Land to Buy!

Have you been thinking about buying some land?  We have some deals for you in both the states of Kansas and Missouri.  Whether you're interested in buying at an auction or private treaty there are plenty of deals available with great returns on your investment.  Click on the links below to find the perfect land for you.

240 Acres Miami Co. KS

70 Acres Miami Co. KS

23.5 Acres Miami Co. KS

110 Acres Leavenworth Co. KS

160 Acres Johnson Co. KS

40 Acres Miami Co. KS

103 Acres Daviess Co. MO

42 Acres Daviess Co. MO

80 Acres Daviess Co. MO

139 Acres Miami Co. KS

500 Acres Johnson Co. MO

169 Acres Cass Co. MO

100 Acres Barton Co. MO

391 Acres Morris Co. MO

65.3 Cass Co. MO

Interested in a greenhouse operation?  Click on the link below.

Greenhouse =+ 10 Acres Cass Co. MO

Arkansas Strikes Again!

In late 2013, during the happy aftermath of massive soybean yields, Arkansas producers — three of whom were the first to break the 100-bushel barrier — were reticent to predict another bin-busting crop for 2014.

Mercurial Mother Nature had smiled on their growing season and, they knew, she could just as easily be in a foul mood next time around.

But for many in the state, it turned out, she was just as happy in 2014. Numerous, extremely pod-heavy fields were easy to find — especially south of Forrest City.

Some 3.15 million acres were planted in soybeans this year.

As of late September, three producers had harvested 100-bushel-plus soybeans in fields that were entered in the state’s yield contest.

A repeat winner

According to Delta Farm Press Matt Miles, McGehee, Ark., was the first to repeat the yield feat. His Pioneer P45T11R soybeans cut 100.609 bushels.

Miles’ wife, Sherrie Kay, claimed her own green jacket with a field of Pioneer 48T53R beans that yielded 106.499 bushels.

Thus far, the big yield winner, however, is David Bennett (no relation to the author), who farms outside Lake Village in the southeast corner of the state. His field of Asgrow 4632 soybeans yielded 112.012 bushels — the highest total ever for an entrant in the Grow for the Green contest.

Several weeks before harvest, it was obvious that the central Delta and southeastern parts of Arkansas would bring in bumper soybean crops.

“There are great soybeans all over the area,” said Lanny Ashlock, Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board. “Rains were heavy farther north, but from around Helena south, rains were timely, and farmers were able to manage their crops well.”

Nelson Crow agreed. “We had to irrigate maybe three times,” says the Winchester producer, whose Group 3.9 soybeans last year yielded over 100 bushels. “It seems like every time we began to irrigate, it would rain.”

One key to escalating Arkansas soybean yields is shifting the crop from second-best soils to the best.

"Everybody's Pushing For Beans"

“It used to be in the Mid-South that you put soybeans wherever you didn’t have cotton or rice,” says Crow. “Now, they’ve come out of the closet, and with no more cotton, soybeans are going on our more productive ground.

“We have farmers across the Mid-South who are all trying to maximize bean yields — and there are some really good farmers. We’re all pushing these beans, trying different things, finding out what they can do. It really is new territory.”

A second key is yield contests. Crow says being involved in the yield competition “has at least doubled my knowledge of soybeans.”

The competitive drive of farmers has meant educating themselves on how best to manage the crop. “It’s pretty serious when I pull a combine out of a buckshot field and move it into a contest field to harvest before a rain,” says Matt Miles.

“I think it’s the best soybean contest in the U.S. I’ve looked at some others, and I think Arkansas is setting a precedent that others are trying to follow. The contest is doing what it was designed to do.”

The contests have “generated a ton of interest,” says Wes Kirkpatrick, Desha County Extension chair. “There are 16 contest fields in the county this year.”

‘You want to do it again’

Miles says he and consultant Robb Dedman “have enjoyed the contest. Once you do it, you want to do it again. You chase the yield, and want to compare things you’re trying with what other growers are doing. I’ve made so many contacts through this competition.”

Brad Doyle, president of the Arkansas Soybean Association (ASA), says the friendly competition among farmers “is a great story. In this process, we’re all learning from each other. We’re compiling all the data from the entry forms and, hopefully, we’ll be able to put something out through the ASA to show everyone what the contest entrants are doing to make these outstanding yields.”

Outside Dumas, producer Martin Henry says rains reduced his irrigations by half. “In a normal year, we’d irrigate six or seven times — this year, we irrigated only three times.”

Ashlock is keen to highlight Henry’s management skills.

“What’s unique is that he farms on heavy ground,” Ashlock says. “Even so, last year, his yield contest field harvested 98.5 bushels on a Sharkey clay-type soil. To me, that’s remarkable.”

Advocate for Irrigation

Henry is a big advocate of irrigation scheduling programs. “We’re fortunate to have good water around here.

“The whole farm is on the PHAUCET irrigation scheduler. That’s something that needs to be promoted. This is our third year using the program. Using it means wasting 30 percent less water. As
valuable as water is, we need to save every drop possible.”

Henry admits there was “a big learning curve” with PHAUCET. “It took a while,” he says, “but we’re comfortable with it now.

“You set up a field on the computer, plug in the flow rate from your well, and the program tells you the hole sizes to pop in the polypipe.

“Years ago, we’d just pop holes all the same, which meant one end of the field would have water, and we’d have to wait for half a day, or more, for the other end of the field to be irrigated.

“PHAUCET works. When the water is out, the field is covered. You aren’t just pouring water out the end of the field while waiting for the whole field to be covered. I wish everyone would try it.”

Henry also credits the yield contests in the state with nudging producers toward strict management of their soybean crops.

“Being involved in the Go for the Green contest has allowed us to learn so much by trying to push our beans. We wouldn’t have done that before.

“Now, we’re not just pushing one field — we’re pushing all of them. So, the contest has really helped Arkansas soybeans.”

