What Creating a Max Yield System Plan Really Looks Like

At Axis Seed Red Barn, we believe better decisions produce better crops.

That belief guides every recommendation we make and is the foundation of our Max Yield System.

When most growers think about planning for next year's crop, they tend to think about individual decisions:

• What hybrid should I plant?

• How much nitrogen should I apply?

• Should I use a fungicide?

• Do biologicals make sense on my farm?

• How many inches of irrigation should I plan to apply?

The reality is that high-yield environments are rarely created by one great decision. They're created by hundreds of small decisions that all point in the same direction.

That's what the Max Yield System is all about.

The Max Yield System isn't a product program. It's a planning process. It starts by asking one simple question:

What is this field capable of producing, and what will it take to get there?

Every field has a story. Soil properties, previous crops, historical yields, insect pressure, irrigation capacity, and fertility levels all influence what that field can become. Our job is to connect those pieces and build a plan before the planter ever enters the field.

One of the best examples of this process is hybrid selection.

Most growers think hybrid selection begins with relative maturity and ends with a yield plot. In reality, hybrid selection is where the entire crop plan begins.

When evaluating hybrids, we consider:

• Actual Production History (APH)

• Bushels produced per 1,000 plants

• Soil pH and fertility levels

• Previous crop and rotation history

• Disease and insect pressure

• Irrigation capability

• Population response

• Standability and harvest timing

Hybrid selection serves two purposes in the Max Yield System: increasing yield potential and determining fertility demand.

Let's start with yield potential.

Imagine a field with a 220-bushel APH under irrigation. It has been in continuous corn for several years and has historically been planted to a hybrid with a below-ground trait package.

Our historical data tells us that below ground traited hybrids consistently produce .5-1bu/1000 less yield than above ground traited hybrids.

At a harvest population of 25,000 plants per acre, that's the difference between a 205-bushel crop and a 225-bushel crop.

Suddenly, hybrid selection isn't just a seed decision. It's a 20-bushel decision.

The challenge? The higher-yielding hybrid doesn't contain a below-ground trait package.

Traditionally, that would eliminate it from consideration in a continuous corn situation. But the Max Yield System encourages us to think differently.

What if we managed rootworm pressure through other methods?

• Spraying beetles at tassel the previous season.

• Utilizing TS201 seed treatments (GuardX or Defend PC).

• Monitoring populations and adjusting management accordingly.

By changing our management strategy, we've expanded our hybrid options. In many cases, we've also increased the field's yield potential.

That's where the Max Yield System becomes more than a seed recommendation. It becomes a management strategy.

However, every increase in yield potential comes with additional responsibility.

A 225-bushel crop doesn't eat like a 205-bushel crop.

That one hybrid decision has now influenced:

• Fertility requirements

• Water demand

• Fungicide response

• Late-season plant health

This is where hybrid selection becomes a fertility tool.

One of the most common mistakes we see is building a fertility program first and selecting a hybrid second. The Max Yield System works in reverse.

First, determine what the field can realistically produce.

Second, select the hybrid that best fits that environment.

Third, build a fertility and management plan capable of supporting that yield potential.

If our goal is 225 bushels instead of 205, our crop will require additional nutrients, additional water, and additional management throughout the growing season. The decisions are connected.

That is why the Max Yield System looks at the entire season rather than individual products or practices.

Soil pH influences hybrid selection.

Hybrid selection influences yield potential.

Yield potential influences fertility demand and irrigation requirements.

Irrigation influences nutrient uptake.

Nutrient uptake influences plant health and harvestability.

Every decision influences the next.

The highest-yielding growers we work with aren't necessarily using completely different products than their neighbors. More often than not, they're simply building better plans.

The Max Yield System isn't about finding a silver bullet. It's about understanding how all of the pieces fit together and making intentional decisions long before the crop emerges.

Because in the end, a high-yielding crop doesn’t happen by accident.

It happens because someone decided months earlier what it would take to grow one.