Merschman Seeds Sales Manager, Greg Davidson Updates us on how things are going in the Southwest Illinois area.

Posted on: March 03, 2023

On this episode of Cup of Joe, our Sales Manager Greg Davidson gives a local perspective on his sales territory in the Southwest Illinois area. Greg also brings us up to speed on what Farmers are doing to manage their wheat.

The wheat in Greg’s territory is currently frozen on top due to cold temperatures. He has been currently counting tillers and found they are looking between 70 to 90 heads.

Tillering means how many heads you can get out of wheat per square foot. Greg tries to get 100 head per square foot at best, but the average is between 70 to 90.

One head equals one bushel, so trying to get 100 heads per square foot would be 100 bushels of potential wheat. If you are more on the 70 end, this calls for putting an early shot of nitrogen to increase tillering to bring in more heads.

Greg’s go-to soybean varieties are Kennedy and Austin, which are currently being planted in his area. There is a new Eisenhower soybean variety coming for seed production in the lineup as well. Eisenhower fits Greg’s region because of the 3.9 maturity rate and it’s a “go anywhere” product that continues to yield.

Greg is always looking for the new next best thing to introduce to customers and Farmers. Farmers in Greg’s territory who are trying to catch an extra bushel in the field are going to start putting double rates of fungicide on, start foliar feeding more and focus on insecticides.

For more information, visit our website and check out our latest episode of Cup of Joe to keep up to date with the latest industry news affecting agriculture and profitability.