I LIKE PLANTING NEW CORN HYBRIDS IN MY FIELDS!
I get excited about new traits, improvements in defensive characteristics, a better plant structure, etc.
Seed corn companies often say the new hybrids will add a little yield or maybe even be drier at harvest time.
The downside of planting new hybrids is often price. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a seed company sell a new hybrid for a lower price than their current hybrids.
Also, I don’t really know if that new hybrid is going to yield more than what I’m currently planting. For that reason, I generally try new things on a small amount of acres so I can see how well they work on my farm with my management.
Choosing 40 Series Corn means much more than simply picking a new hybrid!
The biggest gain from using 40 Series Corn is not the hope of an extra few bushels or drier corn at harvest, although one or both of those things often happen. The real advantage is you can plant earlier than any other corn on the market and do it successfully.
WHAT YOU’RE REALLY BUYING WITH 40 SERIES CORN IS TIME. SO, HOW DOES IT WORK AND HOW DO YOU MAKE MONEY USING 40 SERIES CORN?
1. PLANT AFTER YOUR FIRST CROP INSURANCE DATE FOR CORN.
If you can buy an earlier date (often a week or so earlier), that’s fine too.
2. WHEN SOILS ARE DRY (FIT), YOU CAN PLANT 40 SERIES CORN.
We’re not at all worried about temperature, but other seed companies in your area will be telling you to wait.
This is what I like to call the “40 Series Corn Window of Time.” When we say 40 Series Corn buys you time, we’re referring to those critical days and weeks earlier than others advise you plant. For the past two seasons, we’ve heard from 40 Series growers that corn planted during the first few days of planting often yields 30-50 bushels more per acre versus the corn planted on the last few days of planting. This is perhaps the most important advantage to 40 Series Corn.
Don’t compare yields from the first-planted 40 Series Corn to the first-planted competitive hybrid. Look at the yields from your last planting vs. the first-planted 40 Series Corn. By starting early, you are able to finish early, and that will usually add a lot of yield in addition to extra time to get all your other fieldwork done.
3. HOW DOES THE ACTUAL SEED WORK?
Hybrids must have great early vigor and cold tolerance. We then add Hefty Complete Seed Treatment, which is a proven combination of chemistry (fungicides and insecticide) and Naturals (beneficial microbes) shown to speed emergence and add to early vigor and stand establishment. Finally, each 40 Series hybrid must meet our high cold germination standard. The result is fast emergence and a great stand even in cold conditions.
4. USE THE EXTRA TIME TO GET AHEAD.
When everyone else is still planting and you are all done, you have time to get ahead on all your other jobs, including scouting, spraying, or installing drainage tile.