Control Mustards in Your Winter Wheat

Look carefully, and you may notice tiny mustard weeds in your winter wheat fields. Now is the time to take care of them, says Dallas Peterson, weed specialist at Kansas State University's Department of Agronomy. 

Many farmers don't think about controlling mustard species until spring -- when they really begin to take off. "It is still possible to get some control at that time with herbicides, but mustards are much more difficult to control at that stage and often have already reduced wheat yields by then," Peterson says.

To keep yield losses to a minimum, mustards should be controlled by late winter or very early spring, before the plants begin to bolt or stems elongate.

If winter annual broadleaf weeds are present in the fall, they can be controlled with any number of ALS-inhibiting herbicides, including Ally, Amber, Finesse, Affinity, Rave, Olympus, or PowerFlex. Huskie, 2,4-D, and MCPA can also provide good control of most mustards if the weeds are at the right stage of growth and actively growing, and if the wheat is at the correct growth stage. Dicamba and Starane are not very effective for mustard control.

Here are some control tips, based on the species you are after:

• Blue mustard: Pehaps the most difficult winter annual broadleaf weed to control because it bolts very early; herbicides should be applied in late February or early March. Blue mustard is more difficult to control than tansy mustard with 2,4-D because blue mustard has often already bolted by the time 2,4-D can be safely applied to wheat. Thus, 2,4-D often is applied too late to be effective on blue mustard.
• Flixweed and tansy mustard: Treat before they reach 2 to 3 inches across and 2 to 3 inches tall; control thereafter decreases dramatically. Ester formulations of 2,4-D and MCPA are more effective than amine formulations. 
• Field pennycress: Easier to control than other species, herbicide applications made before the pennycress bolts are usually effective. Wheat should be fully tillered before applying 2,4-D, or tillering will be inhibited and wheat yields may be decreased.

Most ALS-inhibiting herbicides control winter annual mustards very well, although there are populations of treacle mustard and flixweed that are ALS-resistant and cannot be controlled by these products.

Alternative control measures will be needed to control these populations. The best approach is to use other herbicides such as 2,4-D, MCPA, or Huskie as an alternative or in a tank-mix with the ALS herbicides. MCPA can be applied after the wheat is in the three-leaf stage; but 2,4-D should not be applied until after wheat is fully tillered -- which often doesn’t occur until spring. Huskie can be applied between the 1-leaf and flag leaf stage of growth. None of these herbicides has much residual control, so the majority of weeds need to be emerged and actively growing at the time of treatment.

Some producers commonly apply ALS herbicides with fertilizer in January or February. Unfortunately, MCPA, 2,4-D, and Huskie are most effective when applied to actively growing weeds, so application when weeds are dormant may not provide good control.  As a result, if an ALS-inhibitor tank-mix with one of these herbicides is applied to dormant ALS-resistant mustards in the winter, poor control can be expected.

ALS-resistant bushy wallflower seems to be present in a number of fields in central Kansas. ALS-resistant flixweed has only been confirmed in the Saline county area, but may start to show up elsewhere. Producers should watch for cases of poor control, and consider alternative herbicides or herbicide tank-mixes to help prevent or manage ALS-resistant weeds. 

Crop rotation with corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, cotton, or sunflowers is a good way of controlling the mustards as long as they are controlled in the spring prior to producing seed. Crop rotation will usually result in a gradual reduction of mustard populations in the future as the seedbank in the soil gradually decreases.

A Front Door

History is filled with examples of entrepreneurs ginning up ideas that revolutionized U.S. agriculture. Those early pioneers had local communities that helped them nurture and grow their brainstorms until they became viable products.

But where do today’s Eli Whitneys and John Deeres and Cyrus McCormicks turn to get the help they need to launch their great innovations and build industries around them? That’s one of the biggest challenges facing agriculture as it seeks to feed, cloth and provide fuel for a rapidly growing world population.

Steve Bares, president and executive director of Memphis Bioworks Foundation, an organization that works with entrepreneurs in a number of fields, including agriculture, talked about the process during a presentation at the Tennessee AgriTech Challenge in Murfreesboro, Tenn.  Delta Farm Press reported on it.

“I have the privilege every day of working with entrepreneurs, whether we’re working with entrepreneurs in the agricultural space, in the medical device space or in the logistics areas,” said Dr. Bares. “The one thing you learn I think in the community and in the state is that entrepreneurs put batteries in our communities.

“They light the way; they provide the energy; they give you jobs; they make it so that our kids want to come back to the state and work. That’s what this is all about. What we’re trying to do is build a system around helping entrepreneurs.”

The Memphis Bioworks Foundation, which organized the conference along with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and USDA, has a track record of assisting entrepreneurs in taking their ideas to the marketplace.

Another fact Bares has learned is that ag entrepreneurs’ good ideas don’t get automatically translated into success. “That’s not what happens,” he said. “It’s actually hard to be an entrepreneur in the agricultural space. It’s not clear where we go to get the information we need.”

Too often, Bares said, entrepreneurs don’t know where to go to get the information they need on subjects such as irrigation or other areas of expertise that could help solve problems they face. They often don’t know where to get the capital they need.

“What we’ve done is we’ve made it hard for entrepreneurs, the batteries or the energies behind our communities,” he noted. “What we’ve learned in this process is that when you talk to new entrepreneurs or your customers, they tell us ‘we need to figure out how this works; we don’t get it.’ They need a front door.”

That doesn’t mean that only one organization should be working with entrepreneurs and providing that single front door, according to Bares. “If we’re doing this right, we need 12 organizations that are doing this across the state. But we still have to have a place where it all makes sense, where it all comes together.”

The goal, he said, is to enable hundreds of entrepreneurs to start many new agricultural companies in Tennessee.

