ASK THE AGRONOMIST BLOG

Stine’s Ask the Agronomist blog is your source to the latest information from our expert team, including advice and insight on field practices, product recommendations, planting and harvest updates, new technologies, crop management, innovative research and information about how to keep your farm operation running smoothly year round. 

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    How to Use Plot Information for Maximum Value

    August 27, 2012

    Posted by Brian Hartman in Crop Management

    In a year like we are experiencing, it is important to keep in mind what makes valuable plot information. It is easy to take the results from your local plot and make your purchasing decisions for the following year. This, however, is old school mentality and I strongly discourage anybody from doing just that. There are too many variables in our environment to rely on just a couple of local plots. After all, it is impossible to predict what next year will bring. 

    I do encourage looking at multiple location data to help show the true potential of a corn hybrid or a soybean variety.  Reviewing multiple plots and summaries helps reduce the risk on your farm by exposing corn or soybean products in different environments. All of us have witnessed situations where simple product placement in an individual plot can have a dramatic effect.  Insect pressure, compaction, soil types, disease and placement of a taller hybrid next to a shorter hybrid are sure to have a negative effect. For this reason, our research plots are all replicated in the same field and have multiple locations throughout the Corn Belt. 

    With all these different reasons to depend on multiple plots for information, I am pleasantly pleased with the early results we are getting from the field. For example, Stine 9732VT3Pro is topping out plots and side-by-sides in both low- and high-yield environments from Arkansas to Kansas. To get more information on Stine high-yielding corn and soybean products, please take the time to get with your Stine District Sales Manager and Stine Regional Sales Agronomist. These are the people who get a firsthand look at Stine hybrids, along with competitive products in the industry, and know how to place them on your farm for maximum yield potential.