The Seed Man
"Timeliness is the key," says this Southern States associate.

Southern States field sales associate Gardner Smith (right) teams up with William Tankard to produce high-quality soybean seed. From planting to harvesting, Southern States field sales associates know each step should be followed at a specific time. And with disease-resistant seeds, bumper crops are the norm.

Gardner Smith's cell phone is ringing as he heads out the driveway of the Southern States store in Belhaven, N.C. A Southern States seed producer is calling the field sales associate with several questions. When wheat planting is running full blast and soybean harvest is under way, the only time Smith's phone seems to stay quiet is when the battery is running low.

Smith works closely with 15 eastern North Carolina farmers to produce 8,000 acres of small grain and soybean seed crops. The seed is processed, cleaned and stored at a modern facility in Farmville, N.C., then sold to farmers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

"The main thing we look for is quality, which starts with the seed producers," says Smith. "The seed that we sell is only as good as the seed we buy from the producers." Smith's first stop is at William Tankard's farm of Bath, N.C. The Beaufort County farmer has been growing Southern States soybean seed for 15 years.

"Southern States varieties have always yielded well for us," says Tankard. "We have test plots on the farm. They help us decide which varieties perform best on our soils." Tankard grew 300 acres of RT 6451N seed beans in 2005. This new Roundup Ready variety has a strong resistance against disease and soybean cyst nematodes.

The early Group VI beans also have field tolerance to root knot nematodes. Tankard's RT 6451 crop is ready for harvest, and both men are eager to see how the new variety performs. Smith and Tankard discuss the idea of spraying fungicides to protect soybean yields. Tankard was one of several farmers in eastern North Carolina that applied fungicides to large acreages of soybeans in 2005. Concerns about soybean rust initially encouraged the fungicide applications. Though soybean rust wasn't a problem in 2005, Tankard notes that the fungicide paid off by controlling other fungal diseases. Tankard farms lowlying land and often has low to moderate yield losses from diseases such as target spot and frogeye leafspot.

"In test plots we've seen a yield advantage of 5 bushels per acre from fungicide applications," says Smith. "I think we'll see more farmers applying fungicides next year."

As he leaves the Tankard farm, Smith shares insights from his 30 years in the seed business.

"Timeliness is the key to the seed business. Planting, fertilizer applications, harvest—all of these have to be done at the right time," he notes. "Southern States seed producers are some of the best at doing the right thing at the right time."

Smith's next visit is with Danny Clayton of Scattered Acres Farms. Clayton is harvesting cotton, and his father is running the soybean combine at another farm. The Claytons will plant wheat as soon as the beans are harvested.

Danny Clayton made a bumper yield in 2005 with 105-bushel-peracre wheat yield over 150 acres. He did this with a seed crop of SS 560 wheat, a medium-late maturity variety that combines high yield with good test weight, superior straw strength and a high level of disease resistance.

Whether it's soybeans or wheat, disease resistance is an important part of variety selection for coastal Carolina farmers. SS 560 wheat is also known to perform well in high-yield environments, and that's what Clayton provides.

"These guys are on top of things," says Smith. "It's amazing how they manage to get everything done at just the right time."

But that's what it takes to be a Southern States seed producer.