About John Latham, President

John Latham serves as president of Latham Hi-Tech Seeds. Prior to founding his own seed corn business in April 2004, he spent 15 years as a regional sales manager and as sales director for his family’s soybean-only business. John earned a bachelor’s degree in Ag Business from Iowa State University, and then worked for two years as a production agronomist with Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. A strong advocate in the seed industry, John has served as president of the Iowa Seed Association and is active in the American Seed Trade Association.

3 New Soybean Technologies in the Pipeline

Posted on March 21, 2013 by John Latham, President

As a family-owned company, Latham Hi-Tech Seeds has one major advantage over our competitors: We have the freedom to help our farmer-customers choose the traits and technologies that will work best for their given farming situations. That’s why we’re especially excited about Latham’s pipeline of soybean products!

Strategic alliances with the world’s leading technology providers means Latham is testing soybean products with three of the industry’s newest trait packages. Here’s a summary of the emerging soybean technologies that farmers in the Upper Midwest could access in the near future from Latham Hi-Tech Seeds:

Enlist E3 – Developed and produced by Dow Agrosciences, Enlist E3 soybeans will be tolerant to new 2,4-D choline, glyphosate and glufosinate. Dow AgroSciences is working to introduce Enlist Duo™ herbicide with Colex-D™ Technology. Enlist Duo is a proprietary blend of new 2,4-D choline and glyphosate that will offer growers minimized potential for drift and near-zero volatility. We’re expecting the first E3 soybean products to hit the market for the 2014-2015 sales season.
The Balance Bean – This new soybean product from Bayer® has the working name of “FG72” and will be a double stack for resistance to isoxaflutole and glyphosate. Isoxaflutole is the active ingredient in Balance® Flexx and in Corvus® corn herbicides. Eventually this product will be stacked with Liberty®, making it a three-way stack.
Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System – Monsanto continues to advance its stacked product featuring Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Yield® technology with Dicamba resistance. Known as Xtend, this product will help extend the life of glyphosate. This technology appears to be slightly ahead of the other two now, depending on regulatory approvals.

We’re hopeful regulatory approval will be received in time for at least limited supplies to be planted in 2014. Although 2014 may seem like a distant future, the truth is, we’re working on our 2014 seed guide right now. Latham must grow seed beans a full season ahead to produce products that farmers will plant the following year.

Weed resistance is a growing problem – literally. Diversity of tactics is the key to consistent weed management and high crop yields. That’s why, at Latham Hi-Tech Seeds, we couldn’t be more excited about the new traits that will soon be available to diversify modes of action and help farmers fight weed resistance!

Duracade Approval Puts New Trait in Arsenal to Fight CRW

Posted on March 4, 2013 by John Latham, President

Farmers need multiple options to fight corn rootworm (CRW), and the efficacy of Agrisure Duracade^TM appears promising. With its new and unique mode of action, Agrisure Duracade will be combined with the Agrisure® RW trait to provide dual modes of action on corn rootworm.

When more than one trait is added to individually control corn borer and CRW, studies have shown the yield advantage increases by an additional 6-8 bushels per acre over the single-traited CRW protected hybrids. Research by the United States Department of Agriculture has reported that the Agrisure Duracade trait delivers the highest reduction in beetle emergence (99.79%) of any commercial CRW trait.*

Corn rootworm is the single most destructive pest in U.S. corn production. Before the availability of corn-rootworm-resistant biotech traits, populations of western corn rootworm and northern corn rootworm caused annual yield losses and control costs that exceeded $1 billion. To prevent corn rootworm damage from reaching such devastating levels again, it’s important for farmers to plant a portfolio of products and to reduce risk with rotation. Rotation involves rotating modes of action, and that’s why Agrisure Durcade will be an important defense mechanism in farmers’ ongoing battle with CRW.

Supplies of Latham® Hi-Tech Hybrids with the Agrisure Duracade trait will be available for the 2014 sales/planting season. For more information, talk to your local Latham® representative or call 1-877-GO-LATHAM (1-877-465-2842).

*Field measures of Western corn rootworm mortality caused by transgenic corn expressing the mCry3A (MIR604) and eCry3.1Ab (5307) proteins. (Hibbard et al. ESA Meeting December 2010)

Be Assured “Quality” is in the Bag

Posted on January 24, 2013 by John Latham, President

High heat and low moisture levels created several production challenges – for farmers and seed suppliers alike – in 2012. Dry growing conditions have affected seed germinations, seed size and seed quality nationwide.

Not all seed brands will be able to offer top quality products for 2013 planting. Be sure to read the bag tag and consider switching product numbers or adjusting plant populations accordingly.

Rest assured when you plant Latham®, you’re planting quality. Latham Hi-Tech Seeds’ hands-on production process allows for less handling, which leads to higher germination rates.

The vast majority of our seed beans are brought to Latham’s production facility in Alexander, Iowa, immediately upon harvest. Bringing the soybeans directly to our plant allows Latham to control the seed from the production field to our customer’s shed.

The trays we use to bring soybeans from the cleaner to the bagging system are so gentle they’re used to make corn flakes!

We also don’t bag in extremely cold conditions, which can lead to splits and cracks and further reduce the chances of having that seed germinate. Our bagging line was shut down most of this week due to cold temperatures.

We take great pride in producing soybeans that contain the industry’s top genetics with leading technologies like Genuity® Roundup Ready to Yield® and LibertyLink. We’re also proud to offer top hybrids featuring the industry’s top genetics – and one of the broadest, deepest trait lineups in the country.

As a family-owned company, Latham Hi-Tech Seeds can offer hybrids with the following technologies: Genuity® SmartStax® and RIB Complete™; Agrisure Viptera 3111 and 3000GT; and Herculex Xtra™. (Click here for our full hybrid lineup.)

Contact your Latham® representative or call 1-877-GO-LATHAM for more information about top-shelf Latham brand products on inventory that will meet your needs for spring 2013 planting.

“The gentle handling of Latham® seed through each part of the bagging and delivery process helps preserve seed quality.”