THE TRUST FACTOR.
For farmers, every growing season begins with a measure of trust.
Trust that the weather will deliver what crops need to flourish. Trust that commodity prices will translate into profit potential. And trust that all the decisions they’ve made will have their farm well-positioned for success when those other factors fall into place.
KYLE ANDERSON WOULD SAY IT’S ALL THREE.
Anderson is the third-generation owner of Anderson Farms in Verona, North Dakota, a corn and soybean operation in the southern part of the state.
“In 2005, I graduated college and came back home,” says Anderson. “All I wanted to do is farm. And over the last 20 years, word kind of got out that I was doing a good job, so when farmers in the area started retiring, they wanted me to take over. Things have just kind of expanded since then.”
“Expanded” feels a bit like a humble brag. Anderson Farms is running four John Deere X9 combines and has enough green tractors, planters and sprayers to assume that Kyle’s gotten more than just a few free hats from his local equipment dealer.
Anderson splits his acres in half between corn and soybeans, then rotates every season to keep weed resistance at bay. For him, the soil variability across his acres can present unique challenges when it comes to seed decisions.
“I’ve always pushed to buy seed as early as possible, so I’m evaluating the next decision when I’m literally spraying the current crop,” says Anderson. “What I’m looking for is repeatability. I can’t have a variety that just falls flat on its face one year and then be good the next. It has to be consistent, which isn’t easy when you have as much variability as we do across our fields.”
TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK.
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Since taking over the operation from his father, Anderson has partnered with his local Agtegra Cooperative retailer and agronomist Tyler Mahrer. “I’ve worked with Agtegra since I started farming and never really went anywhere else because they were always good to me,” says Anderson. “Every year, Tyler sits down with me to go through each field, and we pick out hybrids and varieties that would work the best for that specific field.” Even when everything goes according to plan, Mahrer is always looking for ways to help him improve. “We’re constantly trying to evaluate products, different placements and what we can do better for next year,” says Mahrer. “Kyle and I work really well together.”
TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK.
Since taking over the operation from his father, Anderson has partnered with his local Agtegra Cooperative retailer and agronomist Tyler Mahrer. “I’ve worked with Agtegra since I started farming and never really went anywhere else because they were always good to me,” says Anderson. “Every year, Tyler sits down with me to go through each field, and we pick out hybrids and varieties that would work the best for that specific field.” Even when everything goes according to plan, Mahrer is always looking for ways to help him improve. “We’re constantly trying to evaluate products, different placements and what we can do better for next year,” says Mahrer. “Kyle and I work really well together.”
And their planning goes beyond just seed. It’s also crop rotations, chemistries, fertilizers and more. “I think retail is the best way to purchase seed on just about any farm because you’re able to join your seed decision with all of the other products and services that are offered through retail,” says Mahrer. “I’m stopping out multiple times throughout the growing season because I want to see how your crops are doing, not just once or twice a year to sell you a box or two of seed.” That level of partnership is both critical to and appreciated by Anderson.
Mahrer is the first to admit he doesn’t have all the answers when Kyle calls, but he’s confident in the resources available to him at Agtegra Cooperative to be able to find one. “I’m not going to feed him full of lines just to get a sale,” says Mahrer. “And I think Kyle trusts that I won’t do that because I’m truly looking out for the farmers that I work with.”
HIS EQUIPMENT LEANS GREEN, BUT RED RUNS DEEP ON HIS FARM.
“We’ve got a really good history with CROPLAN® seed,” says Anderson. “My dad started growing it about as soon as CROPLAN became available. I followed suit, and it’s worked out really well.”
Anderson says his acres are nearly 100% CROPLAN products. But that doesn’t mean he’s not getting frequent knocks on his door.
“I’ve purchased seed from other companies, and it seems like every time that I try it and compare it with CROPLAN, it never pans out,” says Anderson. “Part of it is not having that same working relationship that I have with Tyler. But mostly, it’s just when I go in the combine and look at the yield monitor, it’s just not as good as CROPLAN seed.”
From Mahrer’s standpoint, CROPLAN seed gives him what he needs to make the best recommendations to farmers across his territory.
“I feel confident recommending CROPLAN seed to my growers because when you open up a seed guide or you want to try a new hybrid, you know it’s already gone through rigorous testing in the Answer Plot® system, so you’re able to actually trust that data,” he says. “And it’s easier to place new products because CROPLAN gives me access to all the leading traits from across the industry.”
The Answer Plot program from WinField United consists of locations all across the U.S., each testing and retesting a variety of top-performing seed in local soils.
UNIQUE SOLUTIONS HELP MINIMIZE RISK.
For Anderson, field variability is an annual challenge. When selecting soybean varieties, different soil conditions and pressures can lead to uneven yield potential and maturity issues at harvest. One of his pressures is white mold in certain areas.
Mahrer recommended CROPLAN WinPak® varieties. WinPak blends two high-performing and complementary seed varieties into one bag to help growers capitalize on traditionally high-producing soils while also helping mitigate variability risks. This year, Anderson selected CP1240XF, which blends CP1242XF and CP1342XF, both XtendFlex® soybean varieties that combine high yield potential and solid agronomics, including a higher white mold tolerance score.
“We want all our ground to produce, and WinPak varieties have been really successful for us both in terms of yield and in reducing our white mold populations,” says Anderson.
Mahrer had another recommendation to further reduce Anderson’s risk: the Advanced Acre Rx® program from WinField United. The program includes two options: the Elite Rx® or Impact Rx™ programs. Both help retailers and their growers look at the whole acre, rather than individual decisions, to maximize ROI potential. And, in the case of Elite Rx, it’s backed by a service warranty* if approved yields aren’t met.
“Kyle and I sat down and talked about the Advanced Acre program, and he saw the value in a program like this that kind of wraps everything together to help produce the best crop you can and be the most profitable you can,” says Mahrer. “The yield guarantee lets the grower know you really stand behind your recommendations, and if it doesn’t produce what we thought, we’ll back it up with a certain dollar value.”
Last season, Anderson enrolled his soybeans in the Elite Rx program and his corn in the Impact Rx program. This season, it’s reversed.
STORIES FROM THE FIELD
CROPLAN takes your success personally because our loyalty is to you and your fields, so naturally, we love to share the stories of how fellow free thinkers are finding success in the field. Here’s a few of our favorites.
PLAYING THE DATA GAME
Farmers have more data at their fingertips than ever before. A trusted advisor is key in helping apply it to their acres.