One of the biggest things Brad suggested is the early or late emergence isn’t predicting the yield. There are so many other factors that will play into that throughout the growing. Also, as long as the corn is within two leaf collars of plant next to it, it will seamlessly make up for the lost time. More than anything, evaluating emergence helps to explain how and where you should plant different hybrids as it showing strengths or weaknesses of its genetic background. Here are some examples…

5976GT did not have as even emergence as some of the other hybrids, but it is still coming up well in the soil at South Charleston. This is one of the reasons we don’t suggest this hybrid for tougher conditions for emergence like no-till or heavy soils.

One thing that is interesting to observe are hybrids with some of the same genetics. There are several hybrids that have a common female from the high-yield family. This female is known for top end yield as a strength and for weaker emergence in cold wet soils. Knowing the genetic similarities, you can go throughout the Answer Plot and see if that female is slowing down emergence, or if emergence is a strength of the male. 6178 (posted above) is a hybrid with the female.

Another important thing to consider is that these observations are only from one location. It is hard to not jump to conclusions. I thought that 6226 had a pretty even and consistant looking stand but Brad told me it didn’t look as well as it did in Pershing, IN. So keeping all of these factors in the back of your mind is also important when considering emergence…

I will post back later with progress results from specific hybrids if you are interested in that product insight. Thanks for reading!

On Monday, it was about 67 degrees out and the corn ground was at  64 degrees and the bean ground was at 62 degrees. It was sunny & breezy, but we had almost an inch of rain throughout the weekend, so the ground was still damp, soft & sticky.  Just about every hybrid had poked out of the ground, however there were not very many that looked consistent through all 4 rows of their trial. For most, it was just a little too early to tell. One hybrid that really stuck out was 7131. It already had a solid stand in all 4 rows.

Time will tell how everything comes out, I might try to head to the Answer Plot on Friday and see how everything is doing after all of the sun we have had the last couple of days. I heard a cold front and more thunderstorms could be rolling in from the north which could put an interesting twist on the Answer Plot’s emergence race.

Stay posted for more!

The soil temps were around 52 degrees (soybean ground)  and 55 degrees (corn ground) and as you can tell from the pictures, a little sticky yet from this weekend’s showers. I didn’t dig up too many seeds, but I wanted to check the progress. It looks like things were about 50/50. Some of the soybean and corn seeds were swollen, but not quite sprouting, while others were developing a root system already. I was so excited to see the little sprouts! Nothing had emerged yet, but if it stays sunny and warms up a little, by the end of the 2nd week, we might be seeing green! I’ll keep you posted on the progress…

Click the photos below to view them larger.

The corn demo, started around 2:00 pm is going in with starter fertilizer, along with Zn and Ascend (http://www.agrisolutionsinfo.com/MICRONUTRIENTS/Products/LiquidChelatedNutrients/PlantGrowthRegulator/ECMD2-0025429.aspx), a plant growth regulator I blogged about last Answer Plot season.  The ground is about 60◦F where the corn is going in at about 1¾ inches deep.

There are a bunch of different trials we are doing this year at South Charleston and all of the other Answer Plots (www.answerplot.com for more locations) including our R7 placement strategy demo, Genetic Family Story Demo, Adjuvant trials on winter wheat, response to nitrogen trials, elemental prominence trials, response to Zn & Ascend trials, fungicide and volunteer corn trials along with Round up Ready vs. Liberty Link trials. As always, we will also be show casing our partner brands, Monsanto, Syngenta and Mycogen.

Feel free to stop by anytime and check out the progress of the plot. I’ll try to blog once a week to keep you updated on what’s happening. Stay posted for Answer Plot event dates in Charleston- or contact your local co-op for more information. Thanks for reading!

Last week I got to spend some time with our Business Manager Sal Sama at a meeting with Laughery Valley Coop in Osgood and do some repackaging agreements for AgriSolution products in southern Indiana then the next day I spent with North Central Coop in Rochester Indiana. It is so exciting, everyone is getting primed for the Answer Plots which I can’t wait for! truepointe is getting dates set and planning on having some big days this year which will be excellent. Last years’ event was a blast!

Anyways… this 16 hour drive to Tampa is only about 1/2 way through so back to work so I don’t feel so bad about going on Spring Break after college.

