For Bob Shands, Agronomy salesman for Co-Alliance the technology found in Asgrow Genuity RR2Y soybeans is something farmers in his marketing area are embracing. And Shands says when you see beans like those at the Summers Farm in Boone County Indiana it’s easy to see why. “What you notice immediately is the number of beans in a cluster, and most of the them are 3’s and 4’s,” said Shands.

An interview with Bob Shands

For Justin Summers of Boone County Indiana, one of the first things he noticed when he walked in to a field of Asgrow Genuity RR2Y soybeans was the number of pods, and how good the beans looked. Justin says because of the trust they put in their agronomist, about a third of the soybean acres were planted to Asgrow Genuity RR2Y soybean this year. The younger Summers says he really going to be interested to see what the yield monitor shows once harvest gets underway, he’s hoping it will put a smile on his face.

A converstation with Justin Summers

Eric McClaskey, seed salesman for Co-Alliance at Russellville, Indiana says his customers have been talking about Asgrow Genuity RR2Y soybeans from the time they emerged. He says the early season vigor and heavy podding have also been impressive here in 2010. Eric was with Keith Willett when the Montgomery County Indiana soybean farmer found a 5-Bean Pod, which he describes as “like finding mushrooms.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSquDkSBtMk

For Keith Willett of Ladoga, Indiana, his Asgrow Genuity RR2Y soybeans yielded 1 to 3 bushels better than his other beans last year, and while those additional bushels are nice, Willett says he’s looking for consistency.  His Asgrow Genuity 2430s are yielding between 45 and 50 bushels per acre, and for growing season they had, Keith Willet says he’s happy with that.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpWI0lPcvBQ

Jerry DeVore, marketing lead for Asgrow, has high expectations for soybean yields this year. DeVore believes the five bean pod challenge will ultimately lead to higher yields by combining Asgrow genetics with the Round Up Ready traits. Through all of his travels across Indiana, DeVore says he has discovered with Genuity there is an increase in three bean pods and four bean pods which is exactly what producers are looking for.  By bringing higher yield potential to farmers, producers will be able to meet the growing food demands by 2030 according to DeVore.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9gpym_3gqk

David Summers from Boone County, Indiana was pleasantly surprise this season when a five bean pod  was found in his field. Summers says there may not be many five bean pods on his farm but the number of plants he has seen with four bean pods is amazing. During the harvest season, Summers says he plans to use yield mapping technology to determine if the Round Up Ready 2 Yield Soybeans have significantly higher yields than the rest of his crop. His findings will determine whether he buys all Round Up Ready 2 Yield soybeans next year or not.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMHys_-g9TA

While corn yields have been steadily increasing for years, soybean farmers have not had many of the same results. However, Chad Dow, sales manager for Asgrow, says this may be changing. Dow believes the Round Up Ready 2 Yield from Asgrow will enable soybean producers to widen the yield gap. Dow says more four bean pods have been reported than before and there has also been an increase in three bean pods. While most producers look only at yields to determine progress, sustainability and plant health are also important factors when determining the success of a crop.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=10F2RG6UrFo

While much of the Upper Midwest has more than adequate rain this season, it’s not the case in southeastern Missouri. Charles Hinkebein of Chaffee, just south of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, has had only five inches of rain during this growing season, but considers himself fortunate to be able to irrigate.

“In a normal year, you’d water soybeans one time, that’s about the most you’d water them,” Hinkebein said during an interview with Brownfield, at the edge of one of his soybean fields. “This year, beans have been watered three times, so it’s an unusually dry year.”

Hinkebein has maintained a strict regimen of herbicide and insecticide applications. That and the introduction of Asgrow Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans seem to have paid off. His 2009 Asgrow Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans averaged 78 bushels to the acre over the entire field where they were planted. That compares to competitor’s soybeans that yielded in the low 50s, according to Hinkebein.

Hinkebein believes part of his success has to do with the larger leaf of the Asgrow Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans.

“You got more room for photosynthesis and everything else to work in and you got more leaf area to shade the ground to cut your chemical back for spraying,” said Hinkebein, comparing the larger leaf from Asgrow Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield to first generation Roundup Ready soybeans.

