Producers change production and marketing
To the naked eye, two of Dale Kuehl’s fields looked identical in late August—amazingly good, in fact, for one of the worst droughts since the Dust Bowl. Upon closer inspection, though, the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour scouts found that one field had nearly double the yield potential.
So how did two fields, literally side by side, end up with varying production levels? Kuehl, who farms near Atlantic, Iowa, thinks it all comes down to hybrids. The field projected to yield 202 bu. per acre was planted with a new drought-resistant hybrid. The hybrid projected to yield 122 bu. per acre, a top performer in 2011 for Kuehl with more than 200 bu. per acre, did not contain the droughtresistant genes. Kuehl planted the drought-resistant hybrid on 15% to 20% of his acreage this spring.
Will Kuehl plant a higher percentage of drought-resistant corn in 2013? “It’s a real possibility,” he says, not yet committing to next year’s seed until he sees what his yield monitor shows at harvest.
If the drought lingers to next spring, one Nebraska producer says, he might plant all soybeans and no corn since soybeans can produce a crop with less moisture.
Read the full article on Agweb.com
