fell of 3 to 7 inches fell last weekend in eastern South Dakota. Watertown received 5 inches during the weekend and 10″ total for the past week. Harvest will be delayed until fields dry in many areas.

Southeast South Dakota

Ramie Coughlin

Latham hybrids have great yield potential and will grow corn. This field of 4242 VT2 PRO was planted at a population of 34,000. This particular plant is on the sprayer track and has put on two great ears.

We are knocking at the door of soybean harvest. After 3- and 4-inch rains across eastern South Dakota last weekend, we are simply waiting for the ground to dry. Next week I expect to see combines out in full force.

Northern Minnesota

Ken Highness

Last Tuesday night Latham® Seed Dealer, M&R Seed Farm, took another hit from Mother Nature! The National Weather Service positively Identified the damage from an F1 tornado one mile north of Beltrami, Minnesota. The Skaug family feels very fortunate that it missed their farmstead by a half mile.

Southern Minnesota

Brandon Wendlandt

We’re waiting for soybeans to finish dropping leaves and for fields to dry. This field of Latham L 1858 R2 could be ready early next week after a few good drawing days. Farmers are eager to get rolling in southern Minnesota!

September 27, 2017

#FromTheField Crop Reports, Fall, Season
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Harvest is Prime Time for Spring Planning

Written By: Phil Long

You can practically feel the anticipation in the air as Upper Midwest farmer await fall harvest. While a few seed beans came into our plant last Friday, recent rainfall has brought harvest to a halt here in North Central Iowa. Believe me, I’m just as eager to roll as you are.

There isn’t much I enjoy more during this time of year than watching a beautiful sunset from the seat of a combine. I do some of my best thinking behind the wheel!

As the combine cuts the crop, you can be proactively “harvest scouting,” which will help you plan for next year’s crop needs. Make note of weed escapes. Weed pressure should be taken into consideration as your herbicide or weed management strategies may vary field by field.

You also can make a few other notes like: how the hybrid or variety you planted did on low and high spots; early senescence due to disease; lodging issues; low yield areas that seem out of place, compaction issues and/or any problems that show up in a pattern.

Use the Climate FieldView App on your phone to drop a pin every time you see something that should be taken into consideration for next year’s crop plan. You can even take a picture through the combine windshield and attach it to your note to remind you of what it looked like.

A picture helps provide extra motivation next season to change something. These notes can be extremely valuable when discussing seed options, choosing diseases packages and considering seed treatments. They also add additional value to your yield maps.

Yield data is by far the best tool for making seed selections. Selecting the best seed product for each field is the number one factor in starting the season with the highest yield potential. An on-farm hybrid/variety trial will provide you with invaluable data that you can put straight to use in your operation.

The information behind every operation on your farm is your best tool to fighting the risk involved in each decision that you make to prepare for the following crop. This fall you can harvest more than your physical corn and soybean crops. Remember, harvest is prime time for spring planning!

September 26, 2017

Fall, Tech Tuesday
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

2015, a Year of F.I.R.S.T.S. and Repeat Winners!

Like any business owner, I couldn’t help but reflect upon the past year and think about what there is to look forward to in the year ahead. 2015 was another great year in the F.I.R.S.T. Trials for Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds. During the past 2 years, we have secured 36 wins in soybeans and 29 wins in corn. Our corn program scored more Top 10 places than our soybean lineup with 291 vs. 289.

Latham’s performance earned “best of show” across trials in Minnesota and the Dakotas. For the second straight year, we achieved the highest overall yield of any brand in the F.I.R.S.T. Trials with Latham 1858 R2. Latham® soybeans had the most overall soybean wins of any brand! Our company had the MOST products – 8 different products – yield more than 70 bushels per acre in this year’s trials. Latham also had the most Top 10 Finishes of any brand in the F.I.R.S.T. Trials in South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota. Overall 11 different Latham soybean brands won a total of 18 F.I.R.S.T. Trials in 2015.

New products like Latham’s 0982 R2 to 1673 R2 came through as winners. Existing product 2645 R2 won trials as did 2084 R2, which continues its tradition as Latham’s top-selling soybean. 2014 F.I.R.S.T. Trials winner Latham 2228 R2 had one of the most outstanding performances in 2015, setting the all-time Latham Seeds’ record for highest field average by a production soybean field at 81.1 bushels across 135 acres!

On the corn side of our business, Latham® Hi‑Tech Hybrids 4454 VT2 PRO had another dominant year, winning the F.I.R.S.T. Red River Valley South Region plus three F.I.R.S.T. Trial locations. Latham 4242 VT2 PRO also did extremely well and won in the Red River Valley.

Latham 5509 SS probably had the most dominant year of any product in 2015. For the second consecutive year, it won F.I.R.S.T. Trials plus it won 9 out of 10 Group D SuperStrip plots, which our company uses to evaluate products on farms across our sales footprint. This hybrid can run a little wet, but it’s always a top yielder at 105 days.

