As you’ve heard and read recently, Chile was hit with one of the hardest earthquakes ever recorded. The magnitude of the 8.8 quake and the following tsunami waves have been a huge blow to the people and infrastructure of this South American country.

Latham Hi-Tech Seeds does winter production and research in Chile for both corn and soybeans. We use several different companies there, and fortunately, the people whom we work with have been reported safe. There doesn’t appear to be any major structural damage to any of their facilities at this time, although travel is difficult and electricity has been cut throughout much of the region. The main national artery, the Pan-American Highway, also has substantial damage but appears to be operational.

The southern area of Conception, where many of our earlier varieties and hybrids are raised, was probably closest to the quake’s epicenter. The ports in Conception (south) and Santiago (further north) are both open and operating, but many of the customs facilities were damaged.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by this tragedy.

Latham Hi-Tech Seeds announces Nick Benson of Elgin, Iowa as a regional sales manager for northeast Iowa. Nick’s territory covers the following Iowa counties: Allamakee, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, and Winneshiek. In addition, he serves on the company’s product development team.

John Latham, president of Latham Hi-Tech Seeds in Alexander, Iowa, says Nick is a great fit for his company.  ”You only have to talk to Nick for about two minutes before you realize how passionate he is about using the power and agility of an independent company to help rural America thrive,” said Latham. “His background in research and sales will make him a tremendous asset to our customers as they meet the continuing challenge of feeding and fueling the world with their crops.

Nick earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture marketing and agronomy from Northwest Missouri State University. He also has experience in corn plant breeding and seed research with Pioneer and Garst. He and his wife, Meg, have two children: Noah and Michelle. In his free time, Benson loves to fish.

Get your motor runnin’
Head out on the highway
Lookin’ for adventure
And whatever comes our way…

Like the lyrics to Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild,” more than 120 vehicles got their motors runnin’ on Saturday, Aug. 31, and headed out on U.S. Highway 71 from Okoboji, Iowa, for the inaugural Latham Freedom of Independence Ride.

We wanted to celebrate the independent American spirit, and what better way to do so than a road trip featuring motorcycles, cars and trucks?

The first of five groups left Arnold’s Park at 12:30 p.m. and merged onto Highway 9 for a 23-mile trip to Estherville. Just north of town, we made our first field stop where company president John Latham gave a brief recount of his family’s business, started 62-years ago by John’s grandfather, Willard Latham. Willard started it all in 1947 by custom cleaning oats for area farmers. During the 1960s, the business evolved into soybean production. CystX® soybean breeding for resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN) began in 1990, and Latham® soybeans with the Roundup Ready technology were introduced in 1996. The company added corn hybrids to its product offering in 2004 and further expanded its product offering in 2008 with hybrid alfalfa.

From a discussion of Latham history, we headed our to learn about the Latham of today and tomorrow. Leg 2 of the Freedom of Independence Ride was a 41-mile trek from Estherville to Whittemore where MaxYield Co-op presented a Latham® Showcase. It was a chance for riders to get up close and personal with many Latham products in the field. Mark Grundmeier, product manager, also talked about the exciting new additions to the 2010 Latham Hi-Tech Soybean lineup: Genuity™ Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ with yields that are 7 to 11% better than the original Roundup Ready soybean technology, which had set the standard for more than a decade. Also at this stop, riders learned about Latham soybeans with the LibertyLink® technology, which is the only nonselective alternative to the Roundup Ready system. LibertyLink beans have no yield drag and are tolerant to the new Ignite® herbicide.

Having covered Latham past, present and future, it was time to put crop talk on hold for Leg 3 of the journey, which took us about 10 miles south to enjoy the serenity of the Grotto of Redemption in West Bend. It’s composed of nine separate grottos, each portraying a scene from the life of Christ. With the largest collection of precious stones and gems found anywhere in one location, the Grotto is truly a miracle in stone. Work on the Grotto began in 1912 and followed for 42 years.

Leg 4 involved a 43-mile route from West Bend to Lost Island Lake in Ruthven where riders heard a brief presentation from Jim Heckman, national sales manager. Heckman told the crowd that Latham Hi-Tech Seeds offers a broader and deeper lineup of traits and technologies than any other company. Our 2010 lineup includes: corn hybrids with YieldGard VT Triple®, Genuity™ SmartStax™, Herculex® XTRA, Agrisure® 3000GT; and soybeans with Roundup® Ready, Genuity™ Roundup Ready 2 Yield™, CystX®, Vistive™ and LibertyLink®.