Well I don’t blog as often as I’d like but I will try to fill you in and then be come a little more dependable. Winter meetings have been held in several location throughout Southern Ohio the couple of months and we are finally wrapping them up and heading into Winter Technology meetings. Whats the difference? Well, the way Greg and I have laid them out simply is Winter Grower Meetings are pretty much Post Harvest Meetings… we discuss everything from yield data (www.answerplot.com), the growing season, Round Up ready 2 Yield Soybeans, to Ascend (a plant growth regulator I blogged about this summer) to a trip to Brazil some of our Emerald Extra Farmers got to go on and their experiences. Winter Technology meetings are a little more structured with a set agenda. We covered micros, adjuvants, fungicides, inferred imaging and had a spray table demonstration of Interlock. One of the neat things about this meeting is all of the concepts and products we talked about you can see in live and living color in our Answer Plot all summer long.  Darrin Holder, and WinField Solutions Agronomist had a great presentation on the importance of nozzle selection and the different effects the different styles can have.

Outside of these meetings I’ve been jetting across the country from Ohio to Indiana to Minnesota to Kentucky I’ve definitely stayed busy hitting up trainings, meetings, farm shows and more! I am so ready for spring and can’t wait to get my hands dirty come planting! I’ll keep you posted on my expeditions…. thanks for reading ; )

BTW- any questions about anything I blog about or want to learn more? Just comment and I’ll get back with you!

Last week I had my first grower meeting for 2010, in the morning we met in Courthouse and had several people speak on the growing season, new traits, technology, nutrients and anything else that came up! Later that evening we met down in Jackson and I gave my first ever presentation for WInfield. Man. I was nervous. But, I think over all the meetings went really well!

I finally got home last weekend after being gone since last year (haha) but I had to go… we had our first lamb!!! Ben stayed out and shovelled crap till midnight with my dad.. what a trooper

Anyways… this week I am going on farm calls in Lancaster, Catawba and Baltimore with a meeting in Baltimore and next week I am jam packed with grower meetings and suddenly a trip to Minnesota seems to be in the itinerary… my life I love my job and I’m so excited to get into these meetings and calls – spending days talking with farmers, learning about their operations and history… I really have the best job in the world…

Until next time…

For a couple of weeks I rode around with my supervisor and got a chance to meet with most of our accounts throughout southern ohio. I helped take off several plots and helped to gather data. The yields have just been outstanding! I also got the opportunity to ride with FFR while they planted wheat, harvested soybean and corn. Every 6 seconds they rip a bag of seed and dump it into a funnel when they are planting wheat; at first it is overwhelming… then you started to appreciate just how long 6 seconds is! I also went with Allied Environmental Group and got the quick 360 version of what they do from gathering data, building maps and installation in the field. I have spent a couple days in meeting like the pre-post harvest meeting in Indy, meetings with salesmen, and later this week I’ll be in training for some computer programs we use. In between all of this, I have got to go out on farm calls and meet some awesome people.

I can’t wait to see whats next! Have a safe rest of harvest!

Election Day is now one week away, which means that in just seven days Ohio voters will head to the polls to cast their ballots for State Issue 2, a measure to create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board.

Voting YES for Issue 2 on November 3 makes sense because a YES vote will:

Protect Ohio’s $93 billion farm economy and the one million jobs it provides.

Ensure farmers in Ohio can continue to maintain excellent care of their animals and produce safe, local, affordable food.

Create a bipartisan board of 13 Ohio experts in food safety, veterinary medicine, academia and farming to make decisions about agriculture in the state.

Discourage out-of-state extremist groups from bringing unworkable regulations to Ohio’s farms Benefit livestock and grain farms of all sizes by keeping control of farming in the Buckeye state.

Ensure that farm animal care decisions also consider food safety, food affordability, biosecurity and disease prevention.

Make Ohio a leader on farm and animal care issues.

Please forward these reasons to members of your family, friends and neighbors so they know why voting YES for Issue 2 next week is so important.

For more information about Issue 2, please visit www.safelocalohiofood.org. Information from Ohioans for Livestock Care Political Action Committee John C. Fisher, Treasurer – 280 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43215