Participants in the Tennessee AgriTech Challenge heard presentations by four representative startups that are seeking help in getting established. The four are scattered across the state and even into Mississippi:

Climate Adaptive Genetics. James West, a professor at Vanderbilt University and chief technology officer for the company, described a breeding program that would put Angus cattle in white coats to make them more tolerant of the heat in climates like Brazil. The project is being developed by Vanderbilt and Middle Tennessee State University. www.Climateadaptivegenetics.com

Hivalgo. John Reams, CEO, described a system that would provide refinements in grain and oilseed training through the use of information technology. www.hivalgo.com.

Croptell. Scott Sartor, CEO, discussed developing new financial farm planning software for the row crop farming industry. www.croptell.com.

Sytheros. Jim Stratigos, CEO, talked about developing a wireless sensor platform for agriculture and other industries. www.sytheros.com.

Ron Meeusen, a former scientist with Dow AgroSciences who now directs a venture capitalist firm called Cultivian Sandbox Ventures, spoke on “Investing in Agricultural Innovation,” and three panelists, William Brown, dean for research and director of the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station; Walt Mullins, trait manager for Bayer CropScience; and Barry Knight, chief executive officer, Cresco Ag LLC, spoke on “Does Tennessee Have a Role in Global Ag Innovation?”

For a short video on this presentation click here.

FSA Meets Farm Bill Target

$100 million is a lot of money, even by government standards. But, by the time it’s all said and done, there’s one $100 million amount that farmers will more than likely agree was money well spent.

This $100 million is the money Congress provided in the Agricultural Act of 2014 to help USDA get the word out to farmers about the many new provisions in the 2014 farm bill and how they differ from those of the 2008 law.

Using those funds, USDA has held more than 2,000 farm bill education meetings since August. Some were training sessions for FSA county office employees, but the majority were meetings held by county FSA directors to introduce the new insurance-oriented Title I safety net programs to farmers.

USDA also contracted with Texas A&M University’s Agriculture and Food Policy Center, the University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute and the University of Illinois to develop decision aid software that allows producers to plug in their information and determine how different farm bill decisions will impact them.

Land-grant university personnel are working with farmers on how to use the new software.
“Many farmers have just finished harvest, and now they’re turning their attention to the farm bill,” says Val Dolcini, administrator of the Farm Service Agency. “We’re trying to do everything we can to make sure they have all the information they need to make good decisions.”

Dolcini, interviewed by telephone from Nashville, Tenn., where he was attending a national FSA employee farm bill training conference, agreed with an oft-repeated expression that it will take more than one meeting for many producers to fully understand the many options available under the Agricultural Act of 2014.

“It is complicated, and I think many farmers may need to hear the information from more than one source,” said Dolcini, who served as state executive director of the California Farm Service Agency before assuming the top FSA post in September. “That’s why we have partnered with the land-grant universities at most of our farm bill education meetings.”

Dolcini said FSA employees have overcome a number of challenges since President Obama signed the 2014 law in February, working through a number of issues to get to the point where they are now signing up farmers for the new programs.

“Our first step was to roll out the Livestock Forage Disaster Program, which was designed to help producers who had experienced livestock losses from droughts, floods and blizzards,” said Dolcini. “Then, in September, we launched the Dairy Margin Protection Program to provide help for dairy farmers.” (Dolcini visited a dairy farm in Orlinda, Tenn., to discuss the MPP-D program while in Tennessee.)

Farm Service Agency personnel just completed the signup for the Cotton Transition Assistance Program, a program that will provide about 5 cents per pound to producers who will not receive a direct payment or insurance payment in 2014.

And since Sept. 29, they have been working with landowners on updating yield history or reallocating base acres and, since Nov. 17, signing farmers up for the Agricultural Risk Coverage or ARC or the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. Signup for updating yields or reallocating base acres ends Feb. 27, 2015 and for ARC or PLC ends March 31, 2015.

“These are very serious decisions for farmers,” said Dolcini. “When growers sign up for ARC or PLC, they’re committing their operations to those programs from 2014 to 2018. Our county FSA employees cannot provide advice to growers on what they should do, but they will provide all the assistance they can.”

Enrollment in the new, complicated farm bill comes at a time when FSA and USDA have fewer full-time employees (FTEs) and reduced funding for general operations. As a result, FSA has been consolidating county offices and reducing FTEs where possible. Tennessee, for example, now has 59 county offices instead of an office in each of its 95 counties.

“We’ve been able to make good use of temporary employees to stay on schedule for farm bill implementation,” said Dolcini. “We’re having them do some of the paperwork and freeing up full-time employees to handle the more complicated tasks and work with farmers.

“I won’t say it hasn’t been challenging, but we have a great group of employees, and they’ve been working very hard to keep us on schedule.”

For more information on the remaining deadlines for signing up for 2014 farm bill programs, see http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/printapp?fileName=nr_20141002_rel_0161.html&newsType=newsrel

2001: A Farm Oddessy

In the classic science-fiction film Star Wars, the character Han Solo turns to Luke Skywalker during a heated space travel scene and says "Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy!"

Well, Han Solo may be wrong.

Agriculture.com recently covered a story about  SpaceX.  A company that is one of a handful of companies in the world whose scientists and engineers are producing rockets and spacecrafts that company leaders including CEO Elon Musk hope will one day lead to a completely privatized space travel industry with an ultimate goal of "making humanity a multi-planet species." The company is based in Hawthorne, California, but has facilities and employees in Florida, Washington, D.C., and Texas.

What's this got to do with agriculture? SpaceX officials recently announced a farmer in Texas will soon become one of the company's 3,000 employees.

Responsibilities of the job include planning and executing budgets, operating and maintaining machinery, nailing down crop inputs and maintaining the ability to "understand the implications of the weather and make contingency plans," according to a SpaceX report. The job takes at least 10 years of "row crop farming experience" in central Texas and "which shall include a working knowledge of every process required for crop production in the region," according to SpaceX. "Experience in repair and preventative maintenance of John Deere agricultural equipment."

