Episode 11 | Why Early Seed Decisions Matter

Transcript of Podcast Video

Transcripts have been lightly edited for clarity and readability. 

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Chris Carlson: Welcome to At the Table with Central Valley Ag. I'm Chris Carlson, senior vice president of agronomy, and I'll be your host for today's episode. Today, we're taking a high-level look at one of the most important yield decisions a producer can make for the 2027 crop year, and why that decision should begin before harvest even starts. Joining me today is Chad Odvody, director of seed, and Travis Baumann, director of agronomy sales. Welcome, guys. 

Travis Baumann: Good afternoon. 

Chad Odvody: Afternoon, Chris.

Chris Carlson: Before we get started, why don't you give us a quick overview about who you are and what you do, and maybe how long you've been here with CVA?

Travis Baumann: Yeah, I can start. Thanks, Chris. Travis Baumann. I've been with CVA, it'll be 13 years come this October. Started out as a field sales agronomist out of our 8120 location, then transitioned over to regional sales manager for region one and 10, and then took over director of agronomy sales. It'll be a year here September 1st, so excited to be here. 

Chris Carlson: Cool.

Chad Odvody: Yep. Chad Odvody. I'm the director of seed for CVA. I've been in this role for 12 years, and I lead the overall strategy and vision for our seed business, which includes areas like pricing, programs, brand strategy, and process improvement. I work closely with our seed partners and seed team. Ultimately, my role is to make sure that CVA is a reliable supplier of seed, that we're delivering a great experience for our customers, and we continue to grow our seed business.

Chris Carlson: Great. As I mentioned, today's conversation is about seed, and here we are on almost the middle of August, and we haven't even started harvest, but the seed ordering process is going to start here pretty quickly. So what are some of the things that producers should be thinking about seed prior to harvest when they don't have final yield results yet?

Travis Baumann: Yeah, I can start with that, Chad. Seed decisions aren't just winter or spring decisions anymore. There's a lot of choices that growers can make, and the best-performing growers are already starting to evaluate yields, looking at hybrid performance, thinking about their management practices they've used throughout the season. It's pretty simple. The earlier we start planning, the more intentional we can be about finding the right hybrid and genetics for each acre.

Chad Odvody: Sure. To me, it's about product availability and having more options to choose from early. And again, to Travis's point, we want to try to find the best fit for the acre, whether it's the genetics or traits, and some products simply fit a grower's circumstances better.

Chris Carlson: Sure. Chad, maybe with that, what would be the life cycle of a hybrid? How many years could we see it in a planter before it's outdated?

Chad Odvody: Yeah, I think when you go back 10 to 15 years ago, it wasn't uncommon to see some high-volume products around for close to 10 years. Now with how quickly they're accelerating products, like I mentioned, it's more of a three- to five-year product life cycle. The majority of that is due to just all the advances in breeding technology, whether it's trait placement, gene editing, or the increasing use of AI in breeding. But it's not going to slow down anytime soon.

Chris Carlson: No, it’ll speed up.

Chad Odvody: Yep, exactly.

Chris Carlson: Yeah. Great point, Chad. So as we look down the road, and I can remember helping dad fill the planter years ago, and we maybe had one or two different hybrids, and that's what we planted across all the acres. But today it feels like every field has a different story. And what does that mean? So maybe tell me what 'every field has its own story' means when it comes to hybrid selection.

Travis Baumann: Yeah, I think, Chris, I'd say 10 years ago, there was a lot of hybrids out there that you could plant across nearly every acre. As genetics have improved, we've become more dialed in on finding the right genetics for the right acre. Things have definitely changed. Some hybrids perform better on productive soils. Some handle stress better. Some are designed for irrigation and dryland. So there's a lot of different choices out there for growers, The key is finding which genetics and hybrids perform best on each acre to maximize that yield.

Chad Odvody: Sure. Yep. And that's where at CVA, we have a multi-brand strategy. So we don't have just one brand that we're trying to fit on the grower's acres. We have DEKALB and Asgrow, we have Brevant and CROPLAN, NK and AgriGold. Each one of those brands brings something a little different, whether it's genetics or traits and technologies or just product fit. And when you look at our footprint for CVA, we go from northwest Iowa down to north-central Kansas from a 1.7 maturity on soybeans to a 4.5 and probably from 100-day on corn to 118 day. And so there are a lot of different environments and needs. And so that's, I guess, our strategy around why we have a multi-brand approach to fit the different needs for each individual grower we work with.

Chris Carlson: Yeah. So Chad, maybe we take it from here and we'll let Travis jump in too. But for the last seven, eight years, CVA has been pretty successful in this Go Early seed program that we've offered starting here in August. Maybe give us some of the benefits a producer could see by participating.

