I am in the corn field, applying anhydrous. Or side-dressing anhydrous to be more technical. Fields are about 80% right, with the swags still wet. Wit the weather forecast they will get wetter, so its time to roll.
So slow posting until I am done.
Here is a bit of a teaser for the auto steer video. Guess where the auto steer was used and where it wasn’t………….
Choice A
Choice B
I am exhausted, for some reason. Well, I know the reason(s): Fighting my computer again, trying to get all the important things off that “to do list” done before the monsoons hit tonight and trying to secure and put back all the equipment I took last weekend on the FTX (field training exercise).
I am really trying to get the video(s) done and the pictures posted but the darn media players etc. on this computer are just making my life so hard. So last night I deleted them all and reinstalled a few and things seem to be some what better, but not much yet. Hopefully this weekend…………
However I do have a corn update: This morning the Agrometer showed 138 GDUs since I planted the last field of corn on 19 April. So a look to see if the corn was up and YES, minus a few places where the seed was a little deeper or where water stood from the last rain. So I took the time to play with my camera after Tyler showed me some tricks with it and took this picture, its the best of the bunch, but I am learning a new game to play when taking pictures.
Wheat Update: I also noted that I have ignored the wheat crop in favor of the Canola with regular updates. So here is the status of the wheat crop. We are heading and looking pretty good right now…………but with wheat or “poverty grass” as Marty Richardson called it, all is subject to change with one rain.
U of Illinois research farm out of Dixon Springs also got their fertilizer strips on their research plots yesterday. Steve Ebelhar and the guys were putting out some different treatments and then they will come back and plant right over the treatments to see what gets the biggest bang for the buck. I have to admit, their small plot equipment is something to look at, I love their combine! Pictures of that later this year.
It has been a very good and productive week here on the farm. Ready for a restful weekend. However I got the feeling that we will be doing some storm spotting and chasing instead of resting much………….
Sorry but it is going to be little short post for the next day or so, busy and tired………….whats new?
John “MACK” Mackson has a great picture and post on his blog on fertilizer separation. Check it out here at http://mackcpag.blogspot.com/2010/04/fertilizer-separation.html
And the corn planted on April 13 here on the farm is UP! You could row it last evening.
And speaking of that corn field, the video I made when we worked it and planted it has been featured on a couple of websites: AgWired and Corn Comentary. Thanks for the recognition guys!!!
And last but not least, or maybe the least, still waiting on the Benton Evening News to show up to take pictures and do a story on the Canola, said they would be right out two days ago……………….but then again, I haven’t had time to deal with them anyway.
I got the following email from Dianne Jenkins. Dianne and Joe own Jenkins Consulting in Tennessee and are good friends of mine. You have to know Joe and Dianne’s soft heart and gentle southern ways, along with both their accents, to maybe get the whole picture here, but I will bet if your in the consulting or advisory business, you feel their pain.
Pictured is Joe, though I asked for a picture of both of them………Dianne only sent Joe’s picture. They were also recently featured in an article in the March/April 2010 issue of FarmGate magazine. I have a PDF of the great story if your interested……..
So without further delay, used by permission: A Day in the Life of Jenkins Consulting.
Life with Jenkins Consulting
April 14, 2010
Up at 5:15 AM
In office at 6:30 AM
On the road at 7:30 AM
- Vited 3 farms 30 miles away
- Picked up 4 Wheeler at shop
- Back at office by 2:30 PM
Went to funeral home at 5:00 PM
Eating supper at 6:30 PM
- Helena Chemical called about scripts (KR note: VRT fertilier files)
Back in office at 7:45 PM
- Resending Helena scripts—
7:45 PM Farmer calls
- Co-op cannot spread a blend and vary a product –too complicated (KR Note: Been there done that)
8:00 PM CALL CO-OP
9:00-9:45 PM at co-op discussing why they cannot do it the way it is laid out and scripts made for them.
- TOO FAR BEHIND
10:00 PM Stopped at vendors house and got his card for his spreader —so can put scripts on it
- He does not know how to do that (KR note: Been there done that also!)
10:45 PM Back in office re-doing scripts for co-op and emailing them so they can have them by 5:00AM
1:15 AM Closed office doors
1:30 AM Good Night
April 15
Arise at 5:30
If you have a “Day in the Life” story you would like to share or vent about, please sent it to me, if its good enough, I will post it up for all the world to see!
