Placing Hybrids

What does it mean to place hybrids correctly? It means that the right hybrid is in the right field, for the right management practices, for the right year. Let’s take a step back and discuss how we can select the right hybrid for each field utilizing Advantage Acre.

• For the right year: Weathertrends360
• For the right management practices: Field Plan
• For the right field: Functional Soil Maps
• Right hybrid: Your Trusted Advisor

Let’s get started with hybrid selection…
For the right year: Weathertrends360

Utilize Weathertrends360’s forecast, which has up to 84% accuracy, to determine in-season cropping factors such as: planting window, grain-fill period, disease possibilities and the effectiveness of a fungicide.

(Above is an image of the weather timeline in Advantage Acre Plus. You can use this helpful tool for making management practice decisions.)

For the right management practices: Field Plan
Plan for each field to customize management practices such as:

• Tillage
• Previous Crop
• Cover Crop
• Nitrogen
  • Split application
  • Fall-applied
  • Spring single pass

All management decisions can be made in the
Field and Fertility tabs, shown to the right.

For the right field: Functional Soil Maps

Determine the productivity of fields within a 30’x30’ zone. This allows for customizable
seeding populations based on the characteristics of topography, predictive water
mapping, and yield potential. Advantage Acre allows you to evaluate field characteristics
such as how the field holds water, where water might pool, and how organic matter is
distributed in each field to better understand the seeding environment.

Below is an example of what the productivity index looks like for a specific field within Advantage Acre. The system gives each 30’x30’ square a ranking from 1-10 based on productivity within the field.

Right hybrid: Your Trusted Advisor
Determine the correct hybrid for the field by utilizing your trusted seed advisor and their knowledge of each hybrid for your management practices. Selecting the right hybrid is a complex process, but Advantage Acre, combined with the knowledge of your trusted advisor as well as your experience, allows you to feel more confident in your decisions.

Now that you have selected the correct hybrid for the specific field, you can utilize Advantage Acre’s Seed Plan to record your plan for the upcoming season. The image to the left shows the seed plan tab. In this tab, you can select the hybrid, treatment, planting population and more.