Classic Trade Show Draws Thousands
A record breaking 6,000 farmers are attending Commodity Classic in Orlando this week. When not in business or educational sessions, Classic attendees are walking the massive trade show. With planters set to roll in about 30 days, the focus of talk at the trade show is on what spring weather might be. Chris Jefferies, with Seed Consultants, says the Eastern Corn Belt moisture is good and should be enough to get a corn crop in and up, “While a lot can still happen before planting begins, in general we have had enough recharge to get the crop off to a good start.” He told HAT he is more concerned about high temperatures, “If we can avoid the extreme heat, we have enough moisture to grow corn.”
He added, however, that many Seed Consultant customers opted for hybrids with traits to manage drought stress, “We introduced two new AqaMax varieties 1083 and 1094, and a lot of guys wanted to hedge their bets by choosing hybrids with the drought tolerant trait.”
As for what the acreage mix will be, Jeffries says we may see more bean acres because of recent drops in corn prices, “I had had a few growers tell me they may switch to acres to soybeans, but for the most part I think guys will stay with their rotation.”
As for seed supply Brad Newell, with Channel, serving Southern IN, says there is plenty of seed for last minute orders, “If anyone calls me right now, I can fill their needs with high quality seeds.” He says, while last year’s drought did impact seed production, most seed companies have adequate supply for the 2013 crop.