Seed Wise
With locally adapted corn hybrids and soybean varieties, growers can select the right Syngenta seed for every field.
No two fields are the same. Disease pathogens, insect pressure and
moisture are just a few variables growers must consider when selecting
hybrids and varieties that will match each field’s unique needs.
To help make these decisions easier, faster and more accurate, Syngenta uses a proprietary process it calls the Y.E.S. Yield Engineering System™. This marker-assisted breeding process delivers elite genetics and higher-yielding hybrids and varieties specifically selected to meet the needs of local growing environments more quickly than traditional breeding methods.
The success stories resulting from the practice of precisely matching the right Syngenta seed to the right field are as varied as the people who tell them. Thrive brings you a few of the most compelling.
Adapting to Variable Conditions
Aaron Spencer, a Syngenta Seed Advisor™ and grower from Ottawa, Kansas, jokes that at Spencer LLC, Mother Nature is the biggest challenge. “She’s not always nice. It’s either hot and dry or we’re swimming and in boats.”
The farm he manages with his father, Kevin, and brother, Brad, has highly variable fields, consisting mostly of silt loams and silty clay loams with some rocky soil. The high clay content creates wet, poorly drained soil, and the moisture-holding capacity of the farm’s uplands is poor.
Over the years, the family struggled with heavy insect pressure and aflatoxin contamination. But since 2011, they have eliminated a lot of the worry by planting Golden Harvest® Corn with the Agrisure Viptera® trait stacks, Aaron Spencer says.
In 2014, their top-yielding cornfield, which surpassed their previous year’s record by about 50 bushels, was a split planter of Golden Harvest hybrids G15P07-3111 and G16K01-3111 brands.
“It was racehorse hybrids versus workhorse hybrids, and the results were phenomenal,” Aaron Spencer says. “The Golden Harvest hybrids have a lot of agronomic benefits with strong genetic packages. Syngenta shares knowledge and expertise with its customers, so we have a lot of information that we can adapt to all our acres and growing needs.”
The farm’s soils create challenges for its soybean acres as well. With a low water-infiltration rate, the likelihood of root problems and diseases is higher, making seed selection critical. But when a single field has up to five different soil types in different spots, how does a grower select the best variety?
“We focus on picking varieties with defensive packages that have good yield potential,” Brad Spencer says. “In fields with a low moisture-holding capacity, we try to minimize our drought risk by picking varieties with a longer maturity, from 4.8 to 5.0 relative maturity, to try to extend the pod fill into some late rain.”
For their more productive fields, he recommends one of the following varieties: NK® Soybeans S39-U2 brand, a widely adapted variety with above-average Phytophthora field tolerance; S40-N2 brand, a strong performer with high stress tolerance and excellent frogeye leaf spot resistance; and S42-W9 brand, a high-yielding variety with excellent Southern stem canker tolerance.
As Syngenta Seed Advisors, the Spencers aim to provide good service 24/7, and it shows. “I appreciate their level of expertise for my corn and soybeans,” says Randy Kitchen, a grower in Osawatomie, Kansas. “But the level of service they provide is really outstanding. Their willingness to help is unmatched, whether there is a bug outbreak or I need seed at 10 p.m. Plus the products they offer are outstanding.” Before becoming Syngenta Seed Advisors, the Spencers tried several seed brands. Since switching to Golden Harvest Corn and NK Soybeans, they’ve noticed higher yields and better-adapted hybrids and varieties, which allows them to set loftier goals. In 2015, they want to reach a new personal yield record of 300 bu/A for corn and 80 bu/A for soybeans—a feat that would surpass their current records by 57 bu/A and 4 bu/A, respectively.
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From Hills to Bottoms
With variable acres of hills and bottoms, it’s a challenge for growers near Fancy Farm, Kentucky, to pick the best varieties and hybrids for their fields. Luckily for his customers, retailer Vince Thomason with Crop Production Services has the expertise to help.
“The yields in the past two years have been great,” Thomason says. “The genetic makeup and new traits from Syngenta are boosting our yields to the next level.”
