NOVEMBER 3RD AGRONOMIC INSIGHTS

The one-stop-shop to hearing everything you need to know this week about what is happening in your fields.

 

This week’s featured agronomists are:
Drew Frank – AYS – Elgin
Jake Heitshusen – Le Sueur
Brett Thompson – Lake City
Justin Schaefer  – Wanamingo
Kevin Griffin – Elgin

Brady Kinneman – Ellsworth

Scroll down to hear from your local agronomist.


AYS
Your Advanced Yield Systems Weekly Spotlight: 

Drew Frank

With limited rainfall this year it has kept us wondering, how will soybeans perform? Although yields have been variable depending on the region, we have been seeing higher than usual soybean yields in our area. Some of the highest yields and largest returns have come from the fields planted with Variable Rate Technology. Opposite from corn, we have found that lowering soybean populations in higher yielding areas of the field, have consistently shown higher yields. This strategy may lower your seed input cost as well. Below are some planting maps, along with the Yield by Population tables.

 

Contact your Agronomist or AYS Specialist if you are interested in learning more about variable rate populations for your soybean operation.


West 
Belle Plaine – LeCenter – LeSueur

Jake Heitshusen

Things have been BUSY to the west, as we have been blessed with some great weather for fall field work! We are in the midst of a great NH3 push as all of our ammonia applicators are hard at work. Dry fertilizer is going on strong as well. Stay safe and enjoy the nice weather!

 


East  
Pine Island – Cannon Falls -Goodhue -Lake City

Brett Thompson

Brett Thompson

Harvest continues to progress and the calls keep coming in about spreading fall fertilizer. Even though the fall fertilizer market has been extremely volatile, there is some good news. The cost of lime hasn’t changed! Right now, the average cost of spreading 5 ton of lime per acre is the same as spreading 250 pounds of potash. What a perfect time to pull out those dusty soil samples, call landlords, and start evaluating which farms to spread some lime on!

 

pH can have a big effect on nutrient availability and is one of the first things that I look at on a soil test. pH range can vary depending on the crops you plan on growing, so sitting down with your agronomist and developing a plan is advised.

Of course, I need to put a plug (soil sampling pun) in for our AYS team and all the hard work they do in the fall.  The benefits you earn from a VRT lime application basically pays for your grid sample cost.   Once the grid sample results come back, we can run a program on your soils to create a customized spreading map. We all know, not every part of the field is identical. Some parts of the field may call for 5 ton while others call for no lime at all. Grid samples stabilize your nutrients, maximize nutrient efficiency, and sets the stage for you to achieve the highest probability of top end yields.

It’s looking like we have some continued good weather coming up for the near future and there is still a lot of Fall left. Its not too late to get on the list and fix the pH on some of those fields that you have been putting off the past few years!


Central  
Owatonna – Morristown – Wanamingo – Kenyon

Justin Schaefer Agronomist Wanamingo

Justin Schaefer

Harvest is nearing an end for this fall with yield reports continuing to pleasantly surprise most.  While out calibrating monitors with the weigh wagon, you can’t help but hear how dry the corn is with most registering in the upper teens.  Many are reporting very good test weights as well.  All in all, it was a very good harvest for the lack of rain we received this growing season.

 

And with one season ending another begins!  We are already taking in seed for next year in hopes that we get all the corn hybrids and beans varieties you are all wanting.  Look for plot information being passed along and emailed to you as we receive final report cards for all the seed we had out this year.  Your agronomist will continue to be in contact with you on seed needs for 2022.


South
Elgin – Lewiston – Stewartville

Kevin Griffin

As fall harvest continues to roll along,  more fields are harvested, it is an ideal time to make lime applications to your fields. Liming provides many benefits including:

  • Increased nutrient availability
  • Improved soil structure
  • Better herbicide performance
  • Improved soil biological activity

The graph below shows how raising the pH of the soil to the optimum level boosts nutrient availability to our plants.

 

Grid sampling is the most effective tool we have for applying lime. Our soil pH levels can be highly variable within a field and the use of VRT helps to ensure that we raise the pH levels in areas that need it.  We don’t want to over apply in areas that have pH levels above 7.0.

The map below shows the typical variability that we see in many of our area fields. This field example ranges in pH levels of 5.2 to 6.9. If we had only taken a couple of composite samples from this field, we could have easily made a recommendation that only addressed a small portion of the field.

Reach out to your local Ag Partners agronomist to have your fields applied with lime yet this fall to ensure the best field performance next year. I hope you have a safe and bountiful harvest.


WWAS
Ellsworth

Brady Kinneman

Brady Kinneman

Join Brady Kinneman, AYS Specialist, for an update from the field.