It is September, but many farmers, agronomists, and retailers are already focused on the 2026 season, and leading the charge of those agronomic decisions is seed. Mark Menke, seed products agronomist with Wilbur-Ellis, shares how with the tough economic situation in row crops, stubbing your toe with a seed selection can be even more painful.
“One of the big drivers, and we have to remind our sales folks, that farmers are really looking for value,” Menke says. “And when you’re in a tight (economic) year, that doesn’t mean just the cheapest overall genetics or cheapest price you can get. If you stub your toe in this kind of environment, it’s a rough thing.”
That’s why Menke says the focus for 2026 is on placement of the best agronomics and the highest yielding products while also spreading out risk. He shares the example of a wind storm knocking down a corn crop highlighting how standability ratings may be factored in.
“Really, they’re looking for good products, the best product at a reasonable price. Where they’re looking to cut costs are things that are not going to cost them yield or agronomics,” Menke says.
For soybeans, he says the two drivers are the same: yield and performance.
“It’s probably a little more driven in the soybean side by weed control. They have to have a system that they can manage easily to keep the weeds down. Soybeans, just naturally, they don’t have the height and canopy to fight against weeds. So you have to have a good program so that you start losing yield to weeds pretty quickly in soybeans,” he says.
So what’s overlooked with seed selection?
Menke says farmers should have a conversation about trait packages.
“We deal with a lot of different tools to manage weeds and bugs,” he says. “So I remind people that the biotech traits we have are yielding a lot because they are in fantastic hybrids. If you want to start working your way down the price ladder without giving up yield, don’t go to inferior genetics, go to a lower trait package, even down to conventional corn, if you can manage all the weeds and bugs.”
He says the conversation has two benefits:
- It helps farmers really assess what they need from their trait packages, or perhaps what pests can be controlled in different ways.
- It demonstrates trust in the relationship with the seller. Menke says it helps squash a belief that a seed seller is only trying to place the most expensive product without considering all the option.
“What we’re doing is we want to provide options, discuss where that value comes from and come up with what’s best for your farm,” he says.
One other tip Menke highlights to keep top of mind for 2026 is reviewing plot data. And not just looking at in-field results but specifically looking at multiple years of data to reveal strengths and weaknesses for the products based on the environmental factors.
“The way I coach our sellers, and then all the farmers we talk to, is to make sure that you look at a wide set of data. Obviously, the most emotional data is what’s coming in your own combine, from your own plots, your own fields, but the big thing I try to tell people to remember is every year is not the same,” Menke says.