For most growers in his area, the 2014 growing season had a rough start. They planted early corn in wet soil conditions, followed by two to three weeks of hot, dry weather later in the season. Regardless, Thomason says the NK Corn in the area performed well. On his own farm, Thomason has been planting NK Corn hybrid N70J-3011A brand, an Agrisure Artesian® corn hybrid, for two years. “What I like about that hybrid is how well it will stay green and use water to keep yield high, despite drought conditions,” he says. “Then in your best bottom soil, where there is plenty of moisture, it can yield well over 200 bu/A.”
In this region, growers often plant soybeans early. As a result, Thomason says it’s important to have soybeans with good early health, strong emergence and excellent stand.
“I can recommend NK Corn and NK Soybeans for their consistent performance year-in, year-out over variable acres and hills to bottoms,” Thomason says. “Regardless of conditions, these varieties and hybrids continue to impress us every year.”
On the Offensive
“Soybeans do not like wet feet,” says Syngenta Seed Advisor and grower Jeff Anderson. And he’s right. Researchers with the University of Minnesota Extension say flooding for four to six days can reduce stand, vigor and yields. If the soil is clay and doesn’t drain well, yield reductions can be higher. So in 2014, when Anderson faced an extremely wet spring and summer in north-central Iowa, he was worried his soybeans might not perform well in his high-pH fields with tight clay soil. He also feared they would be more susceptible to diseases and pests.
“NK Soybeans offer quality seed with a lot of resistance characteristics for many of the problems we have here,” Anderson says. “This year, I planted a broad spectrum of NK Soybeans, with relative maturities ranging from 1.8 to 2.6, to fit different soil types. I chose different varieties for different fields to maximize each field’s potential.” While many growers in the area lost yields to sudden death syndrome in 2014, Anderson says the NK Soybean varieties he planted withstood the pressures, resulting in top yields. He also used Syngenta Seedcare and crop protection products. This multipronged approach helped him produce an average yield of 63 bu/A on 950 acres of soybeans, a milestone for him and the area. He even achieved 75 bu/A on one field with NK Soybeans S26-P3 brand.
Anderson puts just as much thought into selecting the right corn hybrids for each of his customers’ fields and looks for three specific qualities: good stand, good yield and good drydown. As a general rule, he prefers to test hybrids before promoting them to growers. In 2014, he planted Golden Harvest hybrid G12J11-3111A brand in a test plot. He averaged 245 bu/A for the field. But going across the plot, his monitor surpassed 300 bu/A in spots. He says he hopes to see a whole field reach 300 bu/A soon.
“In my area, we plant a wide range of Golden Harvest Corn,” Anderson says. “With Syngenta, we benefit from a broad spectrum of high-yielding hybrids and new traits, suited for different soil types and different situations.” In 2015, Anderson is continuing his integrated, whole-crop approach. “I will definitely continue to plant NK Soybeans and Golden Harvest Corn on my own acreage and recommend that my customers do the same,” he says. “Growers who also use Syngenta crop protection products and properly manage their fields are going to continue to have success year after year.”
Looking Ahead
While today’s seed products have the right genetics and traits to produce record yields, Syngenta is looking even further ahead and developing the genetic options needed for tomorrow’s fields.
“We are committed to supporting our resellers and addressing the unique needs of growers through our diverse line of high-performing hybrids and varieties,” says Eric Boersma, Syngenta product marketing manager for corn seeds. “Our quest to help them achieve a greater return on investment is never-ending.”
Recently, this rigorous pursuit helped a Syngenta soybean breeding team initiative win the prestigious 2015 Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Franz Edelman Award. The Good Growth through Advanced Analytics program uses advanced mathematics and state-of-the-art technologies to develop higher-yielding soybean varieties. Syngenta plans to develop similar tools across all major crop areas.
To help make these decisions easier, faster and more accurate, Syngenta uses a proprietary process it calls the Y.E.S. Yield Engineering System™. This marker-assisted breeding process delivers elite genetics and higher-yielding hybrids and varieties specifically selected to meet the needs of local growing environments more quickly than traditional breeding methods.
The success stories resulting from the practice of precisely matching the right Syngenta seed to the right field are as varied as the people who tell them. Thrive brings you a few of the most compelling.
