We talked with Mark Uittenbogaard recently, a farmer with operations near Sanborn, IA. Uittenbogaard and his family handle all the work raising around 5000 pigs, and farm 700 acres of corn and soybeans. He spoke with us about how he uses FIRST information.
“What I like about using FIRST is that it’s independent research. They have no horse in the race.” He said he “gets excited” about seeing how harvest is going as FIRST reports come out.
Discussing what he looks for in FIRST data when making seed decisions, Uittenbogaard explained, “I look for consistency. Hybrids don’t necessarily need to finish in the top 3, but consistently finish in the top 10 or 15 across many tests in a region or several regions.” He checks southern Minnesota, Iowa, and eastern Nebraska regional FIRST results.
Uittenbogaard has had success with products he picked using FIRST, even tracking down a dealer to buy the brand he wanted. From there he said, "the learning process has pushed me in the direction of a [regional independent brand] that does well on the same soil types and maturities I'm looking for and gained my business."
FIRST is grateful to serve farmers like Uittenbogaard who are looking for the best products for their operations as well as the seed companies who choose to showcase their performance in independent yield testing.