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FORWARDPROGRESS
The Home FieldAdvantage
Volume 1 Issue 2 FALL 2012
ProFiZonethe Best soYBean CroPYou ever raised?Post-harvest tillage strategies
CroP insuranCe Coverage
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Page 3 ProfiZonePage 4 the Best soybean Crop
You ever raised? Jeff Shaner, Soybean Product Manager,
agVenture
Page 6 Post-harvest tillage strategiesPage 6 maximum Profit grower Jeff Morse from Council Bluffs, Iowa
Page 6 the digital Farmer: twitterPage 7 Crop insurance Coverage for
drought-damaged Crops Steven D. Johnson, Ph.D. Farm & ag Business Management Specialist, Iowa State University Page 8 Fall soil testing Robert Corzatt, COMPaNY NaMe?
Page 8 ask the agronomist Scott Hart, agVenture
FORWARDPROGRESSIN tH IS ISSUe
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1 Realize increased production and yield through superior crop planning.
2 Overall cost per bushel drops as production increases.
3 Your bottom line is maximized.
AgVenture’s Maximum Profit System™ goes beyond selling last year’s hot seed variety. Our proven approach combines increased production and a lower cost-per-bushel investment to boost your bottom line. Your AgVenture Yield Specialist will work with you to analyze your fields, evaluate your seed options and create a plan that maximizes your profits.
Welcome to Forward Progress, AgVenture’s newest publication made specifically for you – the grower. Within these pages you’ll find valuable information to aid you in your pursuit of becoming a more profitable grower. We hope that these tips, tricks and insights will benefit your operation and our AgVenture Yield Specialists look forward to answering any questions that may arise along the way.
AgVenture has updated its MPS Mobile text
message program with more robust commodity and market
information, and additional customization options to keep
you informed. Ask your AYS to sign you up or visit
www.CommodityUpdate.com/MPSMobile
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2012 harvest reviewThis process should begin with a checklist of several important topics/factors affecting yields in 2012 and historically.1. The report card of how we planted corn in the springtime is the ear size/
production we have (or don’t have) on each stalk.
Keep in mind, a plant count does not equal or correlate to an ear count. As we evaluate plants, we will see full, partial and no ears produced depending on numerous factors influencing each plant.
Planting depth plays a huge role here in determining final ear sizes. Final depths of 2" from a 2 ¼" planting is close to the targets we are/were shooting for. Other contributing factors where a firm seedbed (vertical tillage, no tillage, strip till, etc.), thus having ran a field cultivator or soil finisher that fluffed the top 4" – 5" inches. No residue in trench next to seeds and no smeared side walls are also play significant roles in determining ear size and yields as they affected emergence rate and early growth of above and below ground portions of young corn seedlings. Any and all of the above can dramatically affect yields, especially since most of corn crop’s yield potential is established early.
2. Early and safe weed control was especially important in 2012 with moisture at a premium early in the growing season. Thus, killing/eliminating weeds before they competed with young corn seedlings for moisture, food and sunlight had season long impacts on corn plants/ear development. If this was completed early and with safe products vs. late and with yield robbing/harsh products, this could easily make a 10-40 bu. difference. As weeds get taller they are much more difficult to kill.
Evaluate your pre or post programs for crop safety. Many popular herbicides can rob 5 – 20 bpa due to crop injury that is not noticeable sometimes. Use extreme caution with Corvus (Balance), SureStart (Triple Flex) and improperly safened generic acetachlor products, to name just a few. Post products to be wary of include Status, Steadfast, Caperno, Dicamba and Glyphosate.
3. Nitrogen management consists of multiple forms of N applied at various times/growth stages that meets the early, mid and late season needs of the growing corn plant.
If corn leaves were fired (yellowing) up the mid rib of lower leaves or plants were stunted or yellowish in general you might have been deficient of nitrogen.
Peak demand of nitrogen starts just before tasseling. We need the majority of nitrogen just before tassel and for the next 40 days or so. Some N products (stabilized NH3, stabilized urea) are much better at supplying the late nitrogen than other sources.
4. Foliar fungicides provide many benefits to the corn plant up and above disease protection/prevention. Those benefits include alleviating cold stress via in furrow application of Headline, Quadris and Evito, early season disease and stress alleviation at V-4 to V-6 and heat and drought stress at R-1 (full tassel/early silk). Other contributing factors can be elongation of grain fill period and stoppage of ethylene gas emissions while under stress. Standability enhancements through better use of resources are also obtained.