Adapting to Variable Conditions
Aaron Spencer, a Syngenta Seed Advisor™ and grower from Ottawa, Kansas, jokes that at Spencer LLC, Mother Nature is the biggest challenge. “She’s not always nice. It’s either hot and dry or we’re swimming and in boats.”
The farm he manages with his father, Kevin, and brother, Brad, has highly variable fields, consisting mostly of silt loams and silty clay loams with some rocky soil. The high clay content creates wet, poorly drained soil, and the moisture-holding capacity of the farm’s uplands is poor.
Over the years, the family struggled with heavy insect pressure and aflatoxin contamination. But since 2011, they have eliminated a lot of the worry by planting Golden Harvest® Corn with the Agrisure Viptera® trait stacks, Aaron Spencer says.
In 2014, their top-yielding cornfield, which surpassed their previous year’s record by about 50 bushels, was a split planter of Golden Harvest hybrids G15P07-3111 and G16K01-3111 brands.
“It was racehorse hybrids versus workhorse hybrids, and the results were phenomenal,” Aaron Spencer says. “The Golden Harvest hybrids have a lot of agronomic benefits with strong genetic packages. Syngenta shares knowledge and expertise with its customers, so we have a lot of information that we can adapt to all our acres and growing needs.”
The farm’s soils create challenges for its soybean acres as well. With a low water-infiltration rate, the likelihood of root problems and diseases is higher, making seed selection critical. But when a single field has up to five different soil types in different spots, how does a grower select the best variety?
“We focus on picking varieties with defensive packages that have good yield potential,” Brad Spencer says. “In fields with a low moisture-holding capacity, we try to minimize our drought risk by picking varieties with a longer maturity, from 4.8 to 5.0 relative maturity, to try to extend the pod fill into some late rain.”
For their more productive fields, he recommends one of the following varieties: NK® Soybeans S39-U2 brand, a widely adapted variety with above-average Phytophthora field tolerance; S40-N2 brand, a strong performer with high stress tolerance and excellent frogeye leaf spot resistance; and S42-W9 brand, a high-yielding variety with excellent Southern stem canker tolerance.
As Syngenta Seed Advisors, the Spencers aim to provide good service 24/7, and it shows. “I appreciate their level of expertise for my corn and soybeans,” says Randy Kitchen, a grower in Osawatomie, Kansas. “But the level of service they provide is really outstanding. Their willingness to help is unmatched, whether there is a bug outbreak or I need seed at 10 p.m. Plus the products they offer are outstanding.” Before becoming Syngenta Seed Advisors, the Spencers tried several seed brands. Since switching to Golden Harvest Corn and NK Soybeans, they’ve noticed higher yields and better-adapted hybrids and varieties, which allows them to set loftier goals. In 2015, they want to reach a new personal yield record of 300 bu/A for corn and 80 bu/A for soybeans—a feat that would surpass their current records by 57 bu/A and 4 bu/A, respectively.
Seed Wise: Aaron Spencer (left), grower and Syngenta Seed Advisor,
welcomes Justin Anderson, a Syngenta sales representative, to his farm in Ottawa,
Kansas.
Seed Wise: (from left to right) Aaron Spencer, Brad Spencer, Justin
Anderson (of Syngenta) and Kevin Spencer work together as a team to increase yields
and profits on the Spencers' corn and soybean farm.
Seed Wise: Brad Spencer (left) checks on the progress of his early-season
corn with Justin Anderson of Syngenta.
Seed Wise: Young corn thrives in Fancy Farm, Kentucky.
Seed Wise: Bo Brooker (left), Syngenta sales representative, discusses
online farm data with Vince Thomason of Crop Production Services in Fancy Farm,
Kentucky.
From Hills to Bottoms
With variable acres of hills and bottoms, it’s a challenge for growers near Fancy Farm, Kentucky, to pick the best varieties and hybrids for their fields. Luckily for his customers, retailer Vince Thomason with Crop Production Services has the expertise to help.
“The yields in the past two years have been great,” Thomason says. “The genetic makeup and new traits from Syngenta are boosting our yields to the next level.”
