Plan for Normal when Planting for 2013

Seed Consultants says plan for normal

The National Farm Machinery Show got off to a snowy start Wednesday morning, but it didn’t last long and hasn’t kept away the hundreds of thousands who flock to this show every year. Seed Consultants is promoting a new computer program to assist with hybrid selection and agronomist Mike Early is visiting with farmers and suggesting they plan for a normal growing season and then adjust as needed.

“The biggest thing we’ve noticed is guys still want yield but they’re wanting hybrids that will handle more stress than I think sometimes they’ve been looking for, more than just top end yield. And more of those type of hybrids are being developed that are going to handle a lot of stress, take the heat better. Yes they still have to have water but they’re going to make more efficient use out of what they do get.

Early’s advice for this spring planting dates is that growers also plan for normal.

“The real early planting in 2012 probably took a hit harder than the later planting. We did get a little later showers. They pollinated later so it didn’t catch a lot of the mid-season heat at pollination time. So I think if we want to plant as close to normal and some of these real early planting dates if we want to get into similar situations to what we had last spring we may want to back up just a little bit.”

The new program from Seed Consultants is called Acre Match and comes from My Farms based in Portland, IN.

“It will actually make hybrid recommendations according to soil type and fertility levels, and it will actually make 3 recommendations per field. Then you can sit down with your seed representative, select the best one for your operation, and also along with hybrid selection it will give you daily and cumulative rainfall per field.”

Early says the price is right and it is essentially free when you by 120 bags of seed.

Hear the full HAT interview:Mike Early Seed Consultants