By Chris Dervaric, Sylvite
Seed planning is more than just purchasing seed. It is an important part of ensuring the health of your farm. Now even though everyone is busy in the combine, it is important to ask yourself a few questions.
- What did you like this year?
- What do you want to change?
- Do the above answers help lead your farm in the direction you want? For example, are you transitioning to no till? Do you need more silage for your dairy cows?
One of our agronomists can help narrow down your goals to help identify your seed needs for the 2026 season.
2026 Seed
First off, you need to know what you’re looking for. The following links can lead you to resources to determine what number of Crop Heat Units (CHU) or Relative Maturity (RM) you should be looking for. Generally speaking, corn is measured in CHU while soybeans are measured in RM.
Corn: Corn Heat Unit Map | Ontario Corn Committee
Soybeans: Microsoft Word – Soy4-2011_New Ontario Soybean Maturity Map.doc
Sylvite is proudly offering Croplan and NK corn, as well as Croplan, NK, Silverline and Snobelen Farms soybean seed across all retail locations. Some locations also have local options to supplement our lineup where the need for something different exists!
Last year, NK came to the table well prepared with new corn varieties. This 2025 season we have been seeing yields from NK that are making them one of the top seed producers in Ontario.
Further, CROPLAN continues to push the envelope with the Answer Plot system, gathering data to show how each corn and soybean variety responds to management. Their CROPLAN WinPak® has also been drawing interest this year. 2 varieties of soybeans in one unit, built to compliment each other.
We are happy to say that despite the drought most of us had this summer, our Sylvite Agronomy plot averaged over 80bu/ac for both the CROPLAN and NK varieties used.
Finally, Snobelen Farms and Silverline round out our lineup, offering a few more traited soybean options as well as a complete lineup of strong-performing IP Soybeans. We have a soybean for every acre!
Final Thoughts
Early order and early day discounts are available now until early December (contact your local Sylvite branch to determine the precise dates).
The best piece of advice Sylvite can provide when choosing soybean seed is to choose one trait platform for your farm – IE. If you are buying Enlist soybean seed, do not buy or plant Xtend seed in the same season. It’s easy to forget which platform is where in the heat of the moment, and those mistakes are costly later in the season!
