STEINBACH, MAN. THE CARILLON n C7
www.thecarillon.com n
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2024
Agriculture Now
WES KEATING THE CARILLON
Mike Weir, area agronomist for Pioneer Hi-Bred, chats with Eric Peters, who has been a Marc Hutlet seeds customer since the 1990s.
Soybeans gaining in popularity Continued from page 6C
ing to connect as much as possible with his customers and has spent the past two decades working on finding out what their needs are, while gaining a reputation as an ad- visor. One of the important facets of gaining the information needed in- volves roughly 100 corn/soybean trials Hutlet Seeds conducts every growing season, comparing yields on 500 different strips of numerous varieties of corn and soybeans. During the growing season, Marc Hutlet Seeds provides a weekly video that can be picked up on YouTube to help producers alleviate problems that may arise along the way. Satel- lite imagery has replaced the drones that used to be employed to create videos that provide instantaneous recommendations to producers. A website developed more than a dozen years ago gets reports on yield weight comparisons to customers in a hurry and saves an enormous amount of mailing, which used to be the case. Years ago, Marc Hutlet Seeds would mail out 350 copies of the report. Now farmers can visit the website and download the informa- tion or, if they choose, receive it by e-mail. More field scouting helps produc-
well, Hutlet explains. “There is no better plant than corn to recycle the nutrients in soil applied manure and make efficient use of it.” Corn and soybeans are the biggest driver of sales for Marc Hutlet Seeds, which also handles alfalfa and cano- la. It hasn’t always been that way and when Marc first started back in the early 1980’s, it took 85 to 90 days for grain corn to mature and yields were inevitably lower. Today, 75-day corn is producing up to 50 bushels more per acre than that first corn. “Herbicide tolerance, improved disease protection and pest resis- tance to European Corn Borer as well as Northern Corn Root worm have turned that crop around.” But even as the business expands and sales continue to grow, Hutlet says there are no plans to increase the area Marc Hutlet Seeds has tra- ditionally served, which is a wide swath of southeastern Manitoba. The diversity of dairy, poultry, swine and cash crops in this corner of the province is a phenomenal mix and provides Marc Hutlet Seeds with ever-increasing soybean and corn acreage. Hutlet says he is persistent in try-
Some customers find it conve- nient for Hutlet to store their seed until it is needed, and the added warehouses are a result of that. Hut- let says this is a most important con- venience for customers, who don’t always want their seed until they are ready for planting. Soybeans are delivered to the cus- tomer in bulk or picked up by pro- ducers in tenders or trucks. Corn proboxes or bags are mostly de- livered except at pickup days. The yard at Dufresne grew as the busi- ness grew, with four bins going up in 2005 and another four added five years later. There has been an evolution in soybeans throughout the North American marketplace. Adaptable genetic varieties combined with herbicide tolerance traits have brought early maturing soybeans to this area. Two decades ago, there were no soybeans of any relevance in the Southeast, and now it has be- come a rotational crop on most ev- ery farm. Grain corn acres have increased a lot over the years, as well. Genet- ic development has stimulated that growth and the use of manure as fertilizer from all the livestock op- erations has played a major role as
WES KEATING THE CARILLON Ben Signer checks the planting date for a variety of grain corn that used to be the most widely grown in Manitoba.
Bomber, Pistons games and offers snowmobile rides in the off-season. “It is important to keep in contact with producers and it is not always just about selling something.”
ers manage their crops and is just one of the perks of being a Marc Hutlet Seeds customer. Hutlet also hosts regular growers’ meetings, takes customers to Jets,
WES KEATING THE CARILLON
Karis, Ben and Marc review the agenda for the day before beginning presentations at the annual crop tour.
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