Sister hybrids 5215 VT2 PRO and 5715 VT2 PRO also had outstanding years; 5715 was a winner in Southern South Dakota while 5215 had 20 Top 10 finishes in 2015. LH 5215 was a 7-time winner in 2014 and has proven itself as Latham’s top seller in 2015. On the later side of things, LH 6159 SS proved itself as an outstanding hybrid, winning the F.I.R.S.T. Trial at Washington, Iowa. This 111-day hybrid had outstanding internal data from Latham’s research and looks to be a star.

Regardless of the products you need, rest assured that Latham Seeds has a history of success in the maturities we serve. Our business depends upon your success! That’s why, at Latham Seeds, we appreciate the opportunity to work with Midwest farmers on a FieldXField^SM basis. Call your local Latham® representative or 1-877-GO-LATHAM (1.877.465.2842) to learn more about FIELD X FIELD YIELDS!

John Latham, President

January 7, 2016

Fall, General, Season
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Latham® Seeds Top 2015 F.I.R.S.T. Trials

Fall is my favorite time of the year for so many reason: football games, baseball playoffs and harvest. I feel as excited as a kid on Christmas day when I fire up my computer every morning and read emails with the latest yield and F.I.R.S.T. Trials results.

What could be a better way to start the day than hearing from our dealers and customers that Latham® brand seeds are topping their plots or breaking whole-field yield records? We feel very fortunate to get to work with so many great farmers across six Midwest states.

With many F.I.R.S.T. Trial results yet to come in, Latham brand soybeans already have won 18 F.I.R.S.T. Trials with 116 Top 10 finishes! This morning we received word that one of our soybeans topped the South Dakota Southeast Region Summary. Four Latham soybean products also placed in the Top 12 in that test!

Last year Latham® hybrids won 20 different F.I.R.S.T. Trials. Eight different Latham corn products won 2014 F.I.R.S.T. Trial locations from 90 to 110 days, which shows the breadth and depth of our lineup.

While 2015 corn harvest results are just beginning to come in, we’re off to a great start! For the second straight year, Latham 5715 VT2 PRO RIB is performing extremely well in F.I.R.S.T. Trials and in customers’ fields. This hybrid had an impressive win in Beresford, SD. It not only was 8 bushels better than the 2nd place hybrid, but LH 5715 VT2 PRO RIB performed 37.5 bushels higher than the plot average!

We’re frequently asked, “What is Latham’s secret to success?” First of all, it takes access to the best genetics in the industry. Our position as a family-owned, independent seed company gives us access to genetics from multiple sources. The second key to Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds’ success in yield trials is our research program, which helps sort out products that really work in our marketing area. The next advantage Latham Seeds has is quality. There’s a reason “quality” is still stamped on each bag of Latham brand soybeans… it’s because we take great pride in producing only the finest quality soybean seed.

Keep an eye on all the yield results on our company’s Facebook page and at www.lathamseeds.com. You’ll find the link you want online by clicking on the drop-down arrow under “corn” or “soybeans.”

John Latham, President

October 22, 2015

Fall, General, Season
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Latham Corn Tops More F.I.R.S.T. Trials

It has been an incredibly exciting harvest season for a product guy like me! I love looking for products that work well for farmers and the specific challenges they face on their Midwest farms.

This year the product team at Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds decided to put our lineup up against the competition in the F.I.R.S.T. Trials, an independent, third party testing service. We’ve always had a lot of confidence in our corn and soybean lineups. For years, we’ve tracked how we not only compete – but beat – national brands in our marketing footprint.

Just like someone entering a livestock show or a team entering a basketball tournament, one never really knows what the actual performance will be at that particular time and place. All you can do is prepare and try your best. That’s what we did when we entered the F.I.R.S.T. Trials, and the results have been nothing short of amazing!

Soybean trial results came first. Last Wednesday I wrote about how “Latham places first again and again.” I’ve never had so much fun checking my emails in the morning as I have this fall, watching test results show Latham® Hi‑Tech Soybeans at the top.

The final total was 18 location or region summary wins for Latham brand soybeans! Unbelievable. Our soybean lineup was hitting a grand slam homerun!

The more I thought about all of our soybean wins, however, the more anxiety I had over the corn results. I’ve known for years that our corn lineup can compete against anyone. After all, we do our own research against industry-leading products to help us choose our product lineup. Such research has given us confidence in our own lineup, yet there are still a great many farmers who are hesitant to give a “new” corn brand a try.

Latham® Hi‑Tech Hybrids are celebrating their tenth year, and we’ve been fortunate to grow our corn lineup for 10 straight year. Our customers have known for years that Latham has great corn, and now thanks to our performance in 2014 F.I.R.S.T. Trials, more Midwest farmers will know it!

This week we were fortunate to win our 19^th corn test – that’s one more test than our decorated soybean lineup! Eight different Latham corn products have won F.I.R.S.T. Trial locations all the way from 90 to 110 days.

Products like LH 4097 VT2 PRO and LH 5215 VT2 PRO have absolutely dominated their area of adaptation. Latham has had 140 Latham corn products place in the top 10 in FIRST Trial tests, which shows the strength and depth of our lineup. Plus, this broad maturity range will allow more customers to try and most importantly profit from Latham corn hybrids!