Your AgVenture Yield Specialist can assist with these areas of evaluation as you prepare your 2013 cropping plan.
Jerry Hartsock | Cutting Edge Consulting and Research Services
FORWARDPROGRESS
introduCing ProFiZoneIf you haven’t already heard, ProfiZone™ is agVenture’s new crop management system that provides you with a wide array of precision farming tools and services, all focused on maximizing high potential yield areas and ensuring you get the most out of every acre.
ProfiZone focuses on five key areas to help enhance your farming operation:
• OptimalPlanning • CropManagementTools • DetailedAnalyticsandReporting • VariableRateCapabilities • AgronomicSupport
With your agVenture Yield Specialist (aYS) as a partner in the ProfiZone system, together you will monitor and measure, define and refine what your fields need to reach their
maximum potential.
In addition, year-over-year predictive knowledge gained from ProfiZone’s in-depth analysis allows you to be proactive, rather than reactive, in your crop management strategy.
Future issues of Forward Progress will feature additional information regarding specific aspects of ProfiZone and how they all play a part in this unique precision farming solution. talk with your aYS as soon as possible to see how ProfiZone can help your 2013 crop.
Growing Forward
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the Best soYBean CroP You ever raised?Every farmer has that story, and it often involves a piece of ground that had not been in beans for four, six, eight or more years. While a 50/50 corn-soy rotation is here to stay on many farms, the lesson of “the best soybean crop you ever raised” is compelling. Throwing the pest spectrum out of balance (weeds, insects, diseases) is a major key to long-term profitability in soybeans.Jeff Shaner | Soybean Product Manager | AgVenture
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talking about the future is always an interesting conversation. What can you expect for soybeans as this decade progresses? Most suppliers are talking about multiple herbicide resistance stacks within five years. It isn’t feasible for a particular seed company to carry complete lineups of each individual resistance trait, so you should be looking for a single genetic package to carry resistance to two or three chemistries. that way you can order your favorite agVenture soybean seed product and maintain the flexibility to attack the pest spectrum as you see fit.
even before the multi-trait stacks appear, you can expect to see us offering seed composition enhancement premium market opportunities to our Midwest customers in the form of Plenish™ high oleic soybean products.
Maximum profit is attainable for professional soybean farmers. at agVenture, it is our goal to help you build a lifelong dynasty on your farm, telling stories year after year about the best soybean crop you ever raised.
Soybean pests are like computer hackers. Whatever firewall protection you employ, those hackers will figure out a way around it. Weeds, insects and diseases are living organisms who intend to survive and even thrive. Anytime you stick with a year-after-year routine, such as the same product or rotation or chemistry, soy pests will eventually circumvent it. So go ahead, step away from beans on that particular 100 acres this year … it’s going to be OK. Plant second-year corn, or seed alfalfa, if that is workable for your operation. When you are ready to come back to soybeans, your AgVenture Yield Specialist is prepared with a lineup packed with top-shelf genetics.
Since soybeans are secure as a major crop on U.S. soil for years to come, having potent options available is of the utmost importance. every seed company will tell you they have great products, so what spells the difference for agVenture customers?
• FIrST of all, the leadership of your Regional Seed Company has an active hand in utilizing the strength of our national brand and its team of experts to select a product lineup best suited for your personal crop plan.
• SEcONd, you will notice we do not rush to slam new traits into the marketplace before they are ready for top performance. We want maximum profit on your farm as much as you do! This leads to building relationships that last a lifetime, which we believe is important and is absolutely the right way to do business.
• THIrd, we bring you the options necessary to keep the pest spectrum at bay. AgVenture has dedicated a portion of our lineup to LibertyLink products in many maturities to help you ward off glyphosate resistance on your farm. Newer genetic introductions for the coming year are boosting the yield level expectations in LL soybeans, which is truly exciting news. Depending on your geography, you may notice new Phytophthora genes showing up in our products or alternate sources of soybean cyst nematode resistance, for example.
FORWARDPROGRESS
Jeff MorseCouncil Bluffs, Iowa
RSC: AgVenture of Western Iowa
Acres Farmed: 1,100
Years with AgVenture: 5
Why I chose AgVenture: “It doesn’t end with the check being written. It’s a complete package, a whole program that you have to believe in. It’s not just ‘I’m going to sell you the seed and I’ll see you next year when you need to order again.’”
