Producers Blog

Aaron Ahrenholz
(Sales Agronomist, Region 2 – Minnesota)

2014 started off cool and wet in Minnesota, delaying planting for the most part well into May. A few areas were able to plant in late April, but cool, soaking rains right after planting led to less than ideal stands. This is called Imbibitional Chilling and happens when the first moisture the corn seed absorbs is abnormally cold, thus disrupting cell structure. Rains within 24-48 hours after planting greatly reduced stands in some areas, while corn planted three or more days before the rain fared much better. Although seed genetics have come a long way over the past 10 years, it goes to show that trying to plant too early can still have an adverse effect on corn.

June continued our wet and cooler trend, with many areas of the state seeing record amounts of rain for the month. This led to drowned out areas in many fields and replanting of these pockets until around the 4^th of July. Many growers looked to side dressing their corn when it finally dried out as all the June rains made for N deficiencies showing up in many areas of the state. July and August turned drier, and a phenomenal September and October finished our crop nicely. Many anticipated having to dry very wet corn, but the weather cooperated and drying of corn was for the most part very manageable.

As you might expect, yields this year were extremely variable. Some parts of the state that caught rains in August saw 60-70 bushels/acre field averages for soybeans, while others who did not see any rain saw yields in the mid-20s to mid-30s. The same was true for corn. I have talked to growers who had one of their best years in recent memory and others who want to erase this past year from their memory. But for the most part, I think most growers saw yields that were better than expected considering the difficult growing season that we faced in Minnesota.

The same can be said for plots this year; we saw some extreme variability in these also. With the abnormally cool and wet season we had, I would hesitate to make my decisions for next year based solely on how products performed in plots in 2014. That’s where the extensive Research and NET testing of Producers Hybrids products comes into play. Most products that are in a Producers Hybrids bag have been tested for 2-3 years before they are available on your farm, so the value of this data is priceless when we have an abnormal growing season like 2014. Talk to your Producers Hybrids District Sales Manager or dealer and they will be able to show you how these products have performed over multiple years.

I want to take a moment and thank all who helped put in a Producers Hybrids plot this past year. Mother Nature did not make this easy for us, and your time and effort in planting and harvesting these plots is greatly appreciated. I hope you all have a great Holiday season.