I wrote a short statement of philosophy on soil sampling for myself and some other consultants in Illinois a few years ago in hopes of changing the minds of some university and government bureaucrats. It didn’t work, but I still think this holds true for me and some others who don’t subscribe to the “grid sample the world” mantra of the Land Grant University and the “sell fertilizer at any and all cost” retail industry here in Illinois.
So here is my “thesis” with a few things thrown in for Ed Winkle’s questions…….
Robertson Philosophy on Soil Sampling
Each soil sample should represent a uniform soil area with similar past management. It is recommended that each sample represent 10 acres or less. Sampling areas should be determined by the soil type, soil color, topography, drainage, past management of the field, manure applications or presence of livestock, and productivity. Maps of soil electrical conductivity (EC) and GPS yield maps can aid in distinguishing between field areas with contrasting soil properties or crop nutrient removal.
Consultants should use field observations at the time of sampling to determine which local site factors should guide their sampling pattern within each field. Soil survey maps, GPS yield maps, bare soil images and input from the farmer as to past land use (fence rows, pastures, building sites and old field divisions) can be used to create geo-referenced zone maps of these factors prior to soil sampling. This will help guide the consultants sample locations in combination with his or her field observations.
Soil sample zones should be recorded via GPS or geo-referenced maps to insure location and repeatability of sampling. This also aids in refining the sample zones as more information becomes available about the field or soil, and allows the zone to be used as part of a directed nutrient application (VRT) program.
Soil sample probes should be taken to the depth of the furrow slice (6-7 inches) or modified based upon tillage practices or the lack of tillage (no till) for the farm. Each sample should consist of between 10 and 15 cores with cores being collected in a zig zag method thought-out the sample zone. Each core should be examined prior to placement into the sample bag to insure that it conforms to color, texture and depth for other samples in the management zone.
Each soil sample should be air dried and all cores in the sample should be ground and thoroughly mixed prior to submission to the laboratory for analysis. Doing so insures that each sample is truly a representation of the sample area.
Soil samples should be collected on a regular sampling interval based upon crop rotation, fertilizer or manure applications, or tillage practices. In many instances under high management it would be appropriate to sample fields every year. Fields with high test levels or fields receiving manure should be tested every year. In other cases sampling every two years under a corn-soybean rotation or under a bi-annual fertilizer application would be appropriate. No more than three years should elapse between sampling intervals.
Other random notes by GKR:
1. If your not going to GPS your sample locations, don’t even pull samples. Your waisting the farmers time.
2. If you not using or making GPS/geo-referenced maps, your waisting the farmers time and money.
3. If you not doing VRT recommendations based on ECONOMICS but on just lbs. applied, then your waisting your farmers time and MONEY. Whole field recommendations are appropate when there isnt that much varation to justify the extra cost of applicaiton.
4. If you can’t collect samples in good soil conditions then your waisting your time and the farmers money.
5. Find a good lab that can provide you with good quality control, good turn-around time and give you the data set in a format you want, not what they want to do.
6. Get rid of the paper. Go electronic. You can make recommendations, track history and do analysis so much easier in digital than analog. Paper is still king when delivering your recommendaitons but poor for analysis. Digital is king.
7. If you can’t get your head around the ECONOMICS of your recommendations, but only on balancing the soil or applying some magical formula of inputs, your waisting your farmers MONEY.
But as Dennis Miller Says: Then again, I could be wrong.
Over on the Corn Beans and Spent Brass blog ,Frank James blogged about some “inconvenient facts for ag critics”. Frank does a real good job on his blog. I like the combination of agriculture and gunpowder.
On the discussion of 300 bu corn he notes that the corn belt doesn’t get enough rain to sustain that type of yield, and he is correct. I even kicked in a comment on how much water that would take: 5000 gal of water to grow a bu of corn 300bu X 5000 gal = 1,500,000 gal per acre. One acre inch of water equals 27,154 gal 1,500,000/27,154 = 55.24 inches of water. Annual precip ‘here” in S. Illinois, 46 inches, not all in the growing season, clay soils, no internal drainage, it ain’t going to happen. 200 bu is a home run when you hit it.
Now that was the textbook answer to the question of how much water. And even that answer is questionable because some argue or state that you only need 3000 gal per bushel. Make the change in the math and you need 33 inches of rain at the right time. No matter if its 33 or 55 or 46 there it is a large assumption that water is all you need.