How my AYS helps me throughout the year: “We do a flagging of the corn to see how precise my planter is running and see how we can improve things there. We do a little scouting for weeds, diseases later on in the season. We go through and look how things emerged. Every step of the way there’s different things to manage and different things to look at and how to improve.”
maximum ProFit grower
the digital Farmer: twitter
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In recent years, social media has emerged as an important method of communication and information gathering. Farmers are using social media to problem-solve, discover new ideas and stay connected. To help you stay up to date on the latest news and trends, AgVenture is becoming active on YouTube and LinkedIn, with future plans for a Facebook page, Twitter feed and blog.
Below, you’ll find a list of tips we’ve learned along the way, as well as a good starter list for who to follow on Twitter.
Twitter Quick reference SheetFollow these general guidelines to get the most out of your Twitter experience.
Discover – Find and follow interesting accounts. You can do this by clicking the “Discover” button at the top of your Twitter page, searching for people and organizations by names, keywords or hashtags.
Hashtags (#) – Hashtags are keywords in tweets that indicate a topic of discussion. Click a hashtag to view more tweets about that topic.
Check back often – Information moves quickly on Twitter. Your stream of messages will update as fast as new posts are made.
Make a list – You can build lists of important accounts you follow. This allows you to contain certain groups in one convenient place. For example, you might add @USDA, @PurdueAg and other ag-oriented accounts you follow into a list called “Ag.” By opening this list, you’ll see only tweets from the members of the list.
who to follow@PurdueAg – A leader in innovative learning, discovery and engagement in agriculture, food and natural resources.
@ASA_News2 – The American Soybean Association represents U.S. soybean farmers through policy advocacy and international market development.
@usdafsa – The Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers and manages farm commodity, credit, conservation, disaster and loan programs.
@USDA – Stay up to date with the latest news, events and info from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
@brownfield – Ag news for America.
@ReutersAg – Covering commodities and trading.
@NationalCorn – Creating and increasing opportunities for corn growers.
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Once the crop has been harvested, it’s time to think about next year’s growing season. What comes first though?
Your attention should shift to one thing: What does the corn planter prefer to have done in order to maximize his ability to promote ideal planting conditions the next spring?
Keep in mind, the goal is to plant seeds where there is minimal or no residue next to, or in, the seed trench. thus, think seed
below residue, or residue above seed. Other guidelines are a firm seedbed and planting at least 2" to 2 ¼" deep.
the concern that some will have is: “What do I do with the residue of the previous crop that is on the soil surface?” the answer in most cases will be, or should be, to leave it on the surface or follow the combine with a “true” vertical tillage tool. this will assist and/or accelerate residue breakdown without transferring or incorporating residue
where you don’t want it. a running depth of 2" to 3" is optimal in the fall, and this process will also leave the environment firm in areas where seeds will be placed next spring. think less tillage with conventional till methods and more tillage with the corn planter via floating row cleaners. these are proven practices in rotated or continuous corn situations.
If compaction exists, a ripper or chisel plow may need to be used to remedy that condition. an aggressive leveling system on the disc chisel will get the field back near to level, allowing for settling and firming of the soil.
Vertical tillage in the spring differs from fall; the differences being running shallower depths (1 ½" to 2"), taking the weights off and going back to “finesse” mode with no angle to the gangs of blades.
Remember, a solid tillage strategy in the fall can reap huge benefits for next year’s crop.
Post-harvest tillageJerry Hartsock | Cutting Edge Consulting and Research Services
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CroP insuranCe Coverage For drought-damaged CroPs
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Steven D. Johnson, Ph.D. | Farm and Ag Business Management Specialist, Iowa State University
the majority of corn and soybean acres in the Corn Belt are covered by multi-peril crop insurance at the farm-level. Drought damage is an insurable loss under these policies. However, producers should consult with their crop insurance agent before harvesting or destroying any drought-damaged crops. the agent will notify a certified crop adjustor to appraise the insured crops. Keep in mind that when damage is widespread, adjustors cannot be everywhere at once. the adjustor may declare the crop a complete loss. If it has significant yield potential, it can be left and harvested in the fall. If the producer elects to harvest it early, as silage, check strips can be left to verify the actual yield achieved. In any case, the acres must be released by the insurance company before the crop can be harvested early or destroyed.
determining lossesInsurance indemnity payments will be settled based on actual harvested production over the entire insurance unit. Many producers likely elected enterprise unit coverage in 2012, in order to receive a lower premium. this means all production for that crop will be combined throughout the county to determine the potential loss. even fields that are declared a complete loss will be combined with any harvested acres in the same insurance unit to calculate the final yield. For example, if an insured unit of 100 corn acres had 30 acres declared a complete loss, and the remaining acres averaged 90 bushels per acre, the average yield for the unit would be (70 acres x 90 bu./100 acres) = 63 bushels per acre.