So, is SpaceX sending a farmer to space? Though company officials have been tight-lipped about why they're hiring a farmer, there's speculation that the position has as much to do with the company's operating budget as it does coming up with ways to grow food in space. Agricultural use nets tax-exempt status for not just land, but the tools, equipment and inputs used for growing crops or raising livestock in Texas.

Though SpaceX's ultimate goals in hiring a farmer have yet to be specifically outlined, it's clear company leaders intend for the position's occupant to both continue farm work and have at least some role in the company's operations.

"This position will be required to work around test schedules as necessary to ensure the successful crop production does not interfere with testing progress," according to a statement from SpaceX's website.

Market Confusion!

This week the soybean market is fulfilling one of Murphy’s Laws: “The market will do whatever is necessary to fool the majority.” According to a report by Agriculture.com, cash soybean bids broke above the $1.00 rally level on October 29. Strength at that time led many to believe there were large gains still ahead. Since then, action has leveled off, and prices have become much less volatile. Bets that prices could go straight up were tempered by two days, November 4 and November 19, when they broke below the dollar level. Both times there was a quick rebound back above that “magic“ level.

Scanning the charts of cash bids and March futures gives the impression that the high was on October 31 with the price of $9.69. However, the ability of the market to rebound every time the support level is broken makes me think that the bids could hold in this area or higher for a long time.

In addition to chart action that is somewhat bullish is the fact that basis has finally started to improve. I admit that the move is small and not consistent across all price levels. It is at least better than having the basis deteriorate as the record soybean crop finally comes to town. Hope that the end of the year will see much better basis and gradually improving cash bids.

Meanwhile, corn bids continue to plug along, pennies up and pennies down. The net result has been a gradually improving cash bid. That is better than having violent large moves up and down but not going anywhere. At least the price today is such that market analysts have stopped taking about cash corn prices below $3.00. With the size of the 2014 crop, it may take until spring for corn to be above production cost if indeed it ever gets there for most of us.

All cash bids quoted in this column are from Midwest Farmers Co-op in southeast Nebraska.

The Crops and the Bees

Delta Farm Press reported on the EPA release was news to farmers who have been producing significantly higher soybean yields in the Mid-South.

“EPA finds neonicotinoid seed treatments of little or no benefit to U.S. soybean production,” the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention said in the release. “There is no increase in soybean yield using most neonicotinoid seed treatments compared to no pest control at all.”

The study, which comes as EPA is under pressure from environmental activist groups to withdraw the registrations of neonicotinoid insecticides because they claim they are a threat to bees, caused quite a bit of consternation in the farm chemical industry.

“On the 15^th of October, we got an October surprise from EPA when they issued this very cursory report saying they had done a benefits analysis and found there are little to no benefits for the use of seed treatments of neonicotinoids on soybeans,” said Jay Vroom, CEO of CropLife America, the organization representing  crop protection chemical manufacturers.

“That is a great reminder to me that part of the truth is way more harmful and damaging than an outright lie, and, unfortunately, our friends at EPA know that a lot better than we do.”

Vroom, speaking at the Southern Crop Production Association annual meeting in New Orleans, said the industry was determined not to let the claims go unchallenged and began responding almost immediately after the EPA press release hit the streets.

“Fortunately, the neonicotinoid registrants already have massive benefits analysis underway. That was being used that Wednesday afternoon just hours after we met with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and the team from the Office of Pesticides, and we voiced our frustrations and dismay that they kept this analysis of benefits a state secret and blindsided us with it.”

“I think we’re on top of this now, and in my subsequent conversations with EPA leadership, I’m beginning to hear that they may be thinking about doing a little bit more course correction on some of the follow-on label change actions that they were contemplating at EPA,” Vroom said.

Most Americans have only a cursory knowledge of honeybees, he noted. Some may have heard of the threat the Varroa mite poses to bees, but they have no idea what the mite is or what it does to pollinators.

Vroom displayed a photo taken at the Bayer CropScience Bee Center in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. Center personnel use a visual that is about the size of a sofa pillow to show visitors the impact one Varroa mite can have on a honey bee.

The primary weapon for combatting the Varroa mite is a miticide or a pesticide that will eliminate the pest without endangering the honeybee.

“It’s a great reminder in a visual way to those who have concerns about the health of pollinators that there are a lot of factors associated with pollinator health that go well beyond inadvertent exposure to pesticides that may diminish honey bee health,” he noted.

“And, in fact, the answer to the mite problem is miticides, which are pesticides. That’s an eye opener for a lot of folks in the public that don’t know anything about these issues.”

The bee health issue has now gone all the way to the top, he said, with President Obama creating a federal government pollinator task force last June. He made USDA and EPA the co-chairs of the task force.”

“We were pleased with that and commended the president for that move,” said Vroom. “But we’ve been disappointed that USDA has not kept pace with the leadership from EPA around driving the bus on the pollinator task force for the president."        `

Since the EPA's release, the neonicotinoid registrants - Bayer CropScience, Syngenta and Valent USA Corp. - have issued a number of reports about the efficacy and benefits of the compounds in seed treatments on a number of crops, including soybeans. To see those reports, visit www.GrowingMatters.org.

Fertilizer Prices & The 4 R's of Nutrient Application

I hope harvest has been going smoothly for you, though delayed for most in Ohio this fall. This week Agriculture.com has some information that is important as we think about fall and spring input prices.

Fertilizer prices are higher this fall compared to a year ago on seven of the eight common forms.

Some farmers anticipate prices softening between now and spring so they are holding off on purchasing fertilizer inputs. This may or may not hold true as retailers say that the high cost of freight and rail will keep fertilizer prices locked in. Retailers are seeing less fertilizer sales today compared to a year ago.

Fertilizer accounts for over 40 percent of your variable input costs for corn and about 25 percent of your soybean variable input costs. The way this input is managed can have a large effect on your bottom line - yield and cost.
​
Remember the four “R”s of nutrient application: the right source, and at the right rate, in the right place, at the right time.

