Producers Blog

Charlie Haas (DSM, Region 6 – Southern)

It’s been another challenging year in central Kansas. As I look back at the summer of 2011 and 2012, I can only hope for change and to get back some of the hair I lost. 2011 was hot and 2012 was not much different. The planting season for 2012 was great and conditions were not too bad going into pollination. When the middle of June came around we were two weeks ahead of normal and the tassels were just starting to come out. Then we had Monday the 18th of June, a day that I will never forget. The temperature hit 110 and kept going up. When it was all said and done we topped out at 115. That would have been bad enough, but the 35 mile per hour wind made it worse. I would have never believed it, but you could almost watch the corn flash. Tuesday and Wednesday were not much better and when we finished the week I knew we had lost a lot of bushels.

The summer continued to be hot and dry but the heat did break in August and allowed us to have a nice grain fill. The dry land corn was toast, but when we finished harvest we did have some good corn. Planting date was critical and field location and well capacity made all of the difference. Our yields for the most part were surprisingly good but very variable. Corn yields on irrigation went from 0 to 250 with a lot of 200 bushel on the good ground. In the end we were blessed and will live to plant another day. Every day is one day closer to the end of the drought.

Despite the tough times this summer in Kansas and throughout the United States, Producers Hybrids products thrived and I look forward to working with you in 2013!