It’s corn week! Helena locations across the United States are helping their customers become more CornWise® and maximize corn yield this growing season. With uncertain weather patterns this season, it is critical that farmers consider the nutrient demand of their crops. As corn progresses from vegetation to reproduction, creating a CornWise program is the best step towards providing your corn with the nutrition it needs while protecting it from destructive pests.
In a recent episode of Helena’s FieldLink® Podcast, Tanner Oyen, Helena Sales Representative in Monroe, Wisconsin, and Steven McKechnie, Helena Agronomist based out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, sat down to talk about the innovative products and technologies Helena offers to help corn farmers not only in the corn belt, but across the nation.
The foundation of any CornWise plan is dependent on what is going on in the crop. With data solutions from AGRIntelligence®, such as Extractor®, growers can discover where their crop has fallen short and what it needs to prosper. Helena representatives assist with tissue sampling and help growers analyze the results. They work together to create a roadmap that lays out how they can act to help the plant agronomically respond.
“What makes Extractor unique is the interpretation of the values. You pull a tissue test and send it to a lab. They all run relatively the same procedures on how they together create a roadmap that lays out how they can act to help the plant agronomically. So, what really makes a program like Extractor important is how you use that data to come up with actionable, useful stuff, such as predictions when we need more P and K and things like that.”
Steven McKechnie, Helena Agronomist
The question for growers isn’t should I do something, it is what am I going to do? High levels of moisture from rainfall and intense humidity has increased the risk for fungal growth, with tar spot and other infestations possible across the Midwest. There is real yield potential, but there is also risk. Fungicide applications in addition to nutritional applications are necessary for corn crops to reach maximum yield and growth. Oyen says that applying a nutritional like Coron® Metra increases efficiency substantially.
“Not only are you already making that pass, but just to feed the tissue rather than feeding the soil and relying on the plants to go and find that and bring that into the plant, we know that plants drink, they don't eat. So, if we can bypass that system, that's still important, but we found that we can get that nitrogen into the plant 10 to 15 times more efficiently than applying that same nutrition to the soil.”
Tanner Oyen, Helena Sales Representative
The performance of Coron Metra with a fungicide helps drive the active ingredient from the fungicide into the plant more effectively. It improves the performance of that fungicide in two primary areas: sticking to the leaf longer and improving deposition.
“Coron alone isn’t an adjuvant for fungicides, but it does so much to help with wetting and spreading of fungicides, and fungicides need wetting and spreading. They need coverage over the plant.”
Steven McKechnie, Helena Agronomist
There are lots of opportunities out there. For stronger yields that pack in nutrition and protection for your corn crop, McKechnie and Oyen recommend working with your local Helena representative to identify the best products for your crop’s needs this season.
Find a Helena location near you to develop a CornWise plan to help your crops reach their full potential. Hear more insights on corn week and the importance of nutritionals and fungicides from Tanner Oyen and Steven McKechnie by tuning in to Episode 92 of the FieldLink Podcast, available on YouTube or wherever you listen.