Again, I credit Latham’s team approach to product selection for this year’s performance. Unlike the national brands that choose products based on a wide area of adaptability, we focus on choosing the best products for local conditions. Latham’s strategy to choose products that perform in specific soil types and field conditions across our marketing area works. But don’t just take my word for it… Look over all the data at www.firstseedtests.com!

John Latham, President

November 12, 2014

Corn, Crop, Fall, General, Season
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Latham Places 1st Again & Again in F.I.R.S.T. Trials

I’ve always been very confident in the corn and soybean products that we offer at Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds. After all, when your name in literally on each bag of seed, you want to do all that you can to protect your reputation! That’s why we take a team approach to selecting products.

Our Product Team members either farm themselves or call on farmers in the areas where they live. This means they not only review data from breeders and their own research plots, but they watch these crops grow and develop. Our corn and soybean specialists walk fields and test plots, searching for the perfect products to perform in our customer’s field conditions. As a result, they have confidence in the products that go into our lineup.

Latham® brand products are selected for their yield potential, as well as for their ability to overcome specific regional challenges. For example: Latham’s IronClad^TM Soybeans receive this unique designation for their rating on Iron Chlorosis or White Mold. Our Gladiator Corn Hybrids are selected to do yield better in corn-on-corn situations. Even Latham’s alfalfa lineup was chosen to address specific needs like high-salt soils or leaf-hopper resistance.

To showcase our lineup, this year Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds made a much larger investment in the independent F.I.R.S.T. Trials. This third-party testing service is proving how well we compare to the competition… The results this fall have been amazing!

Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds, to date, has won 29 different F.I.R.S.T. Trial corn and soybean locations and region summaries this fall! We’ve won 18 different soybean tests, including 5 different region summaries in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Illinois.

Eleven different Latham soybean products have won F.I.R.S.T. Trial tests from Group 0 all the way to 2.7 maturity. Many of these locations contain as many as 84 different competitive products! In the state of South Dakota alone, Latham won 6 different F.I.R.S.T. Trial Tests with 6 different Latham® Hi‑Tech Soybean products. In the state of Minnesota, Latham L1858R2 is the top yielding soybean in any test in Minnesota, Wisconsin or the Dakotas with a yield of 82.9 bushel per acre!

Latham brand corn is performing extremely well, too. Tests remain to be harvested, but already Latham corn has won 11 different F.I.R.S.T. Trial locations across Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota. Latham LH 5215 VT2 PRO has won 5 different tests across Iowa and Minnesota PLUS it won the West Central region of Minnesota. In the north, Latham LH 4097 VT2 PRO and Latham LH 4455 VT3 PRO together have won 4 locations so far. In Central Iowa, Latham LH 5829 SS won the Winterset, Iowa, location at 247.9 bushels.

So what’s the secret to Latham’s stellar product performance? Unlike the national brands that choose products based on a wide area of adaptability, we focus on choosing the best products for local conditions. Latham’s strategy to choose products that perform in specific soil types and field conditions across our marketing area works. But don’t just take my word for it… Look over all the data at www.firstseedtests.com!

John Latham, President

November 5, 2014

Corn, Crop, Fall, General, Season, Soybeans
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

Harvest Wraps Up as October Closes

With cooperative during the last week, farmers across Latham Country made tracks and covered lots of ground. Soybean harvest is nearly 100% complete in all of our territories, with many expecting to have the majority of corn out by Sunday night.

A recent AgWeb article verifies what we’ve been hearing from our seed dealers and customers: yields have been “inconsistent” thus far. “Higher precipitation levels experienced this spring and summer has led to lighter soils, which are more apt to draining, yielding above average. Conversely, heavier soils, that are less apt to draining, have been reporting average to below average yields in those areas that experienced above average rainfall.”

Click on this link for an update on #harvest14 progress across our six-state marketing territory: http://bit.ly/1mXS9RY

Team Latham

October 29, 2014

Fall, General, Season
Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds

How to Interpret Yield Data
This fall Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds has done very well in the F.I.R.S.T. trials all over the Midwest, winning many locations and Regional Performance Summaries. With such great data, it’s no wonder that farmers want to call in and order the winners. If we’re doing our job, however, we may not let you!

Why wouldn’t we let farmers order what they want without asking any questions? The answer is simple: Just because a product placed first in a yield trial in one location, in one year, across one predominant soil type, doesn’t guarantee it will be the yield winner given another farm and a different management style.

When study yield results from independent yield trials, be sure to analyze the information. Here are some tips for interpreting yield data:
To help you select the right seed for your given situation, we’ll ask discovery questions first to determine needs like fighting weed resistance or corn rootworm. We’ll also visit with you about our hallmark Seed-2-Soil program for crop planning and/or nutrient management to help support your product selection.

Don’t get me wrong… Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds is thrilled with how well we’ve performed this season in third party, unbiased, independent yield trials! It is great that we can win yield trials but winning on the farm is what really counts. We want to combine our yield data – with your own farm data – to help ensure you get the best products for your acres.
October 23, 2014

Corn, Crop, Fall, General, Season, Soybeans