When the Highest Yielding Seed is Not The Most Cost Effective

Sarah Mock

Oct 19, 2016

Farmer Dan Koster grows 3,200 acres of corn in Sterling, IL, and has had combine monitors for 15 years.

“We look at the university tests first, but that’s all we have as far as trials. They’re supposed to be unbiased, but we know that this isn’t always true.”

Dan had data that was going unused and that had been lost because it wasn’t stored properly. He needed a solution that would let him store and view his data while gaining access to more unbiased information on seed variety yields.

“This winter, we laid out our entire operation in a spreadsheet. Using FBNSM Seed Finder, we found what performed best on a field, and we made a list of the highest yielding seeds on each soil type. In a few cases, we chose the number two seed because the number one was the highest priced hybrid, but it only had a 4 bushel advantage, so the second seed had a better cost return.”

“Seed Finder gave us the information we were looking for to selected hybrids that we would have never looked at otherwise.”

Dan made some brand changes, particularly when two different companies had similar genetics and yields, but one was selling at a significantly lower price. He also used FBN Analytics to make some changes to his planting date and nitrogen management.

“Maneuvering around on the website is really easy, and there’s a lot of good information on there. Plus, I learn new and interesting things on webinars and in emails all the time.”

Click to View Other Popular Blog Posts 

Sarah Mock

Oct 19, 2016