What’s the point of being at the lake without a fishing pole? When corn talk was done, everyone took their best shot at a casting contest. Anyone who could land their cast inside the floating target would win an LCD TV. Congratulations to Scott Heetland, who was the only one to hit the bull’s-eye with one try!

The final leg of the journey, a 26-mile stretch from Ruthven to Arnolds Park, brought us full circle. After an afternoon filled with adventure and cool, fresh air, we were ready for the hog roast. The pork loin, grilled by Scott Nasers of Bigelow, MN, was fork-tender, juicy and succulent. After the roast, Latham Hi-Tech Seeds sponsored a live concert by The Magnificent Board of Directors who took the stage in Preservation Plaza at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re pleased that as an independent, family-owned company we can hold these types of events so our customers can experience the Latham brand difference,” said John Latham. “It was wonderful weather and a great day to be out in rural America. Thank you to everyone who came out and made the event a success.”

Latham^® is a registered trademark of Latham Hi-Tech Hybrids, Inc.Ignite® and LibertyLink^® are registered trademarks of Bayer CropScience AG.
YieldGard VT Triple^®, Genuity^TM SmartStax^TM, Roundup^® Ready, Genuity^TM Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ and Vistive^® are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC.
Herculex^® is a registered trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC.
Agrisure^® is a registered trademark of a Syngenta Group Company.

Participants in the Latham Freedom of Independence Ride will see fields of clovers— roving clovers, that is— in addition to corn and soybeans as they travel throughout northwest Iowa on Saturday, Aug. 29.

“Clover Corolla” is a 2009 Toyota Corolla that has been customized with the 4-H program’s trademark clover leaf and the message, “Keep it Green.” The Corolla, the world’s number one selling car, is being raffled to raise money for 4-H programs statewide. All funds raised will support county and statewide 4-H educational programs.

“In light of budget cuts to the Iowa 4-H Youth Development program, it has been crucial to identify new ways to raise money. The Clover Corolla raffle is one way we are reaching out to individuals and counties to support 4-H in ways we haven’t seen in the past,” said Joe Leisz, Executive Director of the Iowa 4-H Foundation.

Tickets will be available at Arnolds Park and are also available via e-mail at 4hraffle@iastate.edu. Prices are $5 for one ticket; $20 for five tickets; or $100 for 30 tickets.

The drawing will be announced Oct. 9, 2009, on 1040 WHO Radio. The lucky winner of the Clover Corolla can choose to leave the wrap on or remove it before he or she drives it home.

Another season of Iowa State football means another season for the Latham Locker Room Show. The Latham Locker Room Show airs during every football broadcast on the state-wide Cyclone Radio Network. This segment airs following the play-by-play and includes exclusive “locker room” interviews with players and coaches.

A game schedule is posted at www.cyclones.com. You can listen on the following stations in the Cyclone Radio Network:

Albia KIIC – FM 96.7

Algona – KLGA-FM 92.7

Ames – KASI-AM 1430

Ames – KCCQ-FM 105.1

Atlantic – KSOM-FM 96.5

Boone – KWBG-AM 1590

Carroll – KCIM-AM 1380

Cedar Falls – KCNZ-AM 1650

Cedar Rapids – KGYM-AM 1600

Cherokee – KCHE-FM 92.1

Creston – KSIB-AM 1520

Davenport/ – KJOC-AM 1170

Quad Cities

Denison – KDSN-FM 107.1 (HD)

Des Moines – KDRB-FM 100.3 (HD)

