Choices for planting get tougher this year
Farmers must weigh the risks of StarLink against potentially low bean yields.
By JERRY PERKINS, Register Farm Editor / 03/18/2001
Soybean seed germination rates are low, and corn production costs are high as spring planting approaches.
The conflicting signals further complicate farmers' planting choices, which already include new concerns about genetically engineered seeds.
Farmers who planted 25-30 percent of the nation's corn acres to biotech seed last year are re-evaluating high-tech seed this year following the negative publicity associated with StarLink corn. StarLink was supposed to be grown only for animal and industrial uses, but wound up in a variety of food products, prompting recalls and putting a dent in the U.S. corn export market.
Dale Vos, seed manager at the Sully Cooperative Exchange, said corn that has been genetically altered to combat European corn borers is selling well this year, despite the StarLink controversy.
However, he said, farmers are not buying genetically altered corn varieties that have not been approved for importation into the European Union.
Most of the corn varieties that are not selling as well are those that have been genetically modified to resist Roundup herbicide, Vos said.
Another new consideration this year is an effort to persuade farmers that they can get more money out of the government by switching fields from corn to soybeans because farm program payments are higher for soybeans than corn.
Any decision to add more acres of soybeans must be weighed against the fact that last summer's dry weather produced soybean seeds that have lower than normal germination rates.
"It's pretty frightening," Daniel Curry said of this year's 10 percent drop in soybean germination rates.
"We have germination all over the board, running from 90 percent to 20 percent. Usually, we expect 90 percent plus," said Curry, who is a seed laboratory manager at Iowa State University seed science center.
At the same time, the cost of producing corn has risen an estimated 5 percent because of higher fuel and nitrogen costs.
Until this year, energy costs as a percentage of total production costs have dropped, going back as far as 1981, said Michael Duffy, extension economist at Iowa State University. This year, they went up.
Seed industry sources blame low soybean seed germination rates on dry weather last August and September.
Jerry Harrington, sales public relations manager for Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., said soybean seed bags carry information on germination rates.
"We're trying to be upfront with our customers," he said.
If the germination rate is lower than 85 percent, Harrington said, customers will be given a price discount on their seed.
Tony Minnichsoffer of Syngenta's NK Brand Soybeans, formerly Northrup King, said producers can plant more seeds per acre to make up for lower germination rates.
"It's a manageable problem," Minnichsoffer said. "It's something that can be adjusted for."
There also is a shortage of soybean seed caused by lower production from last summer's dry weather and increased demand, especially for Roundup Ready soybean seed.
Roundup Ready soybeans have been genetically modified to resist the popular Roundup herbicide.
"Because of their popularity, demand is quite intense" for Roundup Ready soybean seed, Harrington said.
Jeff Lacina, public relations manager for Garst Seed Co. and AgriPro Seeds, said tight soybean seed supplies might mean farmers might have to change planting plans.
"With tight supplies, they might not be able to plant as many soybeans as they want," Lacina said.
Vos of the Sully Cooperative said demand for Roundup Ready soybeans is intense this year.
As much as 95 percent of the soybeans planted in southeast Iowa will be Roundup Ready, he said.
"I am able to meet the demand now because I ordered a block of seed early," Vos said. "We won't know if we have enough soybean seed for certain until June 15, when soybean planting is over."
Corn seed supplies are adequate, Vos said. The quality of seed corn is much better than it is for soybeans, and corn germination rates are normal this year.
"Farmers" balance sheets don"t look too bad, because there has been a lot of government money," Duffy said. "But, if you take the government payments out, you have a lot of red ink. ... These higher production costs are just one more thing that hits you psychologically.":
