Heading into the 2021 planting season, this is the first year that we have not been in the middle of launching a new soybean technology to our sales team and customers. As exciting and interesting as it is to launch new technologies in three consecutive seasons, it can lead to confusion about what technology fits best on the farm.

And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. (Luke 22:41-44)

The foundation of a successful herbicide program starts with the Power in the PRE™. A successful pre-emerge herbicide can help reduce the amount of weed pressure in the POST-emergence application. Many POST-emergence applications are sprayed in the earlier vegetative stages. However, data shows by delaying weed removal until the POST trip, a significant yield reduction can occur. This highlights the negative impact of early weed competition and showcases the Power in the PRE.

Diversification. It looks different on every farm, but today it has become a common practice to stay profitable and maintain an operation. For some, it may look like a seed or chemical dealership. For others, it’s growing a niche crop. For one farmer in Iowa, it is investing in an unexpected sector of agriculture for the cool temperatures and saltless waters of the Midwest – shrimp farming.

Each year we launch new and exciting corn products with added yield and additional agronomic strengths. The process to evaluate each class takes years and hundreds, if not thousands, of trials to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each product. It is rigorous; from field observations to data analysis, thousands of hybrids must be narrowed down to a select few that will be launched in our commercial lineup. These are the “best of the best” hybrids from the most elite breeding programs in the world.

One of the first steps to a successful herbicide program is starting clean to allow the pre-emerge herbicide to reach the soil surface. The burndown also allows the opportunity to utilize other “effective” sites of action (SOA) that can’t be used in-season such as Gramoxone® SL 2.0. Spraying early in the spring provides the opportunity to control winter annuals like marestail and emerging summer annuals such as giant ragweed. When evaluating spring burndown options, we must consider if the herbicide has burndown only activity or burndown plus residual activity. Products like Liberty® and Gramoxone SL 2.0 will not have any residual activity but will provide very effective burndown activity. Other burndown products such as Sharpen® or metribuzin will provide residual value depending on the herbicide rate.

As farmers are preparing for the upcoming 2021 planting season, winter is a great time to review planter maintenance and install upgrades. Travis Burnett, northern Indiana Beck’s field sales agronomist, and southern IN Beck’s field sales agronomist, Travis Coleman, inspect what to look for on planters to prep for successful planting passes.

Having a hard time controlling marestail weeds in your corn and soybean fields? Join Beck’s Hybrids Ohio field sales agronomist, Luke Schulte, with Tennessee field sales agronomist (now Area Team Leader), Austin Scott, as they discuss burndown and residual options to reduce marestail weed pressure.

Nine years ago, the Stephensons started their farm with 25 acres and a dream. Now, they farm 600 acres of corn and soybeans in the heart of the eastern Corn Belt.

Another season of Practical Farm Research (PFR)® data is in the books. Naturally, the first section I check out is the PFR Proven™ section. This section is very important when it comes to making decisions on your operation. For a product or practice to earn the PFR Proven title, it must be tested at multiple locations for a minimum of three years. In each of the three years, it must provide a positive yield gain each and every year and average a positive ROI over the combined years of research.