For most growers in his area, the 2014 growing season had a rough start. They planted early corn in wet soil conditions, followed by two to three weeks of hot, dry weather later in the season. Regardless, Thomason says the NK Corn in the area performed well. On his own farm, Thomason has been planting NK Corn hybrid N70J-3011A brand, an Agrisure Artesian® corn hybrid, for two years. “What I like about that hybrid is how well it will stay green and use water to keep yield high, despite drought conditions,” he says. “Then in your best bottom soil, where there is plenty of moisture, it can yield well over 200 bu/A.”
In this region, growers often plant soybeans early. As a result, Thomason says it’s important to have soybeans with good early health, strong emergence and excellent stand.
In 2014, NK Soybeans S39-U2 brand provided good height and stand for an easier, more successful harvest. Thomason averaged 54 bu/A on his farm, and even had one grower achieve 71 bu/A over 92 acres in a creek bottom."With Syngenta, we benefit from a broad spectrum of high-yielding hybrids and new traits, suited for different soil types and different situations."
“I can recommend NK Corn and NK Soybeans for their consistent performance year-in, year-out over variable acres and hills to bottoms,” Thomason says. “Regardless of conditions, these varieties and hybrids continue to impress us every year.”
On the Offensive
“Soybeans do not like wet feet,” says Syngenta Seed Advisor and grower Jeff Anderson. And he’s right. Researchers with the University of Minnesota Extension say flooding for four to six days can reduce stand, vigor and yields. If the soil is clay and doesn’t drain well, yield reductions can be higher. So in 2014, when Anderson faced an extremely wet spring and summer in north-central Iowa, he was worried his soybeans might not perform well in his high-pH fields with tight clay soil. He also feared they would be more susceptible to diseases and pests.
“NK Soybeans offer quality seed with a lot of resistance characteristics for many of the problems we have here,” Anderson says. “This year, I planted a broad spectrum of NK Soybeans, with relative maturities ranging from 1.8 to 2.6, to fit different soil types. I chose different varieties for different fields to maximize each field’s potential.” While many growers in the area lost yields to sudden death syndrome in 2014, Anderson says the NK Soybean varieties he planted withstood the pressures, resulting in top yields. He also used Syngenta Seedcare and crop protection products. This multipronged approach helped him produce an average yield of 63 bu/A on 950 acres of soybeans, a milestone for him and the area. He even achieved 75 bu/A on one field with NK Soybeans S26-P3 brand.
Anderson puts just as much thought into selecting the right corn hybrids for each of his customers’ fields and looks for three specific qualities: good stand, good yield and good drydown. As a general rule, he prefers to test hybrids before promoting them to growers. In 2014, he planted Golden Harvest hybrid G12J11-3111A brand in a test plot. He averaged 245 bu/A for the field. But going across the plot, his monitor surpassed 300 bu/A in spots. He says he hopes to see a whole field reach 300 bu/A soon.
“In my area, we plant a wide range of Golden Harvest Corn,” Anderson says. “With Syngenta, we benefit from a broad spectrum of high-yielding hybrids and new traits, suited for different soil types and different situations.” In 2015, Anderson is continuing his integrated, whole-crop approach. “I will definitely continue to plant NK Soybeans and Golden Harvest Corn on my own acreage and recommend that my customers do the same,” he says. “Growers who also use Syngenta crop protection products and properly manage their fields are going to continue to have success year after year.”
Looking Ahead
While today’s seed products have the right genetics and traits to produce record yields, Syngenta is looking even further ahead and developing the genetic options needed for tomorrow’s fields.
“We are committed to supporting our resellers and addressing the unique needs of growers through our diverse line of high-performing hybrids and varieties,” says Eric Boersma, Syngenta product marketing manager for corn seeds. “Our quest to help them achieve a greater return on investment is never-ending.”
Recently, this rigorous pursuit helped a Syngenta soybean breeding team initiative win the prestigious 2015 Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Franz Edelman Award. The Good Growth through Advanced Analytics program uses advanced mathematics and state-of-the-art technologies to develop higher-yielding soybean varieties. Syngenta plans to develop similar tools across all major crop areas.
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