Soil to Silo: Building Yield Potential From the Ground Up

Season-shaping choices are more important now than ever. With thin margins, the road to a yield victory starts early and may require intense management decisions.

Planting season isn’t just about getting the crop in the ground. It’s about setting fields up for maximum success — and every move matters.

For Jerome Kline, a western Iowa corn and soybean farmer, precise management coupled with strategic in-season adjustments has proven to get his crop over the goal line. Kline knows harvest success starts at the beginning of the season.

“Every season, we start out with high yields on our brains, and we shoot for that,” Kline says. “It all starts with good stands and perfect emergence.”

For the past eight seasons, Kline has been working with Jame Klein, sales agronomist at Farm Service Cooperative (FSC), to place the best-fitting products on his acres. Klein initially formed a partnership with Kline by recommending and selling fertilizer. Now, Klein supports the operation with all seed and crop protection recommendations and helps navigate key management choices throughout the season. He says his favorite part about working with Kline is his tenacity and willingness to try something new.

Each season, Iowa farmer Jerome Kline (left) works with agronomist James Klein (right) at Farm Service Cooperative and retail sales agronomist John Long (center) for Brevant® seeds to make key management decisions.

“There are some farmers who are continuing to do things how their dad did or how their grandpa did it,” Klein says. “But Jerome is really pushing the envelope. From emergence all the way to harvest, a lot of the things he does are different from the industry standard. He’s very proactive.”

After last year’s harvest, Klein and Kline began planning for 2026. With achieving maximum yield potential as the ultimate goal, the team made a plan to plant all of Kline’s soybeans acres to Brevant® brand Enlist E3® soybeans. On his corn acres, Kline planted both Brevant® brand PowerCore® Enlist® corn and Vorceed® Enlist® corn.

At FSC, Klein says he continues to recommend Brevant® brand products to the farmers he works with because of the acceleration of genetics and response to high management practices. In his words, Brevant® brand corn and soybean products are “on a linear path for yield” — offering his customers on-farm wins year over year.

To determine which products will work best for the area he covers, Klein teams up with John Long, retail sales agronomist for Brevant® seeds. Long believes this partnership gives farmers the chance to try something different in pursuit of next-level yield potential.

“Working with agronomists and farmers like James and Jerome is a lot of fun,” Long says. “We have the opportunity to put products to the test and help farmers maximize their yield and profit potential by taking some of these new technologies to their acres.”

Early in the 2026 season, not only were Kline’s acres put to the test but also his ability to change direction was put to work. A late-April hailstorm came through his area that caused some compaction and other issues threatening corn emergence. Kline says seasonal challenges such as weather often require him to pivot. His first step in altering his plans always begins with a call to Klein.

“First thing I do when something like that [a hailstorm] happens is call James,” Kline says. “I like to get his take on it. After that April storm, I plan on Y-dropping on my corn acres to throw some nitrogen out there.”

Strategic management choices are necessary to protect yield potential and overcome seasonal obstacles caused by Mother Nature.

A sidedress Y-drop application gives Kline’s corn additional nitrogen during a critical growth point with targeted placement to increase efficiency. This management tactic is one of the many decisions Kline makes to shift plans after weather events.

“When those weather events happen, you just have to change a little bit of what you’re doing,” Klein says. “You may end up putting more resources into one field than the other. In those situations, you have to change expectations and manage appropriately to still chase after that yield goal.”

Throughout the season, the team anticipates more flexibility and intense management to handle weeds and disease obstacles. Planting season is over, and the work for optimum yield potential is just beginning.

Follow along as Kline and Klein continue to work together to make calculated choices throughout the growing season.

VIEW MORE SOIL TO SILO ARTICLES

™ ® Trademarks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies.
The transgenic soybean event in Enlist E3® soybeans is jointly developed and owned by Corteva Agriscience and M.S. Technologies L.L.C. PowerCore® multi-event technology developed by Corteva Agriscience and Monsanto. LibertyLink® and the Water Droplet Design are registered trademarks of BASF. ®PowerCore, Roundup and Roundup Ready are registered trademarks of Bayer Group. Always follow IRM, grain marketing and all other stewardship practices and pesticide label directions. B.t. products may not yet be registered in all states. Check with your seed representative for the registration status in your state. Following burndown, Enlist Duo® and Enlist One® herbicides with Colex-D® technology are the only herbicides containing 2,4-D that are authorized for preemergence and postemergence use with Enlist® crops. Consult Enlist® herbicide labels for weed species controlled. Enlist Duo and Enlist One herbicides are not registered for use or sale in all states and counties; are not registered in AK, CA, CT, HI, ID, MA, ME, MT, NH, NV, OR, RI, UT, VT, WA and WY; and have additional subcounty restrictions in AL, GA, TN and TX, while existing county restrictions still remain in FL. All users must check “Bulletins Live! Two” no earlier than six months before using Enlist One or Enlist Duo. To obtain “Bulletins,” consult epa.gov/espp/, call 1-844-447-3813, or email ESPP@epa.gov. You must use the “Bulletin” valid for the month and state and county in which Enlist One or Enlist Duo are being applied. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency if you have questions about the registration status of Enlist® herbicides in your area. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. IT IS A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL AND STATE LAW TO USE ANY PESTICIDE PRODUCT OTHER THAN IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITS LABELING. ONLY USE FORMULATIONS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY LABELED FOR SUCH USE IN THE STATE OF APPLICATION. USE OF PESTICIDE PRODUCTS, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, 2,4-D-CONTAINING PRODUCTS NOT AUTHORIZED FOR USE WITH ENLIST CROPS, MAY RESULT IN OFF-TARGET DAMAGE TO SENSITIVE CROPS/AREAS AND/OR SUSCEPTIBLE PLANTS, IN ADDITION TO CIVIL AND/OR CRIMINAL PENALTIES. Additional product-specific stewardship requirements for Enlist crops, including the Enlist Product Use Guide, can be found at www.traitstewardship.com. ©2026 Corteva.  039594  BR (06/26)  CAAG26BREV01769