Fall Nitrogen Application Tips

Efficient nitrogen (N) applications can translate into a better bottom line. Here are five tips Agriculture.com came up with to help you efficiently manage your fall N applications.

1. Watch the temperature.“Our guideline is, when it hits 50°F. between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. at the 4-inch depth, it’s time to apply,” says Dave Franzen, North Dakota State University Extension soil specialist. 

Applying anhydrous ammonia before soil temperatures reach 50°F. can lead to ammonium conversion to nitrite, says John Sawyer, Iowa State University Extension soil fertility specialist. He recommends spring N applications and sidedressing instead of fall applications to avoid loss.

2. Consider the soil type.“Soils that have a greater chance for N loss would be less preferred for fall applications,” says Sawyer. Also, avoid applying N in the fall on historically wet fields.

3. Plan split applications.
Franzen recommends applying half of the total N rate in the fall or preplant, and then the other half when the corn reaches V5 to V8.


“That way, if it does become really wet in May and early June, you only have half of your N at risk,” Franzen explains.

4. Use the correct form.
Only certain types of N fertilizer should be fall applied. For fall applications in Iowa, Sawyer only recommends anhydrous ammonia. All other forms should be spring-applied he says. 


“Some states don’t recommend putting on urea at all, but we haven’t found that to be an issue,” says Franzen. However, he doesn’t recommend UAN for fall applications.

5. Follow the guidelines. Franzen recommends checking state guidelines before making N applications. State guidelines will give combinations recommendations for fall N applications, he says.

11 Ways to Cut Grain Drying

Recently Agriculture.com looked at the best ways to cut into grain drying.  Here is what they came up with.

Drying grain can be one of the most energy-intensive operations on the farm. When you burn fuel to produce that energy, you also burn money. 

There isn’t an easy solution to cut costs. “No two farms are the same,” says Gary Woodruff, GSI. “There isn’t one best way to dry grain.” 

This list will help you identify energy-saving tips for the size of your operation and your grain-drying infrastructure.

1 Run in all-heat mode
“One thing that’s been around for a long time but is still cost effective is running a portable dryer in the all-heat mode,” says Woodruff. 

In all-heat mode, you heat the grain in the dryer and cool it in the bin. “The advantage is you can come out of the dryer at a higher moisture content, and then you lose one, two, or three points of moisture in the cooling process,” explains Kerry Hartwig, Sukup Manufacturing Co. “Drying those last points takes the most energy.”

That can save you 20% to 30% of your operating costs, says Woodruff. Running in all-heat mode also increases your efficiency, because grain flows through the dryer more quickly. Plus, you end up with better quality grain, because cooling grain rapidly can increase stress cracks on corn kernels. 

There are limitations to running in all-heat mode. This drying system won’t work on most bins larger than 50,000 bushels. That’s because you need to run between 1∕3 and ½ cfm of air through each bushel when the bin is full. For bins 50,000 bushels or smaller, you will need to have larger aeration fans and increase the number of roof vents. It will also require more management. 

“There are better drying systems on the market that don’t require the extra management that all-heat mode requires,” says Woodruff, “but this is one of the least expensive ways to improve how you process grain on your farm.”

2 Buy an all-heat dryer 
If your present dryer can’t run in all-heat mode, consider upgrading. “A new all-heat dryer gives the most capacity, efficiency, and quality for the dollar, even with the bin aeration upgrades required,” says Woodruff.

3 Upgrade to vacuum cooling or heat recovery
“For larger operations, it will be more efficient for grain to come out of the dryer cool,” says Hartwig. “That’s where vacuum cooling or heat recovery can make a big difference.”

In vacuum cooling, heat that is given off by the cooling grain is cycled back into the drying process. By doing this, less fuel is required to raise the drying air temperature.
Vacuum cooling is offered on tower dryers, centrifugal dryers, and centrifugal stack dryers. 

“With vacuum cooling, you can dry grain with even better efficiency than you can with all-heat drying,” says Woodruff. “You will spend more money up front, and you’re going to need a pretty good size grain dryer to get that newer technology.”

4 Dry grain evenly
“If a dryer dries grain faster in some areas and slower in others, the dryer will overdry grain to make up for the underdried grain,” says Hartwig. “This adds drying cost in extra fuel used and lower grain test weights from overdrying.”

There are different systems available to help you dry grain more evenly. Sukup’s single-module and stacked dryers use a quad-metering roll system that pulls dryer grain near the inside of the grain column out of the dryer faster, while leaving wetter grain near the outside of the column in the dryer longer. Stacked dryers also use a grain cross-over system that takes grain from one side of the dryer on the top module to the other side of the dryer on the bottom module. This inverts the grain for more even drying. Sukup tower dryers use a grain exchanger system halfway down the heat chamber.

Another option is to use a system like GSI’s grain inverters. The inverters move all grain, except the outer 2 inches within the column, to eliminate overdried grain and to maximize drying efficiency. The inverters redirect the warmest grain from the inside of the column next to the wettest grain at the outside of the column. The wet grain is dried by the captured heat, which recovers up to 15% of the heat that would have been lost.

5 Run at a higher plenum temperature
“One thing you might not be aware of is that the higher you run your plenum temperature, the more efficiently you dry grain,” says Woodruff. “At the end of the season, farmers will say they are only removing three to four moisture points, so they lowered their plenum temperature to save some fuel. Exactly the opposite happens.”

Running at a higher temperature reduces the drying time and, therefore, saves you fuel. However, higher temperatures can potentially do more damage, so you need to find a good balance. “Each dryer’s airflow and column management is different, so you have to balance efficiency with quality,” says Woodruff. “There will be a maximum best temperature for each type of dryer.”

6 Do preseason maintenance
Before you start drying grain, make sure there are no obstructions in the columns and that the burner is ready to go. During harvest, empty, clean, and restart the dryer once a week to make sure the dryer is performing optimally. 

