“If You Don’t Measure It, You Can’t Manage It”

Post-Planting Management with the Max Yield System

In the next few weeks as you wrap up spring planting it’s time to walk your fields and focus on the fifth factor of the Max Yield System’s Top 5 Factors to Produce a Top Crop — Post-Planting Management. One of the most overlooked yet critical steps in creating a Top Crop is evaluating your final corn stand.

The Max Yield System teaches us that yield isn’t made in one pass—it’s the result of layered, intentional management decisions. Stand evaluations give you the first look at how your planting decisions set the foundation for the season.

Start Simple: Basic Stand Counts

In 30” rows, step off or measure 17’5” and count the emerged plants. Multiply by 1,000 to get plants per acre. Do this at several spots, counting 3 adjacent rows per location to get a good average in each location as well as the field.

But while that gives you a population number, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

Go Further: Net Effective Plant Stand (NEPS)

To fully understand the crop’s potential, use a Net Effective Plant Stand (NEPS) evaluation between the V3–V6 stages:

• Score 1 for a full, healthy plant
  
• 0.75 for plants one leaf behind
  
• 0.5 for two leaves behind
  
• 0 for anything more than two leaves behind
  

NEPS helps you see how even the crop’s emergence really is—because uniformity is a major driver of Max Yield. Add up your total score and divide by the total number of plants counted. A NEPS score 92–100% of your stand count means your field is positioned for Max Yield.

Estimating Yield Potential

Now use NEPS to project yield by multiplying your NEPS by the appropriate yield factor based on your environment:

• Fully Irrigated: 8–10 bu per 1,000 plants
  
• Limited Irrigation: 8–11 bu/1,000 (with a good flex hybrid)
  
• Dryland: 9–12 bu/1,000 (in good conditions)

This step in the Max Yield System helps you fine-tune decisions on in-season inputs. When you know the field’s true potential, you can invest with confidence.

Feed and Protect the Crop

Once you’ve confirmed a high NEPS and yield potential, maximize it with strategic inputs:

• BW Fusion Full Sun – 64 oz at V3–V4: Increases photosynthesis and energy capture early in the season, especially effective in irrigated or limited water scenarios.
  
• BW Fusion Relax Rx – 16oz: Supports recovery after herbicide applications and stress events with targeted amino acids and nutrients.
  
• BW Fusion AmiNo – 32oz: Replaces inefficient nitrates with amino acids to help plants create proteins and sugars more efficiently, improving stress response and yield protection.
  

The Max Yield System starts long before you ever put a seed in the ground, but it doesn’t stop there.

Evaluating your stand is the first step in managing toward your full yield potential. Without a high NEPS, you won’t hit the highest yields. But with it—and with the right post-planting management—you’ve got everything in place to push your crop to the MAX.

#GrowYourYield  #GrowYourLegacy #GrowStrong with Axis Seed.