The number one goal on your farm should be safety. No farmer ever made money from a hospital bed. Keep yourself and your equipment in good repair and observe all safety rules
At Corn Capital Innovations of Olivia we learn from 2013 to create more opportunity in the 2014 season for your farming operation. The 2014 planning process should start now. Let us help! Check out our website and let us give you A Great hand in farming.
We want to remind you how vital safety is to a successful farm operation. Take the time to make sure your equipment is running properly. Make sure everyone on your farm is practicing good work habits around machinery and turn off all machinery before working on it.
Are your spring goals that you set in your production operation matching your yield results this fall? If not…let us help. We’re Corn Capital Innovations of Olivia….A great hand in farming.
I am sure you all are saying the same thing at the coffee shop… “is it hot enough for ya?”
Without a doubt it has been a wild weather year here in Minnesota! With the April & May snow, slow start to summer (not getting here until mid-June!) and then we did get a nice 6 week stretch until again an unusual cold snap hit our area.
Now, here we are again in “summer” temperatures. It is expected that we will have 90 degree weather right through Labor Day. The blame for this late summer heat wave they say is a climate induced jet stream, and when this happens it can get “stuck” for weeks at a time.
How has the wild weather like the heat affected your progress up to today? Did you do what you could possibly do to put this year’s crop in the correct stage to combat this current stress we are facing?
It is times like these, during extreme weather changes that we must be careful what we wish for, just 2 weeks ago everyone was worried about the heat needed to develop the crop up timely. Now everyone is wishing for it to cool down to slow down the progress!
When it comes to predicting weather it’s considered a law of extremes. We can only hope we have an average fall.
Read more about The Controllable Factors of Farming, Click Here.
We got the rain we needed but I am noticing that the canopy is turning yellow on my corn crop.
When farmers drive by corn fields they often keep a keen eye as to what is going on in each and every field. More times than not, when something that is less than desirable is found, which is usually in their neighbors fields, the coffee shop conversation usually goes something like; “Did you see farmer Bob’s corn field up on the county line?” “Jeepers, what do you think happened there?” While many thoughts are focused to finding out the one variable that caused an undesirable outcome of how the crop looks, more times than not after an in-depth investigation into the who, what, where, and why of the outcome, what is reveled is that there was several variables that have led to a undesirable looking field of corn.
When we see positive results in farming, we do our best to replicate the scenario in future years. When something negative occurs, we look to change something to make sure the scenario does not present itself in future years. There is one inherent problem with this train of thought, the lack of investigation into what caused it. Investigation only occurs when something bad happens, there is often no investigation into what happened to produce a positive outcome, and we just simply tell ourselves we were right. It is this investigation process that is so important, in both positive and negative outcomes.
Corn plants and the soil we farm do an excellent job of prognosticating future pit falls that will occur in our growing season. Whether it is a visual sign
We have the ability to tell what is currently going on, as well as what will go on in fields, with a confident degree of certainty. Agronomic decision’s that are made in season are often measure at the combine. In-action on a decision is rarely measured, only the practices that were applied are measured. This occurs because of our basic belief that a yield monitor measures our progress. However, it is my belief that the best way to measure certain applications is with visual interpolation, as well as plant and soil data. To measure an in-season application at the combine is hard to conceptualize because there are other variables that may have affected the outcome of the crop, after the application was made.
As your operation prepares for harvest make sure you review what you were happy with this year, as well as your concerns. Turn you set backs into comebacks next year with the things that you were unhappy about. Every day in every field there is something to learn. With the help of a trusted advisor and proper investigation you can turn this ……
Into this…….
It all starts with re-affirmations of your agronomic plans as well of the re-education that takes place each and every year when given the proper tools to investigate how your crop handled the variables that were both in your control and out of your control.
To start, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Rich Nichols, and I am going to be a senior at Iowa State University in the fall. I am majoring in Animal Science and minoring in Agronomy. I was raised on an 80 acre hobby farm in Southwest, IA. Growing up, my main agricultural experience was with show cattle, as my family has a 25 head herd of shorthorn and club calf cows on our acreage. I was actively involved in 4-H and FFA, and developed a deeper passion for livestock and agriculture because of those programs. I also worked for a local farmer all through high school, and through that experience, I was exposed to the row crop side of agriculture as well, but it was mainly just an “introduction”. My agronomic interests had been sparked.
