What to do when your plans fail: adjusting without abandoning the Max Yield System.
Welcome back to the EzAg Podcast, where innovative farming meets practical solutions. I’m your host, Matt Long, and today we’re diving into a topic that every grower faces sooner or later. What do you do when your plans fail?
Now, let’s be honest, plans don’t always fail entirely. More often, conditions outside of our control force us to re-evaluate and adjust our plans to fit a new reality. That’s not failure, that’s farming. So today let’s walk through three common curveballs the season throws at us, and more importantly, how to pivot while still staying on track with our Max Yield System.
When Weather Disrupts Planting, Don’t Rush to Change Your Plan
Let’s start with the big one: adverse weather. Whether it’s too wet to plant or so dry, your second guessing every pass, weather is one of the biggest variables that can force a change in your crop plan. It’s frustrating. Delayed planting always upsets the apple cart. But before you go switching hybrids or cutting maturities, take a step back. Ask yourself, “what fields are actually being impacted? What hybrids do we have in the plan there? And how many GDUs does that hybrid need to reach maturity?” Now, here’s where things get a little interesting. Corn adapts. Research from universities like Purdue and Iowa State shows that when corn is planted late, around or after June 1st, it starts to accumulate heat units faster. In fact, late planted corn tends to accumulate about 1.25 GDUs for every one actual GDU. That’s nature’s built-in adjustment system. So what does that mean for your plan? It means that you often don’t need to change maturities as quickly as you think. Yes, June corn might castle later, but with a compressed development cycle, you will still hit black layer before frost. Late planting isn’t ideal, but it’s also not a disaster. The takeaway is don’t abandon your plan too early. Adjust it with knowledge.
Pre-Emergence Herbicide Didn’t Happen? Here’s How to Recover Smart
Another headache, you miss your window for pre-emergence weed control. Maybe it’s been too windy, too wet, or you simply ran out of time now that the corn is up and weeds are still growing in your field. Remember, don’t panic, this is where a post emergence herbicide strategy can come in, but timing matters even more now, so you need to do three things.
- Identify what weeds are actually growing in the field.
- Know your corns growth stage
- Choose your herbicides accordingly.
And here’s a pro tip we use in the Max Yield System. Your corn is developing its maximum ear size between about V6 and V10, so if you’re spraying herbicide mix on your corn around this time, you need to protect it. Applying a hot herbicide mix at this stage pulls energy away from that yield development. To counter that, we recommend adding BW Fusion’s Relax Rx to your tank mix. Relax Rx helps mitigate the stress from the herbicide pass and keeps the corn focused on building that ear, not just surviving the spray. That’s a simple Max Yield System move with a big payback.
Corn Didn’t Happen? Don’t Skip the Steps with Milo or Wheat
And one final scenario for today, the plan was corn, but now it’s too late. Maybe you’re looking at switching to Milo, or maybe you’re looking at a preventative plant on corn and thinking about rotating the wheat. No matter the reason, crop switches happen. But here’s the key, just because you change crops doesn’t mean you should abandon the fundamentals. No matter the crop, the top five factors to produce a top crop still apply. So don’t rush it just because the calendar flipped. Ask yourself are soil conditions still fit for planting. Are you placing seed at the correct depth in spacing? Are you planting the right hybrid of variety for that field? And are you still sourcing high quality seed? And if you’re forced into the preventive plant situation, remember, don’t let your weeds rob your field of future yield. Keeping your field clean during this fallow period will set you up for successful weed control during your next crop. Every one of these things still matters. Switching crops is an adjustment, not a shortcut. Don’t race to the finish line.
Adapt, Don’t Abandon: How to Lead with a Max Yield Mentality
Let me leave you with this reminder: when plans change, they rarely fail 100%. In fact, 80% or more of your Max Yield System plan, if it was made early and intentionally, will hold up all season. The most critical decisions you make aren’t the ones you make in June, they’re the decisions you make far in advance of planting. Developing a Max Yield System plan is a detailed and intentional process that you need to do early every year. So as your calendar flips to June, it’s time to put a July or August date on the books to start your Max Yield System plan for 2026. July and August are when you can build a solid cropping strategy based on your unique fields and goals while eliminating the emotion of weather, market prices, and this year’s yield roller coaster. And eliminating emotions is the only way to make a Max Yield System plan.The Max Yield mentality means making early plans intentionally, then being flexible enough to adapt them wisely, not abandon them, not react emotionally, just adjust. When plans fail or seem to, don’t throw in the whole system, stick to your foundation, make small informed changes when needed. And remember, without a plan, stress takes over and poor decisions follow. But with a plan, even when the weather or markets shift, you’re still in control.
Thanks for tuning in to the EzAg podcast. If you’ve got questions about building your Max Yield System or making adjustments to your plan as you face curveballs this spring, reach out to us here at Axis Seed Red Barn. Until next time. Remember, ag is easy when you tune in to the Ez Ag Podcast. That’s all for today. I’m Matt Long. Grow your yield, grow your legacy, grow strong with Axis Seed.
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