Chad Odvody: Yeah. So going back to what we were talking about before, I think it starts with early planning around the acre and securing those products. I mean, we start to see, obviously, once we get into harvest and we start seeing what those top performers are, demand for those products increases and there's just not going to be enough to go around with some of those products that get sold out. And I know last year in October, we were already starting to see double-digit number of products being sold out. So I think it all starts with early planning to secure that supply. But then we have Go Early programs that we can build around those acres and those products that can lock in maximum discounts for the season. We also have our best financing terms and programs during that timeframe as well.

Travis Baumann: Sure. Yeah. Just to add on to that a little bit, at CVA, we realize that one of the biggest decisions that growers make is the seed decision. So we take that very seriously. The earlier that you can get started with making these decisions, the better the outcome. The better planning you have, the better the outcome. So we really encourage our FSAs to get out there and start these conversations early with growers, talk about management practices, what they may change for the coming year, and then look at those hybrids that fit the grower on what they want to do. Every year is different. Every year a grower's going to try new things from management practices. And there's a lot of different options to do that, but planning is a big part of why we've been successful.

Chris Carlson: You mentioned some of the double-digit product sellouts a year ago and we really won't know the full story until soybean or corn production harvest starts here in another 30 days probably. But have you heard anything from our partners about any production issues today that we're aware of?

Chad Odvody: Haven't heard of any production issues yet, but production's kind of an inexact science with purity and everything that comes with it. Seed has to go through germination testing and meet specifications. But no watch-outs thus far. Each company forecast these products back in the December-January timeframe. And you hope they had a production plan built around the products that are going to hit in the fall. And sometimes that can be right on and sometimes maybe you can miss that a little bit.

Travis Baumann: Yeah. To add onto that a little bit, Chad, yeah, seed production starts long before planting season. And that's one of the nice things about starting earlier. Those high-demand hybrids that people want, production could be limited. So when we get out there early, work with our growers on what they want and need, the earlier we know supply may be short on a certain hybrid, we can go back, we can work with our reps on trying to secure that hybrid for those growers.

Chris Carlson: Cool. Are there any common mistakes that you would see year over year from a producer waiting till March or April to purchase this seed?

Chad Odvody: Yeah, I think we're going to have seed to sell all the way up through planting. We're going to have a lot of supply. But is it going to be the right products that they wanted? And if they wait a little too long, are they going to miss out on securing a product or some products that they really wanted on their farm?

Travis Baumann: Yeah. And I think by growers waiting, you start to limit what's available. The most desirable products can sell out and we'll have seed to sell, but it really limits the products that you want for those acres. And obviously some financing options and things like that later in the season are different. So I would say the biggest mistake is just waiting.

Chris Carlson: Yeah. Good comment. What should producers be doing today to prepare them for this next big decision that they're going to make on their 2027 crop in the seed-planning process?

Travis Baumann: If I was a grower today, I'd start looking at my acres. Which are the ones that are the high performers and which are the low performers? I'd start evaluating that. I'd also look at my plan for next year, from rotation to management practices, irrigation, fungicide, things like that, so we can help place hybrids appropriately. And really what we need to start doing today is just connecting with your field sales agronomist on what those plans look like. Like I said, every year's different. There's going to be changes that are made and we need to make sure we're placing the right hybrid out there.

Chris Carlson: Anything to add to that, Chad?

Chad Odvody: Yeah, I'd add that with the number of new products our seed partners will be launching, maybe just start talking with your field sales agronomists just about the different attributes of those different products. I mean, a lot of them are in plots. If you want to take a look at a plot or our field sales agronomist would be happy to show you some of those and how they look in the field, just so you can start seeing some of their agronomic characteristics.

Chris Carlson: Yeah. I've been seeing and talking to a few of the salespeople throughout the last couple of weeks, and I know they're starting to put together these harvest plans, starting to scout fields and think about the final 30 days as this crop finishes out. And I say overall, the crop looks fairly good. We've had some pretty good rains here in the last couple of weeks, but that first half of July was fairly dry and we had some hot temperatures that we were a little worried about pollination, but it looks like for the most part the crop is going to make it through. We may have some areas that are a little rough, but overall it looks like we're going to have a good crop. Well, gentlemen, I guess before we maybe wrap this up, any last closing comments from either one of you?

Travis Baumann: Yeah, I would say some next steps. I'd get in touch with your local field sales agronomist, set up a meeting with them, start talking about your seed plans for this next year. Every field has a different story. Let's start figuring out what hybrids fit on those fields. Let's make sure that you're getting the right hybrid for those fields to maximize the yield potential. Planning for next season starts now.

Chad Odvody: I would just add that we're rolling out programs to our sales team right now. We have most of our pricing from our seed partners and we should have the rest of it here in the next couple of weeks. So as growers talk with their field sales agronomists about needs, we'll also have pricing and programs to support those conversations.

Chris Carlson: Well, we'll call that a wrap on today's At the Table with Central Valley Ag. Travis and Chad, thank you for your time. We also want to wish everybody a safe and bountiful harvest coming up here in the next couple of months. But again, until next time, we appreciate everything you do.

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