[Scene opens with a shot of young soybean rows with the Soy Masters badge overlaid on it. Guitar music plays in the background. Scene switches to Doug standing in a field, speaking to the camera.]
DOUG: Hi my name is Doug Fotheringham. I'm an agronomic service rep for Syngenta basedout of south-central Manitoba.
[Scene shows three different images of a row of young soybean plants, then switches back to Doug in the field.]
DOUG: A significant challenge for growers in Western Canada (in all provinces) is our growing season when we're growing soybeans. Soybeans is a long season, warm liking, or heat-loving crop. And so even with our short season varieties, they still need some heat to mature and time and produce yield.
[Scene shows two very close-up shots of a soybean plant emerging, then switches back to Doug in the field.]
DOUG: The other thing that we need to consider with a soybean is that the vegetative state of a soybean is actually when it's building yield. And so if we can maximize the days that we have for a soybean in that vegetative state, it gives us the potential for a high for higher yield. Planting too early puts us at risk from a frost perspective and a soil temperature perspective. But if we can consider calendar dates, and soil temperatures, and look at planting on trends versus just looking at at soil temperatures, we can start to gain a few more days on the front-end to extend that vegetative period that I mentioned. In a situation where our soil temperatures in the afternoon is 8 to 10 degrees, it's a little earlier in the season then then you would possibly potentially like to be seeding soybeans, but we've got a nice warming trend in behind that, grabbing those few extra days on that end could could lead to higher yield potential.
[Scene shows an image of a seeder in the field, then shows a top-down view of an emerging soybean covered in dew. Scene switches back to Doug in the field.]
DOUG: We've seen at the past 3-4 years where planting on those trends have led to a positive response in terms of yield. The worst thing you can do is plant a soybean crop right before a big heavy rain in the spring because typically those rains are cold and that bleeds into that cold shock that we've heard about which definitely will affect emergence. So look at calendar dates, soil temperatures, and forecasts. And start to consider things like planting on a trend. We've seen some very good results over the past 3-4 years on that and I think we'll continue to do so as long as we're mindful of those few aspects.
[Scene changes to a shot of rows of soybeans blowing in the wind. Guitar music plays in the background. The scene switches to the Soy Masters badge and says "For more information, visit syngenta.ca or call our Customer Interaction Centre at 1-87-SYNGENTA (1-877-964-3682)".]