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More Bushels for Less with Meristem

02/27/2023

“We grew 113.1 Bu./A. soybeans…”

John Torrance, Illinois Soybean Champion

Near Gladstone, Illinois, John Torrance earned the title of 2022 Illinois Soybean Yield Champion with an extraordinary crop on a 200-acre river bottom farm near the Mississippi River.

“It’s a mile-long field and we use a 40-foot head on the combine,” he explains, “I knew we had something good when I couldn’t make it all the way down that field without having to unload.” Torrance says his use of REVLINE™ HOPPER THROTTLE™ planter box treatment seemed to give the crop a great start. “We grew 113.1 Bu./A. soybeans and from the very start, those beans came out of the ground so quickly and so even,” Torrance says. “And they really were a nice, dark green from the very beginning.”

Torrance said he also used Meristem’s EXCAVATOR™ on the field in the autumn of 2021 and the company’s HOMESTRETCH™ to spoon-feed the crop through the season. “In our test plots with different soybean varieties we’ve seen yields up to 135 bushels, so we think there’s still upside to our yields that’s worth pursuing.”

Being open-minded to new practices and paying attention to details are key to driving toward higher yields and better return on investment (ROI), Torrance says. “We brainstorm all the time over things we might do to squeeze out more profitable bushels,” he says. “Don’t be afraid to try something new.”

Rob McClelland, Meristem’s President and CMO, says that’s exactly the sort of spirit that’s helped the new company grow quickly over the past three years. “We’re so grateful for farmers like John Torrance and thousands of others who’ve helped us grow so quickly,” he says. “Every day, we’re reducing waste and opening up more acres to new technology. Innovation has been stifled by an old, stodgy, wasteful crop input distribution system for too long. This kind of change is overdue.”

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