News

Minnesota farmer planting more conventional corn in 2016

A south-central Minnesota farmer plans to grow more conventional crops in 2016 as a way to reduce costs.

Kristin Duncanson of Mapleton says that while she and her husband are big proponents of biotechnology, they made some adjustments to their management style last year to plant some non-traited corn.

“(it takes) A little more scouting, (it’s) a little more intense look at the crop as it’s growing and making more decisions than with the biotech.  But we do it and we’ve got a good team in place to help us with that.”

Duncanson tells Brownfield growing conventional crops where they can cuts input costs and there’s enough market demand for non-GMO corn to help their bottom line.

Based on current pricing, growers can save $50 to $100 an acre planting conventional corn instead of multi-trait hybrids.