Syngenta Harvest Chasers Help Identify Best-Performing Hybrids And Varieties

 

An initiative that helped identify the best-performing corn hybrids and soybean varieties in 2015 is also helping Syngenta assess which seed selections can help growers achieve the greatest yields in 2016.

 

“For the second consecutive fall, the Syngenta Harvest Chasers traveled from farm to farm to speak with growers one-on-one about their experiences,” said Todd McRoberts, Syngenta product development agronomy manager. “In a time of softening prices and extreme weather challenges, this initiative helps us gauge how well our technologies are keeping fields clean, maximizing yields and generating the greatest return on investment for our growers.”

 

As the Harvest Chasers discovered, heavy rains and strong winds were weather challenges that grower Chad Render from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, faced in 2015. But despite the season’s storms, Render achieved above-average yields in corn and soybeans by using NK® brand selections.

 

“I really like NK Soybeans S47-K5 and S49-F8 brands on the heavier soils, and I’m also very pleased with NK Corn hybrid N78S-3111 brand,” he said. “From one weather extreme to the other, our NK Soybeans and NK Corn held up well. We had really nice yields, getting 70 bushels per acre (bu/A) for soybeans and more than 200 bu/A for corn. We were tickled across the board.”

 

More than 900 miles away in southwest Minnesota, grower and Syngenta Seed Advisor™ Ken Lanoue said choosing Golden Harvest® hybrid G01P52-3011A brand was a winning decision for his corn acreage in 2015. This water-optimized hybrid out-yielded adjacent hybrids by 50 bu/A and now comprises approximately 60 percent of his corn acres. Among the attributes Lanoue values most is the hybrid’s ability to yield on some of his more variable soil types.

 

“It’s good on all types of ground,” said Lanoue, whose average corn yield in 2015 was about 220 bu/A. “You can really put it anywhere. The only mistake you can make with this hybrid is not planting enough of it.”

 

For some growers, the decision to plant a particular hybrid or variety can be as simple as trusting the right partner. For grower Curt Corzine of Shelby County, Illinois, that partner is Syngenta Seed Advisor Darrick Fleming of Christian County Seeds.

 

Each year, Fleming helps Corzine select the hybrids that best fit the different soils on which Corzine farms. Corzine values the insight that Fleming provides, especially since the hybrids that Fleming recommends always produce results.

 

Take, for example, 2015’s top performer on Corzine’s farms, Golden Harvest hybrid G16K01-3111 brand. This broadly adapted hybrid with the Agrisure Viptera® trait stack was a good fit in a year when the weather threw plenty of curveballs, including heavy rains and storms during the heart of the growing season. “Normally, I don’t like 116-day hybrids, but this one has worked out great,” Corzine said. “The standability is excellent, and it’s been one of the better yielders. I’m going to plant more of it in 2016.”

 

Fleming has also kept Corzine well-stocked with NK Soybeans S35-C3 brand. “They are the best bean for us,” Corzine said. “They’re adaptable to any row spacing, soil type and weather. Light dirt, dark dirt—it doesn’t matter. They will grow.”