IF YOU ARE PLANTING CORN OR SOYBEANS, YOUR SEED DECISION CAN HAVE A LOT TO DO WITH HOW SUCCESSFUL YOUR NEXT GROWING SEASON WILL BE.

Times are tough on a lot of farms right now, so below I’ve got FOUR SEED HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2026 that can help you improve yields or reduce costs – but either way, more profit at the end of the year should be the result.

1. 40 SERIES CORN.

This will allow you to plant earlier, which should boost yields AND give you more days to do every other job on the farm very timely, which again leads to more yield and possibly lower costs. When we first came out with 40 Series Corn, the only corn in the world recommended for planting in 40-degree soil temps, you probably thought we were crazy. Other companies were, of course, trying to say this wasn’t real and it was just a marketing gimmick. Well, it’s real. In three years now, we’ve had ZERO cold soil replant issues. Our stands are awesome. Yields are fantastic, and all of this may make you wonder – how can Hefty’s have this and the “big” seed companies don’t?

IT BOILS DOWN TO 3 THINGS.

WE HAVE SUPER SEED TREATMENT THAT NO ONE CAN REPLICATE. We have been working on the seed treatment side for almost 20 years now, and we found some things that work great, so when you buy our corn just know you’ve got the best seed treatment in the world, and that is absolutely not an exaggeration.
SECOND, WE WON’T LET POOR COLD GERMINATION SEED BE PART OF OUR 40 SERIES OFFERING. What we have observed over the years is most companies focus on the warm germination score. That’s all that is on anyone’s seed tag. However, warm germination tests are run at 77 degrees in the lab! When does your soil reach 77 degrees? Here in the north, it’s WAY after when almost anyone wants to plant corn.
FINALLY, WE PICK THE BEST GENETICS SO COLD SOILS ARE NO ISSUE. Let me leave you with this. If you haven’t tried it yet, plant 40 Series Corn first on your farm. 40 Series Corn gives you something no other corn can offer – MORE TIME.

2. 4 HYBRIDS MORE DOLLARS.

This is all about cost savings AND spreading risk. It’s a rebate program unlike what anyone else does. For your first hybrid (the one you purchase the most units of), there is no rebate. The second hybrid (minimum 45 units to get to each level) gets $5. The third gets $20, and the fourth and all subsequent varieties qualify for a $25 per bag rebate. This pretty much eliminates that pesky “price” issue that a lot of people want to talk about with crop inputs this year. If any other seed company has seed less expensive than ours, be careful, because it could very well be products you don’t want to plant on your farm.

WE’RE 100% CONFIDENT THAT ACROSS THE BOARD, OUR SEED IS BETTER AND OUR PRICE WILL SAVE YOU MONEY COMPARED TO MOST SEED SUPPLIERS OUT THERE.

Let’s go back to the spreading risk part I mentioned. I often see farmers plant one or two hybrids on the whole farm or one hybrid on most of their acres. Please consider how risky that is. While seed companies will “stand behind” their seed, no company will pay you for lost yield. They will simply replace the seed. Especially going into 2026, you can’t afford a big loss. Look at this past season as a great example. Some hybrids had tassel wrap, while most didn’t. If you planted most of your ground to the hybrid that was the worst for tassel wrap, it was likely a disaster.

OUR ADVICE HERE IS TWO-FOLD.

FIRST, PLANT LOTS – AND I DO MEAN LOTS – OF HYBRIDS ON YOUR FARM.
SECOND, PLANT AT LEAST TWO HYBRIDS IN EACH FIELD.

This will widen your pollination window, minimize your losses, and spread your risk. Crazy stuff happens each year. Please plant more rather than fewer hybrids and take advantage of our 4 Hybrids More Dollars program.

3. XTENDFLEX VS. ENLIST.

XtendiMax (dicamba), Engenia (dicamba), and Enlist One (2,4-D) may all be available in 2026, but it’s also possible none of them will be labeled. If you are banking on dicamba or 2,4-D to be the savior for you and rescue your fields from thick and tall weed populations, good luck with that.

Regardless of your seed trait, start with the 3 Pre’s (yellow plus metribuzin plus Valor or Authority) for as little as $10. Follow early post with a Group 15 plus a PPO like Flexstar or Cadet for another $10 or so, and clean things up with Liberty. By the way, several of the herbicides I just mentioned will be at all-time low prices, including Liberty. While it would be great to have the option to add dicamba or Enlist One to your program, we aren’t certain those products will be labeled. Fortunately, there are fantastic genetics in either XtendFlex or Enlist, so if yield is your top goal, you can be successful going either direction.

SINCE HPPDS ARE NOW FAILING IN CORN, WE ARE EXPECTING LOTS MORE DICAMBA TO BE USED IN CORN THIS COMING SEASON.

What that means is neighboring corn fields could have dicamba coming out of them, so if you want protection from that, I’d go XtendFlex. If that’s not a concern for you, just look for the best defensive traits and top-yielding varieties, and again, I think you’ll find many great choices in either XtendFlex or Enlist.

4. HEFTY COMPLETE SOYBEAN SEED TREATMENT.

Most of what is in our seed treatment for 40 Series Corn is also in Hefty Complete Soybean Seed Treatment, meaning you can plant your soybeans super early, as well. Plus, we’ve got ROOTastic inoculant, which we believe is the best in the world at creating nitrogen for your soybean crop. We also offer free replants on our seed when you treat with Hefty Complete because we find very few replants ever occur when our seed treatment is in your field. You can also get up to two insect resprays (with a pyrethroid) on insects, including soybean aphids, grasshoppers, cutworms, and bean leaf beetles, if economic thresholds are reached.

PLEASE TALK TO OUR AGRONOMISTS ABOUT THE DETAILS OF EACH OF THE THINGS I’VE LISTED ABOVE.

We feel our seed offerings are far better (and often less expensive) than you’ll find anywhere else. No one else has 40 Series Corn. No one else we know of pays you back for planting more hybrids and spreading your risk. We don’t believe any other company has an XtendFlex plus Enlist soybean lineup better than ours. No one else has the seed treatment offerings we do. While 2026 may look challenging today, we can help you minimize your risk and maximize your profitability.