“So far we’ve sprayed one time on them and that’s about all we have to because they cover the rows pretty quick,” he said. “These here have been in the ground just a little over six weeks and they’ve got the middle [canopy of the rows] closed; you can’t see down them,” he said, “the Roundup Ready [first generation] you can still see inside [the rows] just a little bit.”

One of the problems the Southeast Missouri grower had to overcome was insect damage to his soybeans. That’s been done with help from Monsanto’s seed performance technology.

“The new soybeans we’re planting with Acceleron,” said Hinkebein. “It’s got a seed treatment on the soybeans for insecticide and fungicide, so the plant goes in the ground and stays clean.”

“We try to keep it clean every 21 days and that’s what we’ve been doing,” he said. “We wait 21 days to put our Roundup out and then add insecticide. Then in 21 days, it’s just about at R-3 stage.”

“Right now they’re in R-3, the wheat ground beans we looking at,” Hinkebein explains, “and we’ll fly on fungicide and insecticide and do it again at R-6.”

Although he failed to spot any five-soybean pods in the short while that he, his son-in-law, daughter and grandchildren searched for them, he’s anxious to get a combine into his Asgrow Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans.

 Prior to planting, Hinkebein also relies on sacred intervention.

“Our priest in the area, he’ll come out for dinner and he’ll come up and bless the fields and bless the seeds and everything, and I think that has a lot to do with it too,” said Hinkebein. “Yeah, we do have a lot of faith.”

Conversation with Charles Hinkebein

Tom Steever caught up with Soy Trait Marketing Manager with Monsanto, Lisa Flynn at Hinkebein Farms.  She says it has been a phenomenal summer for Genuity RR2Y soybeans.  She said they are very excited about what they have seen. 

Conversation with Lisa Flynn

It has been a wet year for Randy Caruthers who farms near Columbia, Iowa  about 60 miles southeast of Des Moines.  Having received more than 40 inches of rain since the first of April, the corn is not doing well.  The soybeans, however, look good.

After trying them out last year and having good yields, Randy Carruthers planted 100% Asgrow Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans this year.

He likes the emergence and overall plant health with these soybeans and said last year’s crop yielded a couple of bushels better than the variety used previously. 

“So far, I like them really well,”  he said.  “They really took the rain well and look exceptional. “

Carruthers said soybeans in this area average 45 – 55 bushels an acre.

Last year, he found several 4 and 5-bean pods and is looking forward to finding some this year as well.  Prior to planting Asgrow Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans, 2 and 3-bean pods were the norm.

Conversation with Randy Carruthers

Central Illinois farmer Bruce Briggs of Stonington is in the process of bringing his son into the farming operation, so bringing new technology, like that found in Asgrow Genuity RR2Y soybeans is important. Bruce says finding a 5-bean pod was nice, but the number of 3 and 4-bean pods is what’s really exciting.

AUDIO: Bruce Briggs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBrlxV8jWWM

Looking for ways to increase soybean yields is what attracted Bill Gartner of Lawrenceville, Illinois to the Asgrow Genuity RR2Y technology in 2009. The performance last year, from the soybeans clustering near the top of the plant, to a slight increase in yield was enough for Bill Gartner to plant more Asgrow Genuity RR2Y soybeans in 2010. 

AUDIO: Bill Gartner

For Bill Gartner of Lawrenceville, Illinois, finding a 5-bean pod in 2009 involved a little bit of luck, and luck he says resulted in finding the first 5-bean pod he found this year, but he was really looking for the second, 5-bean pod. Gartner, who farms with his brother-in-law, says he is seeing improvements in the variety’s available, most noticeable, the number of 3 and 4-bean pods. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfsbgcXVIsc

Greg Anthis a crop consultant for Crop Production Services at Wheatland, Indiana believes the technology found in Asgrow Genuity RR2Y soybeans will translate into increased yields for his customers and in 2010, Anthis says they’re seeing more beans per pod, and more pods per plant.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCOjT36IMWY