“Like any other piece of equipment, if you don’t take the time to clean it and keep it in operating mode, you are probably going to reduce your efficiency,” says Woodruff.

7 Avoid overdrying
Grain needs to be dried to a safe moisture level so it can be stored. This can range from 13% to 15%, depending on how long you will store the grain. However, you want to avoid overdrying. Grain takes more energy per point of moisture removed. So drying beyond the desired moisture level will eat up extra energy.

8 Use a remote monitoring system
One way to keep from overdrying is to use a remote monitoring system. These systems differ for each manufacturer, but most will allow you to monitor all dryer controls just like you would at the dryer from a smartphone, tablet, or other device. 

“Farmers want to be able to monitor their dryers in the combine, at home, wherever they are,” says Hartwig. 

With some systems, like Sukup’s remote monitoring and GSI’s WatchDog, you can also make adjustments remotely. 

“The only thing you can’t do is start the dryer without being there, because that would be dangerous,” says Woodruff. “You can adjust things like the plenum temperature, moisture control setting, and unload limits.”

Beyond avoiding over-drying, remote controls will also ensure that the dryer is running efficiently and hasn’t stopped for some reason. 

“The average dryer puts 2,500 bushels through an hour,” says Woodruff. “In 10 hours, that’s 25,000 bushels. If your dryer isn’t running for that long, that can make a huge difference.”

9 Manage dryability for different hybrids
“There is a lot of variation in the way different corn varieties dry,” says Hartwig. “Even with the same hybrid, there can be drying differences in different years.”

Woodruff says this has become more of an issue in the past five years. His recommendation is to closely monitor your dryer when you change fields or when you’ve changed varieties to make sure the dryer is running where you think it should be.

10 Check moisture controls
To make sure your dryer is running properly, pull samples, check the moisture control, and make sure the dryer is where it is supposed to be. 

“Moisture sensors are temperamental. It only takes one little stock of grain hanging up in the wrong place to throw their values off,” says Hartwig. “You should pull samples two to three times a day.”

11 Get an energy audit
“Sometimes you need someone who is willing to look at your entire operation to make sure that you are operating in the best way you can for your system,” says Woodruff. 

One way to do this is to get an energy audit. Your local NRCS office should have a list of businesses that conduct professional energy audits. 

A USDA REAP grant is available to help you upgrade your system if you can increase your efficiency by 25%.

“If you pursue a grant, work with a grant writer,” advises Woodruff. Learn more about the grant at Rurdev.usda.gov/energy.

Delta Farm Press recently reported that America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders is now launching in 40 states, with more than $500,000 worth of scholarships available. Sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, the program provides $1,500 college scholarships to students pursuing a degree related to agriculture.

Starting Nov. 15, high school seniors and college students in eligible states can apply for this opportunity. Farmers know the rewards of a career in agriculture, but many of today’s youth may not. Luckily, there is an abundance of evidence that agriculture is a smart career choice. According to  USDA, nearly 55,000 jobs in agriculture are available every year. Many of the nation’s largest land-grant institutions, such as Penn State and Texas A&M University, report job placement rates above 90 percent for their ag students
.
Grow Ag Leaders helps engage future generations in agriculture by raising awareness of the broad range of career opportunities in the industry and by supporting their college education.

The program was created in response to farmer requests to keep rural youth involved in agriculture. Farmers can participate in the program by encouraging students in their community to apply for a scholarship and by endorsing their application.

Because farmers play a crucial role in the industry, each applicant is required to obtain endorsements from at least three local farmers. “We want to encourage ambitious and talented students to pursue careers in this growing field,” said Elizabeth Vancil, Youth and Community Outreach manager at Monsanto.

“As students who grew up in rural areas learn more about what agriculture has become, they are realizing that it is a fascinating, hi-tech industry, with job growth, job security, and high wages,” Vancil said. “These young people are seeing that there are emerging opportunities for a new generation of innovative young farmers, engineers, implement designers, marketing specialists and seed scientists.”

Grow Ag Leaders is part of the overall America’s Farmers campaign, which highlights the vital role played by farmers, through programs designed to support rural communities. Farmers interested in promoting the program and endorsing students’ scholarship applications can learn how at GrowAgLeaders.com.

The scholarships are administered by the National FFA Organization, but FFA membership is not required to apply. Students have until Feb. 1, 2015 to complete the application online at FFA.org/scholarships.

Super weed! Fact or Fiction

Journalists like Paul Holis from South East Farm Press love a good buzzword or moniker – a “trending” name or nickname that can be used in place of a much more ordinary-sounding word or phrase.

For one thing, it’s just more fun to use such words. For another, it’s more likely to catch the attention of the reader, translating into a greater readership and the resulting increased number of “hits” on a website.

But there are admittedly cases where we simply use such a word to death. A case in point might well be the infamous “superweed.” Holis goes on to write about the subject.

Originally, I suppose it was a fairly good substitution for glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth pigweed. It certainly takes less time to write “superweed,” and it sounds sexier than the aforementioned technically accurate term.

But in recent years, we’ve overused it to the point to where no one’s really certain what “superweed” truly means. It has been used for a lot more than just glyphosate-resistant weeds, and therein lies the problem. “Superweed” makes for a swell headline, such as in “Superweeds Choke Farms,” but what does it really mean?

To help dispel some of the common misconceptions about superweeds, the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) recently published an excellent fact sheet to clarify two common misconceptions about superweeds. The WSSA, if you don’t already know, is a non-profit organization that promotes science-based information about weeds, their impact on the environment, and how they can be managed.

While there is no science-based definition for superweed, the WSSA points out that the term is often used to describe weeds “believed to have special capabilities that are helping them outcompete other plants in ways never experienced before,” with many associating superweed with glyphosate-tolerant crops and the suspected transfer of resistance genes from these crops to weeds.

The first superweed misconception, according to the WSSA, is that rampant gene transfer between genetically modified crops and weeds is creating weeds able to resist treatment by herbicides.

