Producers Blog
South Dakota 2014 Year in Review
Jerry Mathis
(Sales Agronomist, Region 1 – South Dakota)
The 2014 growing season is being put in the books in South Dakota as harvest and fall tillage wind down. In some areas, harvest came to an abrupt halt with winter showing up earlier than desired in several cases.
After a cold winter in 2013-14 with frost being driven down to record depths, spring planting started later than normal. With the addition of rain showers, planting was extended into the first part of June. The first two weeks of June were also some of the coolest on record. Rainfall amounts totaled up to 14 inches of rain in a week or more in some areas as well. Most areas then fell into a dry period. Overall, most of South Dakota was 300-400+ growing degree units behind last year.
Even with these conditions, we recorded very good yields and, despite the cool year, we recorded great test weights. Many test plots had test weights ranging from 56 to 60 lbs.
Overall performance was good with a number of products standing out against the competition. On the full maturity side, 6424VT3PRIB, 6508STXRIB and 6968STXRIB did extremely well in plots in South Dakota. In the mid-maturity, 5693VT2RIB, 5898STXRIB, 5904VT3PRIB and 6108STXRIB were at the top of plots with great field performance as well. 5634VT3PRIB, 5514VT3PRIB and 5144VT3PRIB did well on the earlier side with 5218STXRIB, a new product, to look at for next year.
We had another strong performance year with our soybean lineup. This showed up from the early 0801NR2 soybeans to the 2702NR2 beans. You can find all of our results on the Producers Hybrids website by looking at the Yield Results Tool or looking at the Plot Map Tool for both corn and soybeans.
Thanks to all of our plot cooperators for helping us with plots. These make a big difference in the placing of hybrids to optimize yields. If you have questions about the placement of a product, please contact your District Sales Manager or myself to ensure we get the best product placement. Good luck this sales season and have a Happy Holiday season.
