Corn and soybean harvest is moving right along in Michigan. Soybeans have been coming off faster than corn. Agronomist Josh Whelan covers Northern Michigan for Pioneer, and he agrees with what we’ve been hearing from farmers, that early planted beans have been a lot better than later planted.
“I would say the early season soybeans are some of the best early season soybeans we’ve ever seen. And I’m guessing the later stuff, it’s still there. They’re pretty good, like you said, not the best we’ve ever seen, but I think that’s because they ran out of water in August.”
Coming into the season, the big news from Pioneer was their new Z Series soybeans improving on their already stellar A Series brand. Whelan says the results are coming in on Z Series beans, and the hype was real.
“The new Z Series lineup is by far the best beans I’ve seen out there. I mean, there are beans that are yielding in similar maturity ranges, three bushels above the A Series lineup, and I’ve had nothing but happy growers. A lot of phone calls with people very pleased with the yields they’re seeing. Very impressed.”
As for corn, Whelan has been pleased with yield reports thus far.
“Corn has been excellent in most places. It is drying down quicker than people in Northern Michigan have ever experienced. And it’s doing it naturally. It’s just that we had a lot of heat this summer that we weren’t used to, and what that led to is some really good corn and some pretty good test weights. So, I’m really happy with how stuff looks in that sense.”
You can get in touch with your Pioneer representative to start putting a plan together for next year by visiting pioneer.com/findmyrep.
Hear the full MAT interview with Whelan below.