Water is only 25% of the equation, by the textbook. You also need an equal amount of air in the soil, specifically oxygen for the roots. You see the soil needs to be 3-5% organic matter, 45% nutrients (in balance by the way) and 50% pore space occupied by equal amounts of air and water. This is referred to as balanced soil that should produce optimum yields. All of this is an assumption for the soil only. It doesn’t take into account atmospheric “air” in the crop canopy, sunlight intersection, temperature, variety selection and other 20-some variables that I am not listing. But, you get the point.
Growing high yield corn is not simply a textbook equation where you put your desired yield in and work the problem backward. You can have the right amount of any of the 20-some variables and be short on one and not make your yield. Then again you can have the right variable hit at the right time and make up for several deficient variables.
For me, no matter what else I can do to help the corn grown, I want to establish the biggest root system I can. I want to do this as early as possible to insure that no matter which of the 20 plus variables end up short, the plant has the volume to intercept water, oxygen and nutrients to help it fight for the highest yields possible…No matter how much rain I get or don’t get.
Good records are important, real important, and getting more important every day in agriculture. ACRE and SURE payments depend on good and accurate records. Crop insurance payments depend upon good and accurate records. Getting financing depends upon good and accurate records. So, based on this alone, we would assume that farmers are keeping good and accurate records, right?
Wrong, for the most part.
There is a great void it seems between those who are keeping good and accurate records and those that are not. First, the problem is that a lot of farmers only understand IRS accounting. That is the accounting processes necessary to prepare and file a tax return. Cash accounting if you will. But so much of our eligibility for a SURE payment is tied to a crop year, not a fiscal or calendar year. Figuring break-evens for marketing and cost analysis is also tied to crop year, not a fiscal year. If you purchased fertilizer last year, you take it off of last years taxes, but it is an investment in this years growing crop. The cost counts against the crop growing this year, not last year.
Accurate records are also necessary for yields when it comes to crop insurance. Without accurate records of yield for fields and farms, or units, you may be short-changing yourself in your coverage. Or worse yet, as happened this last year, you may end up having to pay back insurance payments if you get audited and you can’t prove the yields you claimed.
This has been a focus of mine with some producers the last few years because I have seen the need for better record keeping. Even what fertilizer you put and where is necessary so you don’t over-fertilize or double-up because you are unable to remember what or where you fertilized. I remember the time last summer when a farmer realized that he had forgotten to apply N to one field on his farm. Everyone thought the “other guy” did it and no one (without a list or records to check) knew otherwise.
Good, accurate records tied to crop year production (managerial accounting) is necessary.
That is why I was thrilled tonight to have been asked to make a short presentation at a meeting in a few weeks on what needs to be done to keep accurate records. Now, I just have to put together a good presentation that will get the job done in 20 minutes!
While writing a set of recommendations tonight it kind of hit me that there are some cases where no matter what you do or how you try to attack the problem there seems to be no good solution.
What I mean is that in some cases a field or farm has been so run down and run over by someone who payed a cash rent and didn’t do anything to put back off what they took off in crops that you almost have nothing but carbon matter in the soil and that’s it. No nutrients.
Crop prices and fertilizer prices don’t make farmers think long term investment on ground they don’t own. Add to it that some just take and don’t put back and you have a real conundrum on your hands. How do you attack the problem?
Spoon feed it? Run it out with blade and scrape it on about two inches think? Give the ground back to the guy who had it before?
Absentee landlords are no help either. All they want is there rent money. They don’t care about what it takes to keep the land up. They assume they have an asset, and they do, but the value of that asset is determined by what is in the ground, not by what the going rate for rent is………….or is it.
At some point you would think that someone will say “no thanks” and give that ground back…………….
Then again..
KR
Short note this morning, got a full day ahead of me.
Saturday I delivered a set of soil reports on a new farm for a client whom I have been doing testing on for some time. The last two farms he has purchased or rented have been farms that had an absentee landowner and a cash rent tenant on prior to his getting the farms. Sounds familiar in a lot of situations doesn’t it.
Well it is incredible how low the soil test values have been on these farms. The last soil test showed potash below 100 on the entire field. Thad’s less than one third where I like to see a soil test value for potash. One sample was at 60. The phosphate was just as bad but maybe not so in comparison to the relative numbers.