Des Moines – KXNO-AM 1460

Fairfield – KMCD-AM 1570

Forest City/ – KIOW-FM 107.3

Mason City

Fort Dodge – KWMT-AM 540

Fort Madison – KBKB-AM 1360

Hampton – KLMJ-FM 104.9

Humboldt – KHBT-FM 97.7

Marshalltown – KXIA-FM 101.1

Mt. Pleasant – KILJ-AM 1130

New Hampton/ – KCZE-FM 95.1

Charles City

Perry – KDLS-AM 1310

Ottumwa – KLEE-AM 1480

Shenandoah – KMA-AM 960

Sioux City – KKYY-FM 101.3

Spencer – KICD-FM 107.7

Webster City – KQWC-FM 95.7

Anyone watching this Kossuth County, Iowa parade may have spotted one of our newest Latham dealers pulling his rig through the parade.  Tom Price of Lakota, Iowa has joined the Latham team this year in place of John and Connie Pedersen of Ledyard, Iowa.  John and Connie are retiring after 25 years in the seed business selling Latham products.  Tom Price may be a new dealer, but he is no newbie to the agriculture industry.  Tom has a wealth of experience in agriculture and customers in the Kossuth County area can count on him to bring them the latest and greatest in seed technology.  Tom carries a custom hauling business alongside his seed dealership, so be on the lookout for “TAPRICE INC.” on the roads this fall bringing in the harvest.  Tom is excited to start his new business and continue serving customers in the same way the Pedersen’s have for years.  Here are a couple photos of Tom and his rig in the parade showcasing his dealership and the Freedom of Independence ride on August 29th.

This is an exciting day. Our company is announcing today the release of four new Latham Hi-Tech Seeds corn hybrids with Genuity SmartStax technology.

You can read the entire announcement here.

We’ve been working with Monsanto a long time, incorporating their leading-edge technologies into our seed production. The Genuity/ SmartStax launch looks to be a new threshold in seed technology benefits and innovation. Above- and below-ground pest control, plus RR2 and LibertyLink tolerance, all in one seed. It’s amazing what crop science has achieved, especially in just the past 15 years or so.

Please give us a call in Alexander if we can answer any further questions about our new products or any other Latham offerings. We’re always here to help.

Latham® and “bringing world-class technology home” are trademarks of Latham Hi-Tech Hybrids, Inc. SmartStax^TM multi-event technology developed by Dow AgroSciences and Monsanto. SmartStax, the SmartStax Logo, Genuity, YieldGard VT PRO,YieldGard VT Rootworm/RR2, VT Triple PRO and Roundup Ready are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC.

®HERCULEX is a registered trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC.
®Liberty Link is a registered trademark of Bayer CropScience.

Here are a few pics from some fields along the route of the Freedom of Independence Ride coming up next month. As you can see, the crops are looking sweet.  The view from the road will be great Aug. 29.

Remember, visit lathamseeds.com to register for the event.  The ride starts at 1:00 p.m., leaving from Arnolds Park. We get back to the park around 6:00 and will enjoy a great hog roast and band. All free. And all farmers are welcome.

Earlier on this blog we wrote about our trip to Memphis and John’s memorable performance as the Honorary Duckmaster at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis during the hotel’s famous Duck March. Well, we now have exclusive video of the event, posted here for the first time. Enjoy the world premiere of this fowl-length feature:

Sunday (The Final Test)

This morning I arrived 30 minutes earlier at the “driving range” (folks like my husband would be picking up their golf clubs).  I wanted a little extra practice on the Figure 8 because, quite honestly, that move was not my strong suit.  In fact, I just plain stunk at it!  I was afraid to turn my head as far as was needed, and I was afraid to make the turn without putting down my foot.

Wouldn’t you know I could execute a Figure 8 when no one was watching me!  When I was practicing on my own, I could make the turns without putting  a foot down.  I tried to convince myself that I could do it just as well when our driving test was under way, and I almost had myself talked into it when my name was called to be the first driver on the test.  It really unnerved me to think that 11 other students and three instructors were watching my every move.

Concern must have shown on my face as plainly as the beacon from a lighthouse on a dark night because one of the instructors signaled me over before I executed the drill.  “You can mess up the Figure 8 and still pass the driving test,” he said.

I’m sure he thought he was offering words of encouragement and, thus, reducing my stress.  He was right!  I came to cherish those words as I felt my foot touch the ground in the middle of the first turn.  I was so disgusted with myself because I CAN execute that turn flawlessly; I just couldn’t do it when it mattered most.  Yes, I had stage fright in a big way.

Thankfully, I passed the rest of the driving test with flying colors.  I was among the top of the class for stopping quickly, but that won’t surprise anyone who has ridden in a car with me!  The written test was our last criterion in order earn our certificate of completion.  I don’t mean to brag, but I really am proud of this fact: I didn’t miss a single answer on the written test.  It helped that practice exams were found in the back of our handbook, as well as online at www.msf-usa.org.

The Rider Education Course, developed by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) and offered through North Iowa Area Community College and most community colleges across the state, was a great experience!  I really encourage anyone who’s interested in obtaining a motorcycle license to first take this course.

Next time: the “official” picture of me on my ride.