In reality, states the fact sheet, there is no evidence that gene transfer is a major factor in the development of herbicide resistance. Instead, overreliance on herbicides with a single mechanism of action to control certain weeds has led to the selection of weeds resistant to that mechanism of action.

“The transfer of resistance traits from genetically modified crops to weeds growing in the field is rare, and the occurrences observed and reported to date have had minimal impact. The only currently known mechanism for any crop trait to move into weeds (or vice versa) is through cross pollination – a sexual crossing between the crop and the weed. Gene flow is more likely to happen if the crop and weed are sexually compatible, near relatives. Gene flow among more distantly related plant species is rare because they do not cross as readily. There are often physiological barriers, including pollen incompatibility, varying numbers of chromosomes and other factors that serve as impediments.”

Even among sexually compatible crops and weeds, states the WSSA, the opportunity for crop-weed gene flow depends on the proximity of the crop plant to its wild weedy relatives. For example, there have been no reports of gene transfer in the more than 160 million annually planted acres of genetically modified corn, cotton and soybean crops where herbicide resistance weeds are such a significant issue today. Since these crops don’t have sexually compatible, near relatives in the U.S. and Canada, the risk of gene flow to other plants in the region is extremely low.

The second major misconception, according to the WSSA, is that herbicide use is creating a new breed of herbicide-resistant superweeds unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.

“In reality, the costly issue of herbicide resistance isn’t new – and neither are the competitive characteristics of weeds. Although the number of acres affected by resistant weeds has increased over the last decade as more growers have come to rely solely on herbicides with a single mechanism of action for weed control, weeds have exhibited resistance to many types of herbicides over the past 40 years. Many weed populations have even evolved resistance to multiple herbicide mechanisms of action,” states the report.

Herbicide resistance is an important, costly and escalating issue, especially as growers have come to rely more than ever on a single class of herbicides that targets weeds in the same way, states the WSSA, and it is more critical than ever for a variety of carefully integrated weed management strategies to be used so weeds resistant to one method can be controlled in other ways before they have an opportunity to spread. This includes nonchemical means of weed control, such as crop rotation, tillage, cultivation, hand hoeing, seed capture, etc.

As to those super powers that many individuals ascribe to herbicide-resistant weeds? Under herbicide-free conditions, says the WSSA, resistant weeds are no more competitive or ecologically fit than their susceptible partners. Both can crowd out crops and other desirable plants by outcompeting them for water, nutrients, sunlight and space. They grow incessantly and can be prolific seed producers. A single Palmer amaranth plant, for example, can produce hundreds of thousands of seeds, regardless of whether it is herbicide resistant or not.

How to Reduce Risks for New Herbicide Resistant Plants

With all the new technology and herbicide resistant crops coming onto the market, there are risks of chemical application mishaps.  Farmers are being urged to use a free program to reduce those risks.

Agricultural engineer Dharmendra Saraswat from the University of Arkansas Division of Agricultural Cooperative Extension service helped develop the technology.  He recently spoke to Delta Farm Press about the new product.

On the program’s genesis:

“The flag the technology cloud (FTTCloud) program was launched last April, 2014, and is currently used by hundreds in Arkansas.

“The precursor to FTTCloud was initially launched in Clay County in 2010 -- but under a different name: Color Identifies the Field Technology (CIFT). Following the initial success, the program was launched statewide in 2011 and renamed ‘Flag the Technology.’ The changed name directly conveyed program’s focus on use of color coded flags to aid farmers in identifying which fields they are planting to what herbicide-tolerant technology.

Dicamba-tolerant crops soon to be a reality

“In subsequent years, Flag the Technology program also brought forth some unanticipated challenges. During the summertime, as farmers know very well, there are often gusts of wind. Those would sometimes pull the flags out of the ground and take them all over the place.

“In some cases, there were also mischievous people who would intentionally move the flags around.

“Obviously, movement of flags would be a cause of concern for chemical applicators. That’s perfectly understandable. ‘What if we rely on the flags and spray a product that injures the crop?’”

On the switch to a digital program…

“Due to these concerns we began considering how we could keep the program but ‘flag’ fields in a different way. In discussions with some county agents and forward-looking consultants and producers it was decided to launch a digital version of Flag the Technology program.

“The digital version doesn’t store any information on any of university servers. To provide quality experience to the current and potential users, the program has been hosted on a scalable cloud platform.

“The digital version, FTTCloud, retains the simplicity of its field-based precursor.

“Producers, consultants and chemical applicators can all participate after registering an account. The participation is voluntary. A registered producer can allow his/her consultant or chemical applicator to access complete information about entered fields by following certain protocol. The other registered users are provided essential information about herbicide technologies reported nearby or in the target field as new information is added to the program.

“Producers can either manually draw or upload field boundary data in shapefile format and then
interactively assign an individual field or a group of fields to herbicide-tolerant technology of their choice. The program assigns a color to the field based on selected technology. Fields with stacked technologies are also assigned colors, using a protocol slightly different from the field version of the program.

“The FTTCloud tool also allows users to identify other sensitive areas such as pumpkin patches, bee hives, fish ponds, vineyards etc., thereby not limiting its use to only those interested in row crops.

“Participation is free and the whole effort is being funded by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board.”

On the digital program savings…

“When using actual flags, fields require an average of five flags. That is at a cost of about $25. If someone has 100 fields in herbicide-tolerant technology, that means an expense of $2,500. However, use of FTTCloud program costs nothing.”

An estimate on how much crop damage has been reduced through the use of the flags?

“That’s a good question. The program is aimed at avoiding risks. An erroneous chemical application can almost ruin an entire field. So, you’re protecting a field that can be worth several thousand dollars to, in some cases, six figures.”

Enlist traits approved, Enlist herbicide next

On the safety of farmers’ data…

“Misuse of online information is an obvious fear in the minds of many and farmers are no exception. The FTTCloud program explicitly recognizes that all the information entered belongs to the producer. The university has no role in accessing it. The information is encrypted and then stored on the cloud platform.

