kersh@farm-news.com

WEBSTER CITY – Wednesday proved to be a good day to put in a test plot, said James Kolbeck, of Webster City, as he watched his farming partner, Darle Elkin, roll across a 280-acre field north of Webster City.

Kolbeck said the continuous corn field was ready for planting, whereas their soybean fields were still a bit too wet to roll over.

Elkin and Kolbeck were putting in a 30-acre test plot for Pioneer.

“We thought it would be a good time to get the plot in,” Kolbeck said. “It’s getting something done, while waiting for the other fields.”

On hand was Kevin Lauver, of Rockwell City, a Pioneer district manager, supervising the planting.

Lauver said the plot, which will take up about 30 acres, is testing four new hybrids – PO969AMXT, PO570AMXT, PO636AMX and PO760AMXT – with population checks of 30,000, 34,000, 38,000 and 42,000 plants per acre.

The four hybrids are engineered for below- and above-ground insect protection.

Wednesday’s planting was the first of 12 test plots Lauver said he will supervise this growing season in his district, which is comprised of Webster, Humboldt, Pocahontas and a portion of Calhoun counties.

“I really like the technical stuff,” Elkin said.

He said as a younger man, in the Air Force during the Vietnam Era, he worked with advanced electronics on nuclear bases.