Pioneer Made to Grow Podcast

For livestock producers, getting top quality corn silage into the bunker or silo is key to milk yield and weight gain for the rest of the year. But as every grower knows, and a lot of growers are facing in 2025, Mother Nature can create unique challenges. Drought is a big one for many in 2025. In a recent webinar, Nelson Lobos the Senior Nutritionist at Corteva, spoke at length about the good and bad of making droughted corn into silage as well as what all growers can do to ensure they put away the best possible feed for the year ahead.

While it may seem early to start thinking about the 2026 growing season, this time of year can actually offer the best indication of some of the things you may want to change, particularly when it comes to planter and seeder mechanics. Whether it is seeding depth, fertilizer targeting, stand counts, or a range of other issues, Andrew finds out what growers should be scouting for with a goal of making sure the crop gets the best potential start every year. Helping find those answers are Ben Rosser, corn specialist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness; Jenna Gregoire, Pioneer Area Agronomist in Northwest and Central West Saskatchewan along with Holly Loucas, Pioneer Area Agronomist in the Southern Ontario region of Norfolk to Niagara.

When you hear a corn yield over 400 bushels per acre, or a soybean yield over 200, it can feel hard to imagine how a grower can reach such incredible numbers consistently. But for David Hula and Alex Harrell, the corn and soybean yield champions in the US, it's all about the details. Both David and Alex won the competition in previous years, and both won again in 2024 thanks to their relentless passion for trying to solve the limiting factors of yield potential. In this episode of the podcast, Andrew talks with David and Alex about seed selection, fertility, soil and tissue sampling and everything else that these champions find is critical to their success.

When it comes to technology, the options that you can invest in for your farm are almost endless. It can even be hard to know where to start. One of the education sessions from the 2025 Commodity Classic asked the question, “How can I be sure technology investments are profitable?” Joining Andrew on the podcast is Assistant Professor from Purdue University Chad Fiechter as well as Emeritus Professor, also from Purdue, James Mintert. Also joining in on the discussion is Trenton Brisby, Corteva's Agronomy Innovation Marketing Manager.

Pioneer's Yield Hero contest continues to evolve in Canada, which includes a grand prize trip for two to the Commodity Classic. From the 2025 show, Andrew Campbell speaks with growers Maggie McDonnell & Dallas Dau as well as Area Agronomists Greg Stopps and Colleen Redlick about how growers can get involved in the contest, what they are doing to push yield on their farms, and how growers from across Canada can take part and try to win a trip to Commodity Classic themselves.