“Towards the end of each year, we will send emails to those who registered an account. That will remind them to download their information for next year’s use. We don’t encourage archiving the information since the university wants to limit its role to providing educational means for chemical risk aversion.”

Farmland on Hulu

I'm sure by now you've heard of the documentary "Farmland" directed by Academy Award winning director James Moll.  Well, in case you missed it in the theater's, you can now watch it on Hulu.  Just click here to watch it.  I thought it was a very educational documentary for folks who know very little about modern day agriculture.  Enjoy.

The Return of Agent Orange?

The USDA recently approved a new technology which conveys resistance to 2,4-D and glyphosate herbicides in corn and soybeans.  The anti GMO crowd was, as usual, up in arms again.

Delta Farm Press recently covered this reaction.  Those whole believe farming should remain in the stone age reacted predictably.  Some even compared this technology to Agent Orange, a herbicide used in the Vietnam war and has been connected to cancer among vets.

Let's take a look at what Agent Orange was.  It was a mix of two herbicides, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, with only the later associated with the negative impacts on health.  According to studies done by the National Pesticide Information Center, 2,4-D has not been implicated in any relationships between pesticide exposure and subsequent disease.

Despite all that information being out there, a New York Times reporter mentioned the Agent Orange connection.  This sent the anti GMO crowd into a frenzy.  Some news websites have even called it Agent Orange technology.

Fortunately there is science to calm everyone down.  Also, the USDA, EPA and farmers know better.  My hope is rational eventually takes over.  I understand peoples hesitance to this technology.  But it's unfounded.

Will this bring farming back to the "good old days"?  Where farmers could spray with impunity and no fear?  Far from it.  With all this new technology, farmers will have to make sure and spray properly and avoid as much drift as they can.  They will need to communicate better with their neighbor farmers on what they're doing and vice versa.

There will be lots of eyes watching this new technology.  And there are plenty of people out there who can't wait for something to go wrong.

Yield Reports Are Coming in High

This year is looking great when it comes to yields.  They are coming in very high.  Compared to this point last year, we are coming 24% higher on corn and 30% higher on soybeans.

Keep in mind these are self reported yields.  In good years like 2009, yield reports ended up being 37 bushels per acre higher than the USDA.  And bad years like 2012, they were actually lower than the USDA.

With that in mind, take a look at these yield maps and charts and see for yourself.

Check Out the New Case IH Farmalls

Agriculture.com recently displayed the new equipment from Case IH.

8 Ways Cover Crops Pay

Think about the land you drive by that's idle and not being farmed.  What do you see?  Weeds usually.

"Mother Nature keeps the ground covered, and a living root in the soil, for nine to ten months out of the year.  Then we came along and started doing tillage to grow row crops.  By growing corn or soybeans, we keep a living plant on the soil surface just five months or so a year," says Paul Jasa, engineer in biological agriculture systems at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in a recent interview with Agriculture.com.

Why Plant Cover Crops?

Jasa, who studied cover crop and no-till systems for more than two decades, farmers need to understand why they want to grow cover crops.

There are numerous reasons:

1. Erosion control
2. Nutrient capture/recycle
3. Improved soil health
4. Water management
5. Biodiversity
6. Nitrogen fixation
7. Reduced compaction
8. Weed supression

Managing Wheat this Winter

Becks Hybird's put together a wheat management plan to follow.  They published it on Agriculture.com.  The following is the plan in a nutshell.

Wheat Management

September is upon us and that means wheat planting time.  Many farmers are getting ready to harvest their soybeans.  Although this year it looks like harvest will be later than normal.  The question for most is when do I plant wheat?  It's pretty simple.  The earlier the better.

Early Planted Wheat Offers the Following Advantages

1. Better emergence and fall growth.
2. More tillers will form in the fall with early planting.
3. Tillers that form in the fall have larger heads than tillers formed in the spring.
4. Less heaving the following spring if the nodal roots start to establish.

There Are Some Potential Disadvantages to Planting Early

1. Hessian Fly could become an issue.  Although this hasn't been an issue recently, it's best to plant after the fly free date.  See the chart above to get an idea what your date would be.  Planting prior to the fly free date can cause issues with aphids which can transmit barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV).  BYDV hurts more when the plant gets the disease in the fall compared to the spring.
2. Early planting may cause leaf diseases in the fall which is more dangerous than in the spring.
3. The earlier you the plant the earlier the wheat will try to come out in winter.  This is influenced by genetics more so than planting date.  A late spring frost will hurt plants coming out too early.

Despite all this the potential higher yield out weighs all the dangers associated with planting early.  It is in my opinion to go ahead and plant as soon as possible.  Good luck.

The Clock is Ticking on Cover Crops

Harvest looks like it may be coming later this year than normal.  This poses a serious problem of when to plant cover crops into corn.  Most cover crops need five to six weeks of growth to be able to withstand the winter hardiness.

Cereal rye can be planted later than most.  It can still grow at 34 degrees F.

The question is when is the right time to aerial supply serial rye to a corn field.  If you apply too soon when the corn is still green you may not get the seed to the ground and the sun may not reach through the crop canopy.  On the other hand, if you wait to close to harvest, you may not give enough time for growth before winter.  The time to look for is when the sunlight is hitting the soil roughly 50% of the time.

Wheat fields that did not have a crop after harvest have much more flexibility to plant cover crops now.  Your options are wide open.  The Midwest Cover Crop Council has excellent information to help you with cover crop selection.  Just go to their Cover Crop Decision Tool to find more info.

Agriculture.com has found the following chart also gives some good information about when to plant cover crops.  As you can see we are in the prime time as to when to plant.

Ryan Moore is the cove crops specialist with Becks who came up with this chart.  You may email him rmoore@beckshybrids.com, contact your local dealer or seed adviser for more information.