Therefore, as I started college in the fall of 2010, I knew that Animal Science was a great fit with my agricultural interests, but that interest in row crop lingered, and I decided to declare an Agronomy minor. The classes were interesting, and grew my interest in the subject. However, despite all the information I was presented, and material I was asked to learn, I still didn’t understand agronomy in the way that some of my classmates did; the classmates that grew up farming corn and soybeans on their family’s farms, the classmates that had experience. I realized what I had been lacking: agronomic experiences. So, I determined that at some point in my college career, I wanted to spend time interning with an agronomic company.
I got that experience this summer, namely a four week stint in Olivia, MN observing and working for Corn Capital Innovations. I had no idea what my expectations should be when I showed up the first day, but it was quickly made clear that I was going to be treated extremely well and exposed to many agronomic practices. To put it mildly, I was pumped.
During my first week, I was exposed mainly to Net Effective Plant Stands (NEPS). I helped and observed a fellow intern, Reed Nelson, with this. The idea is to identify the number of standards plants, delayed plants, planter skips, or double planted seeds out of 1/1000th of an acre. In addition, we did some “digging”, both literally and figuratively, to diagnose delayed plants. Common issues in emergence were hard pan and smeared sidewalls, in which tillage creates compaction and limits root establishment and growth. We also noticed that seeding depth and residue were interfering factors as well. To finish up, we would take stand counts to determine an accurate estimate of the number of plants per acre.
During my second week at CCI, I spent time shadowing Steve Oneill, who is the founder and owner. The week started off with a bang, as he explained to me the intricacies of crop insurance. I had never been exposed to much on this topic, therefore it was a very educational experience and I now understand the huge upside of crop insurance. I now feel like I could explain the basics of crop insurance to people and also see it to be a necessary expense for any profit minded and progressive farmer. Another experience during week two was customer interaction via field walkthroughs and agronomic observations made and discussed with the growers. I had the opportunity to identify weeds, take more stand counts, look at root systems, observe a custom planting dispute and eventual resolution, as well as look through a soybean seed packaging facility.
Week three was just as educational as the previous, as I spent most of my time with Scott Oneill, Steve’s brother and field agronomist for CCI. Just as in the week previous, I was learning right away, as I was exposed to tillage practice differences and their effect on the rooting system in corn. Fields that had been field cultivated had a noticeable layer of compaction four to five inches deep into the topsoil that had retarded both tap root, and hair root growth. To no surprise, the corn in these fields was not as healthy as would be deemed optimum. In contrast, in fields that had been vertically tilled, the tap roots and hair roots were not restricted by compaction and were allowed to flourish underground. The amount of hair roots present in the soil between the rows was substantially higher than in field cultivated fields, while the hair roots present on tap roots were more extensive. The result of these extensive root differences were noticeable above ground as well, as these plants generally had a deeper green color, had a more uniform stand, and exhibited less nitrogen deficiency burn on the lower leaves. Through the rest of that week, I continued observing these tillage differences as I pulled nitrate samples in numerous fields with Scott to determine the amount of available nitrogen left in the soil, which would give us a better understanding of what the plant’s possible needs would be through the rest of the summer, which happen to be when peak nitrogen uptake is occurring (pollination-black layer).
During my final week at CCI, the main bulk of my time out in the field was on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday I spent time with Scott and was exposed to sugar beets for the first time as we took some stand counts. Additionally, we walked through bean fields looking for cut-offs and bruising (the result of hail damage) with insurance adjustors. I learned how to identify a cut-off bean plant, and by the end of the day, was fairly proficient in doing so. Wednesday I was with Steve all day. I rode around with him and observed customer interaction and discussion regarding pollination and its intricacies, future fungicide application, and possible Nitrogen application pending the results of soil samples taken the week prior.
As a whole, I am beyond grateful and fortunate for my time I was able to spend interning at Corn Capital Innovations. I have learned more in the past 4 weeks than in all of the agronomy classes I have taken at Iowa State, and now feel more adept to understand and relate to the information that I will be presented in the classroom. The big points I have taken out of my time here this summer are 1) the role that crop insurance plays in farming along with its importance, and 2) the noticeable differences between corn stands, health, vigor, root depth, nutrient uptake, etc. due to tillage differences, namely vertical tillage vs. field cultivators. I want to conclude by thanking the whole Corn Capital team for their professionalism, kindness, and hospitality they have shown me this past month. I have been treated like a regular member of this team, and am beyond grateful for that. I now have a deep respect for all the CCI employees, and view this company as a top tier organization that truly cares about all its customers. I have no doubt that their business will continue to be successful because of the way that they treat people and the values of integrity they hold on to. Corn Capital Innovations, I wish you the best of luck in the future, and hope our paths cross again.