Scary thing is that this is now becoming a trend and not the exception to the rule.
If your going to cash rent your farm out, get a fertility clause in the contract. A fertility clause based on soil test values. And if your going to rent a farm that has had a low maintenance tenant on it before you get there, you need to have a plan to address the short comings of the farm with the landlord so that you don’t end up on the short end of the stick either.
With that in mind there is a lot of field work taking place this week. Lots. A lot of tillage, even some chisel plowing, and lots of anhydrous going down. A lot of the fields look like the one pictured above but most still look a bit wet.
I am scared that some will try to plant if it stays nice the rest of the week. Will this be a good decision? Don’t know, but you have to plant early if you want to replant timely.
Also of note is the lack of dry fertilizer I see going on the last few days. See the note above on that one.
My .02 worth for this morning.
Anonymous commented that “We really want to know what goes on inside that ag head of yours though…For example, are you spreading any fertilizer this year and why or why not?”
“That ag head of yours.” Some would say that the wheel is still turning but the hamster is dead. Other might say that it’s like an Etch A Sketch that gets shaken up just about the time the picture starts to take shape. Some indicate that if I you stick your ear against my ear you can hear the ocean. But the question was asked……..Fertilizer.
I am not spreading any spring P or K this year. Last summer I purchased two years worth of potash from left over inventory and spread it on my wheat stubble after we double cropped the beans. It has been my practice to spread two years worth of fertilizer in the fall after harvest. So this takes me a theoretical three years until I would spread any P and K. However that is theoretical. I will get back to this.
In an email exchange this morning one of the comments I made to a group of consultants is that you need information a day or two before you realize you need it in these times. So you must read a lot and digest a lot of information that may or may not be all that important at the time. So you sit on what appears to be useless news or rumor until all at once something in the atmosphere causes all that news to come together and you feel you need to move.
We kept hearing that fertilizer was going up but it didn’t move that much this spring. Then when news of China buying a years supply of potash from Canada hit the wires, it became apparent that we were going higher we didn’t know when and how much. With all the talk of high input prices starting to happen around May/June of last year the question became what to do. With the wet spring, there was inventory sitting around that wasn’t going to get spread. Dealers had inventory that they were selling that they couldn’t replace for the sale price. You could buy it at about the same price you prepaid for it in January but you had to take delivery then. So you had to either spread or store it. Storing wasn’t an option.
I had the ground to spread it where I was going to spread fertilizer anyway last fall, had financing in place and did some quick math to see what the price change to interest charge was going to be and pulled the trigger.
So here I sit with 100% of my ground fertilized for this year’s crop and 50% for next year. That theoretical part is based on the assumption that my soil test and crop removal won’t be drastically out of line with my predictions based on past performance. Having said that I do know that I have issues that will need to be addressed on some fields but feel that I can weather the current price hike without hurting my yields any.
The trick now it the other 50%. We have a unique situation sitting itself up in the fertilizer world right now. Most dealers are upside down on their inventory. They are full with fertilizer that was purchased to high. They can’t sell it. And wholesalers are now full with much cheaper product and farmers aren’t buying or are buying very little. Something has to give somewhere at sometime.
This is where knowing what you need to know a day or two before you need to know it comes in play.
At some point one of two things is going to happen. Either dealers will get out of their product at some level of loss and move on or they will end up out of business. I am willing to guess that most will move it. However we still have the problem that dealers are going to have to make up that loss somewhere. And how are they going to do that?
My suggestion is that you get very chatty with your dealers. You need to be reading the tea leaves now to see what direction things will be headed as we move into mid summer. There will be opportunities to buy and you need to know if that opportunity is a good one. The first step in knowing that is to know your margin. Don’t end up upside down like the dealers did. Soil test and don’t over apply P and K and utilize VRT to maximize your fertility investment. Results this spring have shown a $20-$30/ac saving with VRT P and K. On a 1,000 acres that’s $30,000. Better in your pocket than someone else’s.
At TEPAP in 2007 the biggest things I learned was that top managers spend 2 hours a day reading. Reading papers, magazines and internet topics of things not related to crop production. Those things give them that “day or two” head start on knowing what they need to know before they need to know it. They also spend 20%of their time focusing on what they don’t need to do instead of what they think they need to do.
So with this in mind the question is really: What are you going to do about fertilizer for this spring? Are you spreading any this year? Why or why not?
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