Corn Growers Looking for Yield at Commodity Classic in Orlando

Commodity Classic begins in earnest Thursday at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Michigan Ag Today will provide on-site reports throughout the Classic.

We had the opportunity to catch up with Todd Jeffries, Vice President of Seed Genetics Direct. They’re the only independent seed company here at the Commodity Classic.

“It’s important to us because we want to support our customers as well as the National Corn Growers Association, Ohio corn growers, Indiana corn growers. We’re starting to get more and more entries into the NCGA contest, and while we haven’t had anybody place in the state or nationally quite yet, we’ve had a number of entries incredibly close. We’re going to be placing here very soon.”

Jeffries says most farmers have their seed purchased at this point, but they’re hoping to find some farmers here who might want to give them a try on a few acres because of farmers’ desire to work with a family-owned, independent company.

“We have genetics that work, that compete with anybody else on the market. Just the other day I had a customer in North Central Indiana, well a prospect but soon to be customer, see us Hoosier Ag Today as well as Farm World (newspaper) that gave us a call and he wants to give us a try.”

As we get set for #plant23, Jeffries offers his advice.

“My advice is to have a plan A and stick with it for as long as you can, but have B, C, D, all the way through Z in your back pocket because sometimes we have to pivot on a on a moment’s notice. I have a quote on my LinkedIn profile: ‘When life throws you a curveball, swing. I’m a big believer in that because Mother Nature throws a heck of a lot of curveballs.”

Seed Genetics Direct is nearly set for planting season. Jeffries says they have a lot of seed already on the farm.

“I think we’re about 70% shipped by the end of this week. I have talked to a competing seedsman and he doesn’t have a single bag to any of his customers and he sells a significant amount.”

We’ll have more coverage from Commodity Classic over the next few days.

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