2018 Growing Season. A Year in Review.
Reflecting back on the growing season of 2018, I would rate this as one of the most challenging yet rewarding years our growers have experienced in a very long time. This year we saw a drier-than-normal spring in some places and others that had delayed planting due to moisture.
Even though the spring was off kilter, most of our growers saw an exceptionally nice June. Overall stand establishment was very even in most areas. Above normal daytime temps along with warm nights really accumulated GDU’s at a rapid pace. This not only gave the soybean crop a good start, it also pushed many of the corn acres to tassel by the middle of July.
The second half of the growing season was a mixed bag. We had nearly perfect growing conditions in some areas while others ranged from way too much rain to mild-to-severe drought. These extremes put our hybrids and varieties to the test but I’m happy to report that overall, our lineup had a good year standing up to the challenges thrown at them.
Looking ahead
We saw Goss’s Wilt continue to show up this year. Because of this, we demand any hybrid that makes our line-up have a Goss’s rating of “good” or better.
The LibertyLink GT27 soybean varieties are a welcome addition to our soybean lineup for 2019. These new varieties are packed with very good yield potential and give our growers another tool to defend against the ongoing war on weed resistance. This is the one trait we see trending above the others in yield next growing season.
Despite a late harvested due to wet conditions and record early snow events, we’ve been hearing reports that many farm yield averages are breaking records. So while we hadn’t been able to enjoy the hunting season like some of us hoped, the volume in the hopper seemed to be making the long days worthwhile.
