Tag Archives: Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield

Best Management Practices for Drought

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Dry growing conditions in 2012 are prompting questions this fall about soil fertility, herbicide carryover and seed product selection. Implementing best management practices this fall will help reduce stress for crops next spring.

Conserve Soil Moisture
When soils are dry, farmers must conserve remaining moisture. This may mean holding off on disking and cultivating, so as not to let moisture escape in the process. Keeping the harvested crop’s residue on the ground’s surface also will help conserve soil moisture.

Test for Herbicide Carryover
Herbicide breakdown may be slowed greatly in drought conditions. The best time to test for carryover is between late October and mid-November. By this time, soil temperatures remain below 50° F – a point at which herbicide breakdown is minimal. If you take residue samples before this time, herbicide levels could be greater than those that will be present at the time of 2013 planting.

Select Seed Products
Since dry conditions could increase the chances of herbicide carryover, farmers may want to select seed for 2013 with greater tolerance to the herbicide used during the 2012 drought year. Another option might be to alter your crop rotation to avoid planting a crop susceptible to the herbicide used.

Whether you want to plant corn, soybeans or alfalfa – Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Yield® or LiberyLink®, SmartStax® RIB Complete, Herculex® XTRA or Agrisure® GT – Latham Hi-Tech Seeds has the products and our trait packages to fit your needs. Call your local Latham® rep or 1-877-GO-LATHAM (1-877-465-2842). The time is now to plan for the 2013 growing season!

Food & FamilyFeeling “Pampered” in Pender

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Farming was Rory Allen’s first love. His dad gave him a gilt when he was 9 years old. And by the time he was age 14, Rory was farrowing 60 sows. He first rented ground in 1974 as part of his high school FFA Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) and has continued to build his operation over the past 38 years.

After a tornado took half of the hog barn in 1993, Rory was forced to make a decision. He either needed to build new hog facilities or get out of the business. He decided, given hog prices at the time, to focus his attention elsewhere. The time and energy that Rory had devoted to raising hogs was then channeled into his seed business.

“I started as a Latham® dealer 22 years ago, and the quality of the seed has always been excellent,” says Rory. “We’ve had issues with lower germ with other companies in the past but never with Latham. Plus, we enjoy the personal service we get from Latham. It means a lot to have the company owners know you on a first-name basis, shake your hand as they greet you, and sit down and talk with you.”

Sitting down with customers and helping them select the seed that best fits their farming style is one of the things Rory enjoys most about being a seed dealer. He also likes being able to get a first look at new technology and is especially pleased with the results he’s been seeing with Latham® soybean genetics combined with the Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Yield® trait technology.

Pride in farming and a love for the country life is evident when you pull into the lane of Rory and Carol Allen’s beautiful farmstead just outside the village of Pender, Nebraska. As newlyweds, the couple moved onto the farm where Rory was raised. It’s also where they raised their son and two daughters: Lance, 27; Courtney, 25; and Kayci, 21. Now they’re also the proud grandparents of a 15-month-old grandson.

“I’d never been on a farm before I met Rory, but I really enjoy living in the country,” says Carol, who has become adept at driving tractors and hauling grain. She’s also been a Pampered Chef® consultant for 18 years, which has given her the flexibility to work around kids’ schedules and farming. “Our kids enjoyed many freedoms by living here, yet we were close enough to town so they could be involved in many school activities and sports.”

While both Rory and Carol enjoy operating their own businesses, they also like to make time for family meals. Make-ahead meals are perfect for busy times of year like spring planting. That’s why Runza Casserole is one of Carol’s go-to recipes. Today she’s also sharing a recipe for Biscuits & Gravy Casserole that was a crowd pleaser at their church’s recent Easter breakfast.

I have to admit that I was feeling a bit pampered myself after sitting down with the Allens and being treated to a piece of angel food cake topped with pineapple. Perhaps that’s another recipe I can request from Carol…

Biscuits and Gravy Breakfast Casserole Recipe

  • 1 lb pork sausage
  • 2 T butter
  • 2 packages Sausage Gravy Mix (makes 2 cups per package)
  • 12 eggs
  • 1 (5 oz) can evaporated milk
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tubes refrigerated biscuits

Cook sausage, set aside. In large saucepan, make gravy according to directions. Add sausage to gravy, set aside. In large bowl whisk eggs, evaporated milk and salt. Soft scramble eggs with the butter. In a 9×13 pan (or the Pampered Chef Stoneware Rectangle Baker) layer gravy, eggs, gravy, eggs, gravy, then top with biscuits.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350° until biscuits are golden brown.

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Runza Casserole

  • 1 lb hamburger
  • 1/2 head cabbage
  • 3/4 c chopped onion
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1/2 t black pepper
  •  2 cloves garlic, pressed
  • 2 packages crescent rolls
  • 1 1/2 c cheese (American or Velvetta)

Brown hamburger with onion. Leave burner on low & add shredded cabbage, salt, black pepper & garlic. Cook until cabbage is wilted & soft (about 7 minutes). Grease 9×13 pan (or Pampered Chef Stoneware Rectangle Baker). Put half of the meat mixture in the pan & sprinkle with 1/2 of the cheese. Place 1 package of crescent rolls on top of cheese. Repeat layers again. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes.

Industry NewsTechnology Redefines Agriculture

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What defines modern agriculture?

It’s a question that I’ve been pondering ever since reading an article Jan. 19 by Terence Loose listing “agriculture” as the most useless college major. More than anything, I believe his article illustrates how little the general public knows about production agriculture. I dare say Loose envisions farming more like it was in the 1950s or 1960s than it is today.

Agriculture has changed dramatically over the years, and it’s become even more technologically advanced in the past 5 to 10 years alone. In fact, agriculture is like lot the car industry. One used to have to custom order power windows. Today power windows come standard on new vehicles just like most technology comes standard today on agricultural products.

Technological advancements in the seed industry is just one example. One hundred percent of Latham® Hi-Tech Soybean seed is traited, and about 95% of the corn hybrids we sell contain technologies that make crops resistant to insects or certain chemicals.

High-tech seeds means there’s a lot of science in each bag! Think about the highly educated and skilled people it takes to research and create new technologies and genetics, develop them for commercial production, condition the seeds, and then sell them to the farmers, who produce food, clothing and fuel for the world.

New seed technologies – have and will continue to – set new expectations for the yields farmers can achieve. When Roundup® Ready soybeans were introduced in 1996, they set the standard for soybean yields for a decade. Today Latham® soybeans with the Genuity® Roundup Ready® 2 Yield technology are redefining yield expectations. Latham soybeans with the RR2 trait have been out-yielding the competition consistently for the past two harvest seasons. Soon Vistive® Gold soybeans will produce an oil similar to the content of olive oil but much easier and cheaper to produce.

On the corn side of our business, technology is progressing at an equally fast pace. Innovations are making it even simpler to comply with refuge requirements. New for 2012 Latham has introduced Genuity VT2 PRO RIB Complete, as well as Genuity® SmartStax® RIB Complete. Other new technologies coming include a new rootworm trait from Syngenta called Agrisure® Duracade™ and crops resistant to 2-4D chemistry from Dow Agrosciences called Enlist™ just to name a couple.

Seed traits are just one example of how technology has – and continues – to redefine production agriculture. “Technology” obviously has many different meanings within agriculture, and the definition largely depends on what a person does from day-to-day. A quick poll on Facebook and a few e-mails to our friends in the industry produced this list of ag technologies:

  • GPS
  • Auto-steer tractors
  • Smart Phones
  • Slow-release fertilizer
  • RFID technology for livestock

And the list goes on! How has technology transformed your own operation?