April Hybrid of the Month
Apr 11, 2025
Mike Tufte
Seed Specialist
Dave Bell is one of our experienced Agronomists at Key Cooperative. He’s been with us at our LeGrand location for the past 15 years. Alongside that, he’s also been producing corn on his farm near Sully since 2010. But that’s not where His story begins. A long time ago…in a galaxy far, far away, Dave attended Iowa State University where he earned his degree in Agriculture. To this day, he is still a proud Cyclone! After graduation, Dave had the privilege of taking his skill set up to Minnesota for about 12 years, where he acquired a more diverse background in his field. Fortunately for us, blizzards are more common than Cyclones up there, so he packed up his things and made his way back home.
Dave enjoys the seed aspect of being an agronomist which has helped him gain ample experience in the seed world. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last couple years, it’s that we should listen to Dave when it comes to seed!
Dave suggested Brevant’s B14H38 as our April Hybrid of the Month. Not only does he like this hybrid’s tech sheet, but he’s planted it on his own farm and can give you real world data to prove why it belongs on your acres as well!
Brevant’s B14H38 comes in both AM (AcreMax) and Q (Qrome) trait packages, giving you flexibility to utilize it on both your rotated acres, as well as your corn on corn. I will caution you, however, to keep it off any acres with high rootworm pressure. The Qrome trait package offers you protection, but the new RNAi technology in the Vorceed trait is a better fit for those acres.
While selecting hybrids for your ground, don’t overlook B14H38. It’s a nice option for those moderate to highly productive acres. It will handle your low productivity acres, too. It handles the tough ground while not giving anything up on the good ground.
Last year in our education plot, we rated hybrids based on visuals all season long - without knowing what they were. At the end of the year, we found that B14H38 was the best-looking corn from VE-V2. It fell to second place for a while but took the crown back in the R stages. Plant health looked phenomenal all season long. Agronomically, it checks all the boxes - from stalks to roots, to the stay green and drought tolerance. As far as disease tolerance is concerned, you can feel at ease. The only real watchouts are Southern Corn Rust and Anthracnose. Don’t spend much time worrying about that though. B14H has a very high response to fungicide! It’s just a physically beautiful plant. That doesn’t always correlate with yield, but you could argue that B14H38 talks the talk and walks the walk.
In season, you’ll notice that it flowers earlier than most hybrids in that maturity range. Add that to the early planting potential, and you’ve got a long grain fill period. This typically gives you higher test weight, which is arguably one of the strongest attributes this hybrid brings to the table.
During harvest time, you can count on wearing a smile while watching that monitor. The yield potential is quite substantial. You won’t be disappointed. “It’s a very showy corn with excellent grain quality, and I tested it on some questionable ground,” explained Dave.
If you’re looking for a hybrid that has excellent plant health all year long, great drought tolerance matched with early silking for its maturity, and stable performance across both high-and low-yielding environments, take Dave’s advice. “The only thing I would change is to plant more of it!” he said. Don’t fall into the trap of saying “I should’ve listened to Dave!”
For more yield data or information on B14H38, give your local Key Cooperative agronomist a call. We’re here to make the best recommendations for your acres.
Seed Specialist
Brevant B14H38
Dave Bell is one of our experienced Agronomists at Key Cooperative. He’s been with us at our LeGrand location for the past 15 years. Alongside that, he’s also been producing corn on his farm near Sully since 2010. But that’s not where His story begins. A long time ago…in a galaxy far, far away, Dave attended Iowa State University where he earned his degree in Agriculture. To this day, he is still a proud Cyclone! After graduation, Dave had the privilege of taking his skill set up to Minnesota for about 12 years, where he acquired a more diverse background in his field. Fortunately for us, blizzards are more common than Cyclones up there, so he packed up his things and made his way back home. Dave enjoys the seed aspect of being an agronomist which has helped him gain ample experience in the seed world. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last couple years, it’s that we should listen to Dave when it comes to seed!
Dave suggested Brevant’s B14H38 as our April Hybrid of the Month. Not only does he like this hybrid’s tech sheet, but he’s planted it on his own farm and can give you real world data to prove why it belongs on your acres as well!
Brevant’s B14H38 comes in both AM (AcreMax) and Q (Qrome) trait packages, giving you flexibility to utilize it on both your rotated acres, as well as your corn on corn. I will caution you, however, to keep it off any acres with high rootworm pressure. The Qrome trait package offers you protection, but the new RNAi technology in the Vorceed trait is a better fit for those acres.
While selecting hybrids for your ground, don’t overlook B14H38. It’s a nice option for those moderate to highly productive acres. It will handle your low productivity acres, too. It handles the tough ground while not giving anything up on the good ground.
"B14H38 is a very showy corn with excellent grain quality. This hybrid thrives across a wide geographic area - it handles the tough ground while not giving anything up on the good ground.”
Whether you’re trying to plant early in sandy soil, or waiting for clay to dry out, B14H38 can handle it. On the Brevant scale, it scores a great-to-excellent for early planting, giving you the chance to get in the field earlier than most 114-day hybrids. The vigor is stellar as well. “I really love the emergence and early growth of 14H,” said Dave. To get the most out of this hybrid, we recommend planting between 36,000 and 38,000. It responds well to higher population.
Last year in our education plot, we rated hybrids based on visuals all season long - without knowing what they were. At the end of the year, we found that B14H38 was the best-looking corn from VE-V2. It fell to second place for a while but took the crown back in the R stages. Plant health looked phenomenal all season long. Agronomically, it checks all the boxes - from stalks to roots, to the stay green and drought tolerance. As far as disease tolerance is concerned, you can feel at ease. The only real watchouts are Southern Corn Rust and Anthracnose. Don’t spend much time worrying about that though. B14H has a very high response to fungicide! It’s just a physically beautiful plant. That doesn’t always correlate with yield, but you could argue that B14H38 talks the talk and walks the walk.
In season, you’ll notice that it flowers earlier than most hybrids in that maturity range. Add that to the early planting potential, and you’ve got a long grain fill period. This typically gives you higher test weight, which is arguably one of the strongest attributes this hybrid brings to the table.
During harvest time, you can count on wearing a smile while watching that monitor. The yield potential is quite substantial. You won’t be disappointed. “It’s a very showy corn with excellent grain quality, and I tested it on some questionable ground,” explained Dave.
If you’re looking for a hybrid that has excellent plant health all year long, great drought tolerance matched with early silking for its maturity, and stable performance across both high-and low-yielding environments, take Dave’s advice. “The only thing I would change is to plant more of it!” he said. Don’t fall into the trap of saying “I should’ve listened to Dave!”
For more yield data or information on B14H38, give your local Key Cooperative agronomist a call. We’re here to make the best recommendations for your acres.