Post Planting Management – The Fifth Factor

Post Planting Management – The Fifth Factor

Hey everyone—welcome back to the EZ Ag Podcast, where innovative farming meets practical solutions.

I’m your host Matt Long, President of Axis Seed – Red Barn, and today, we’re going to be talking about a part of crop management that many folks skip over—but one that can help us make more informed in-season decisions that can have a huge impact on final yield. We’re diving into post-planting evaluations, and how the Max Yield System can help you turn spring emergence into more bushels in the fall.

So let’s dig into it.

Right now, most of you are still very focused on spring planting. And spring planting as we’ve talked about in the past is extremely important when you’re establishing the Max Yield potential in any field, think about it 80% of the Top 5 Factors to Produce a Top Crop deal with decisions and conditions that cannot be changed once the planter pass is complete.

But today, as some of the dust settles from planting, it’s time to change our focus to the fifth factor of the Max Yield System’s Top 5 Factors to Produce a Top Crop –  Post-Planting Management.

The Max Yield System reminds us that farming success isn’t about one big move—it’s a series of intentional decisions. And evaluating your stand is one of the first chances you get to see how your attention to detail during planting is performing.

You’ve spent all winter fine-tuning your plans, you’ve spent the past few weeks focusing on the first four factors of the Max Yield System’s Top 5 Factors to Produce a Top Crop — now it’s time to evaluate what actually came out of the ground?

But first for a quick refresher incase you missed it or haven’t been following along as closely: 

The Max Yield System’s Top 5 Factors to Produce a Top Crop are:

Factor # 1: Soil Conditions at Planting Time

Factor # 2: Seed Placement

Factor # 3: Seed Quality

Factor # 4: Right Hybrid Right Field

Factor # 5: Post Planting Management

And I can guarantee you one of the most overlooked and important pieces of the whole system is to create a detailed and written plan EARLY, meaning 6-9 months before planting season begins. Why? Because creating a detailed and written plan early gives you the confidence that you know what your goals are and how to achieve them. It relieves the stress of making off the cuff decisions and using shoot from the hip management strategies that never work quite a good as you think they will. And above all else it helps you harness the power of your crop to produce Max Yield. 

So now I’ll get off my soap box and get back to today’s topic, Factor #5 Post Planting Management.

Start Simple – Stand Counts

Let’s start with the basics—stand counts.

In 30-inch corn rows, step off 17 feet 5 inches. That’s the length you need to count emerged plants in order to figure plants per acre. Multiply the number of plants you count by 1,000.

It’s simple math: count what’s up to get a rough population. Do this in multiple spots across the field, and for best accuracy, I like to count 3 adjacent rows in each location and average them together.

But here’s the thing—stand counts alone don’t tell the whole story.

Go Further with Net Effective Plant Stand

To really understand what your crop’s capable of, you need to dig deeper—and that’s where NEPS, or Net Effective Plant Stand, comes in.

NEPS looks beyond population. It looks at uniformity—and in the Max Yield System, uniformity is key to achieving Max Yield.

You want to start doing NEPS checks around V3 to V6, when plants have 3 to 6 leaf collars showing.

Here’s how NEPS works, using the same 17’5” now look more in depth at the size and quality of each plant:

• Give each healthy, even plant a score of 1.0
  
• Plants that are 1 leaf stage behind get a 0.75
  
• Plants that are 2 leaves behind get a 0.5
  
• Any plants more than 2 leaves behind, count as 0
  

Add up your total scores and divide by the total number of plants you evaluated. A NEPS score between 92% and 100% of your raw stand count means you’re looking good—and sitting on a lot of potential.

Turn NEPS Into Yield Estimates

Once you have a NEPS number, you can use it to estimate your potential yield. Here’s a quick rule of thumb:

• Fully irrigated corn: Multiply NEPS by 8–10 bushels per 1,000 plants
  
• Limited irrigation (with a good flex hybrid): Use 8–11 bu/1,000
  
• Dryland when mother nature is cooperating and we have good growing conditions: Bump that up to 9–12 bu/1,000
  

Let’s say in a fully irrigated field your NEPS is 26,000 , you might expect anywhere from 208 to 260 bushels per acre—IF you protect and manage that stand well through the season.

That’s the kind of data-driven decision-making the Max Yield System is built for.

Feeding & Protecting for Max Yield

So now that you’ve got your stand evaluated and your yield potential in mind—it’s time to protect that potential with the right post-planting inputs.

Here are a few of my favorite tools from BW Fusion that fit right into the Max Yield System:

1. Full Sun – Apply 64 oz at V3–V4 or later in the season at VT.
   This product enhances photosynthesis—helping your crop capture and convert more sunlight into energy. Great for irrigated and limited irrigation scenarios.
   
2. Relax Rx – Use 16 oz to support your crop after herbicide applications or protect it from abiotic stress.
   Corn doesn’t metabolize herbicides for free—it costs the plant energy. Relax Rx helps speed recovery and keeps that plant growing strong.
   
3. AmiNo – At 32 oz, this replaces traditional nitrate-based nitrogen with amino acids.
   That means less energy spent converting nutrients, more energy spent building proteins, sugars, and most importantly—Max Yield.
   

With the Max Yield System, you feed based on potential, not emotion. NEPS tells you how aggressive you can be with inputs—and it helps ensure you’re not overspending on a crop that won’t pay you back.

Final Thoughts – Max Yield in Motion

So here’s your action plan:

• Get out and walk your fields
  
• Count your stands
  
• Evaluate NEPS between V3 and V6
  
• Estimate yield potential
  
• And feed and protect that crop with products that deliver results
  

Remember: you only get one chance at Max Yield. If your NEPS is low, you’ve got limited upside. But if your stand is strong and uniform, the potential is high—and that’s when the Max Yield System really starts to pay.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the EZ Ag Podcast. 

If you’ve got questions about evaluating stands, input strategies, or using NEPS on your own farm—reach out to us at Axis Seed – Red Barn. 

Until next time — remember: Ag is easy… when you tune into the EZAg PodcastThat’s all for today, I’m Matt Long, Grow Your Yield, Grow Your Legacy, Grow Strong with Axis Seed.