Last week, we reviewed weather issues and environmental conditions that affected the 2020 planting and growing season in our southern territory. This week, we examine our northern territory, which includes the central and northern Corn Belt. Corn Technical Agronomist Tony Lenz shares his thoughts on the challenging year and how Stine® products performed in this region.
A Year in Review from the Northern Agronomy Team
By: Tony Lenz, Corn Technical Agronomist
The 2020 growing season presented extreme weather events and dry conditions that depleted soil moisture levels as the growing season progressed. One event that Iowans will never forget is the derecho that caused billions of dollars of damage with winds well over 100 miles per hour.
Every growing season is different, so evaluating corn and soybean products needs to be done with multiple years in mind. The territory I cover with our regional sales agronomists includes Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and eastern Wisconsin. We still produced very good corn and soybean yields for the most part, even with dry conditions July through harvest.
When looking over yield data from our extensive side-by-side comparisons, certain hybrids handled the drier soil conditions well. Some hybrids had root structures that were not deep penetrating and struggled late in the season to fill the ear. Stine’s unique corn lines that performed particularly well last year were able to get off to a good start in the cool, wet soils we had in parts of May and had good, deep penetrating roots. Products like Stine 9212-10, 9436-11, 9714-G, 9655-G, 9734-G and 9808E-G all had a good year and have been consistent performers in our lineup. As an added bonus, these lines are all herbicide only or single insect trait hybrids which can provide outstanding value when placed properly. Not every situation calls for a fully traited product.
Stine had numerous, consistent high-yielding Enlist E3® soybean varieties from the regions I cover. A few that stood out included Stine 09EA02, 12EB62, 19EA32, 24EA12, 27EA23 and 34EA12.
Stine continues to offer unique, cutting-edge corn hybrids and soybean varieties. The Stine Agronomy team looks forward to the 2021 growing season and what Mother Nature has in store for us. To connect with your local Stine agronomist to discuss your plans for the 2021 planting and growing season, visit our Find Stine page to find a rep near you.