Is it time for you to catch up to Max Yield?

High yields aren’t the result of one decision, they’re the result of a system.

The Max Yield System is designed around a simple idea: Every decision should protect and enhance the number per 1000 plants you harvest.

And now that the calendar has turned to 2026, it’s time to focus on what you need to do by March 1st to create Maximum Yield when the combines roll this fall.

Here are the five parts of the Max Yield System every grower should have locked in before March 1st.

1. The Crop Plan

This is the blueprint for how yield will be built.

The crop plan defines:

• Target bushels per 1,000 plants for each individual field.

• Opportunities to Maximize Yield through enhanced management decisions.

• Obstacles to achieving Max Yield on a field by field basis and what potential stresses must be avoided.

Which means: every decision that follows is made to support the yield potential of the hybrid chosen for each field.

2. The Seed Plan

Seed selection determines how each plant can respond to management.

By March 1st, the seed plan should be finalized based on:

• Local performance and consistency data that supports your bu/1000 plants goals.

• Stress tolerance, Maximizing Yield in our climate often means minimizing yield limiting factors that are out of our control and your field by field seed plan should identify the right hybrid based on maximum potential and the hybrids ability to overcome stress.

• Response to management. Knowing which hybrids flex and perform under high management allows you to maximize yield.

Which means: you’re planting genetics proven to turn management into bushels.

3. The Fertility Plan

Fertility isn’t about feeding the soil, it’s about feeding the plant.

The fertility plan locks in:

• Balanced macro and micronutrient

• Season long nutrient availability to feed and finish your Maximum Yield

• Nitrogen timing that aligns with yield formation

Which means: nutrients are available when the plant is building yield, not after yield has already been limited.

4. The Biological & Stress-Mitigation Plan

This is where modern yield gains are coming from.

Biologicals and stress tools are planned to:

• Improve nutrient uptake efficiency

• Enhance root function

• Protect yield potential during stress

Which means: each plant gets more out of the nutrients already present and keeps yield components intact.

5. The Crop Protection Plan

Yield protection starts long before the sprayer rolls.

By March 1st:

• Pre-emerge weed control should be selected, or already applied

• Residual strategies finalized

• Trait systems aligned with potential needs for post herbicide applications.

Which means: early-season competition and stress don’t quietly steal yield.

Why March 1st Matters for Max Yield

March 1st isn’t about being early, it’s about being prepared.

Growers who lock in these five parts of the Max Yield System:

• Reduce in-season stress

• Avoid reactionary decisions

• Preserve yield potential before it’s visible

That’s how bushels per 1,000 plants increase and how strong yields turn into lasting legacies.