Blair, Nebraska
Brent Arp I Choose Stine
Brent plants more and more Stine seed each year. A decision he’s confident will make his farming operations more profitable now and for future generations.
Blair Nebraska
A storied past harbors the land of Stine grower Brent Arp’s 1,700-acre farm near Blair, Nebraska. On it sits generations of equipment and remnants of farm days passed. Brent is a fourth-generation farmer — a position he holds close to his heart and one that his children will someday take over.
“The fifth generation is waiting in the wings for the old man to retire. I’ve farmed all my life. I guess it’s a passion I’ve had since I was little.”
Sitting in front of an old John Deere 3010 diesel tractor, the first tractor his father purchased when he started farming, Brent reflected on when he first started planting Stine corn and soybeans.
“Four years ago, a DSM convinced me to try some corn and beans, so I tried some. The rest has been kind of history as i continue to plant more and more of it.”
Brent Arp
Brent currently plants 100 percent of his soybean acres with Stine® LibertyLink® soybeans and 90–95 percent of his corn acres with Stine hybrids, a number he notes may grow to 100 percent next year.
“Why do I choose Stine? Primarily from the yield results that I have obtained. It has shown that it’s actually more profitable on my acres than some of the competition when you factor in both the yield and the price that I’m paying for seed.”
Brent’s success with LibertyLink soybeans this year has him planting Libertylink again in 2017.
“I virtually had perfect weed control. I’m going to say on 95 percent of the ground. The other thing about LibertyLink, particularly this year, was the overall plant health and growth of it has been spectacular.”
In addition to helping rid his acres of noxious weeds like waterhemp and marestail, Brent’s also seeing some promising yields coming from his soybean acres.
“We’ve had one field that we’ve cut 80 acres off of. It averaged 73 bu/acre, which is the highest bean yield that I’ve ever combined in my farming career, and that’s been this year with LibertyLink beans.”
Brent’s also spent the past few years experimenting with HP Corn® in 30-inch rows versus narrow-row spacing. And, not surprising to us, he’s a happy customer.
“I’m planting 30-inch rows, and they still perform as well or better than the competition. And with the HP Corn, they’re normally a little shorter, so you’re dealing with less residue and residue management in the fall.”
We thank Brent for his loyalty to Stine, and we look forward to seeing what he and his Stine sales rep come up with for his acres in the coming years.
“It’s been a pleasure working with my DSM. He’s very down to earth and approachable. Not only that, but he also farms, so it’s refreshing to have somebody who knows where we’re coming from and the problems we’re having. He’s also very knowledgeable on herbicides, fertility and so we can not only talk about seed, we can talk about the other aspects of farming operations. It’s been very refreshing to have a DSM of that caliber.”