In Iowa, it is estimated that 90% of the state’s 23.5 million corn and soybean acres are covered by crop insurance and 90% of those insured acres have Revenue Protection policies in place. approximately 7% of the state’s insured acres are covered by Yield Protection policies. the difference between these two types of policies could be significant in a year like 2012. this is because Yield Protection policies first require yield loss, and any indemnity payments will be limited to the Projected Price determined in the month of February
using the Chicago Mercantile exchange (CMe) futures price closes. the average of those daily price closes were established at $5.68/bu for corn (December futures contract) or $12.55/bu for soybeans (November futures contract).
indemnity PaymentsFor Revenue Protection policies, the yield loss will be paid at a rate equal to the average CMe futures price during the month of October, if it exceeds the average February price of $5.68/bu for corn or $12.55/bu for soybeans. the loss is equal to the crop insurance approved yield times the level of guarantee purchased, minus the actual yield. So, if the approved yield on the unit was 170 bushels per acre, and an 80% guarantee was purchased,
the guaranteed yield would be 136 bu. per acre, and the loss would be (136 bu. - 63 bu.) = 73 bushels per acre. If the December corn contract price averages $7.50 in October, for example, the indemnity payment would be (73 bu. x $7.50) = $547.50 per acre.
For Yield Protection policies, losses will be paid at the 2012 average February futures price. If the loss is 73 bushels per acre, then the indemnity payment would be (73 bu. x $5.68) = $414.64 per acre.
Following harvest, the usual evidence of actual production should be collected and submitted to the crop insurance agent as soon as possible. If it appears that a payment is likely, these yields should be reported not later than 15 days after the end of the insurance period, which is December 10 for corn and soybeans in Iowa. If a producer has a history of selling more than half the crop in the tax year following harvest, reporting of crop insurance proceeds can be deferred to the next tax year.
More information about crop insurance policies and procedures can be found on the ISU ag Decision Maker website at: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/cdcostsreturns.html
ask the agronomist With Scott Hart, AgVenture Director of Product & Technical Marketing
In years of severe drought, your corn crop may be unsuitable as cash crop. The first thing to do, though, is to evaluate the condition of crops in your individual fields. Evaluating each field separately against normal growth and development will help you determine when and how to harvest for maximum economic benefit. This is especially true when deciding if you are going to harvest your corn crop early for silage purposes.
There are three preferable options for turning drought stressed corn into silage: green chopping, ensiling or baling as dry stover.
• Green chopping provides an immediate source of feed, but can be high in toxic nitrate levels due to drought damage. It is recommended that green chopped silage taken from drought damaged fields be sampled and tested for nitrate levels.
• Ensiling gives a less immediate source of feed, but can solve nitrate level problems in drought stressed corn, diminishing the concentration by as much as 50 percent.
• Baling or stacking as dry stover is a good solution when corn has dried below 55-60 percent moisture, making it less than ideal for ensiling.
Once you’ve made the decision to harvest drought damaged corn, be sure to weigh your options and choose the storage method that is right for each of your fields, and always be mindful of nitrate levels.
Do you have a question you would like to ask the agronomist? Email us at [email protected].
How do I handle drought stressed corn?
Learn more at <www.AgVenture.com>
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FALL SOILTESTING TIPSBy Robert Corzatt
Good soil fertility is one of the major components of managing stress the following year in any crop. Because of this, fall, when harvest is finishing up but before tillage is complete, is a great time to collect soil samples.
HErE’S wHAT yOu NEEd TO kNOw wHEN TAkING SAmPLES:
1. Fields need to be sampled on a 3 to 4 year cycle.
2. Always sample a field during the same time each year. (i.e., sample only in the fall or only in the spring)
3. GPS grid sampling is best for taking samples consistently from the same spots. If sampling the old fashioned way, don’t sample more than 10-acre blocks.
4. For consistent soil tests, more sample cores are better than less.
5. Sample depth of 6 to 7 inches is critical for the most consistent readings.
