It’s always great when the weather starts to warm up. For starters, it signals the end of the winter meeting season. As a Certified Crop Advisor, I get to attend more than my share of meetings in order to maintain my certification. While many are good sessions, some make it tough to stay awake.

Recently I heard an interesting speaker right here in our back door, Kip Cullers. Kip is the farmer from Southwest Missouri who set the world record for soybean yield at over 154 bushel per acre. K & K Farms, which Kip is a partner in, consists of 12,000 acres spread across seven counties and grows a variety of crops in addition to corn and soybeans. They raise 3,000 acres of green beans, 1,000 acres of spinach, 1,000 acres of kale and something called flat beans, as well.

Kip was careful to say he had no idea if any of the things that worked for him in Missouri would work in Ohio, but what he stressed to the group was “just try something”. The average for his whole farm, 2,000 acres of soybeans last year, was 100 bushel to the acre. How did he pull that off? The recipe was much simpler than I thought.

His high yield soybean program consists of 150# of Ammonium Sulfate applied ahead of planting. He plants all the beans in either 15” or twin rows at no more than 180,000 treated and inoculated. His first in crop application at R1 (first bloom) includes Iron, Manganese, Roundup and Headline. He makes a second crop application two to three weeks later of Iron, Manganese, an insecticide, and Headline. The one part of his program we don’t have is that many of his red clay acres are irrigated.

Some of the other tips he gave us included “a grain drill is a semi-controlled spill”. He believes uniform placement and depth is critically important. He wants every seed he plants to emerge no later than 72 hours from the first one. His theory is that late emergence makes those plants weeds to the rest of the crop. His theory on the use of iron in beans is to darken the plants to as deep a green as possible in order to absorb as much sunlight as they can. Every leaf on a soybean is simply a solar collector, so his theory makes sense.

Manganese, another part of his program, is a critical micronutrient in soybean production. Depending who you believe, there is an interaction between Glyphosate and Manganese in the soybean as it works to metabolize the Glyphosate. The process slows down the plant’s ability to use this critical element, according to many researchers. Many of our central Ohio soils are Manganese deficient anyway, so it really should be part of our program, as well.

While we may not hit the 100 bushel mark in central Ohio just yet, Kip’s theory to “just try something” may help to push the profit envelope in our neck of the woods.

Stop in and see us today so we can help map out some ideas to make your 2010 season a profitable one.

My, 2009 passed by so quickly! By now, most of the crops are off... and WOW, what a year we had! We witnessed some of the strangest weather we have seen for a long time, but my goodness, did it help produce yields with bean yields from 50 to 60 bushels and corn yields at 200 bushels plus. We at OHIGRO would like to take all the credit, however, Mother Nature had a lot to do with the final outcome. Your management decisions also had a huge impact. With good management and all the new technology that keeps coming along in seed, hopefully, these yields will not be such a rare thing. Another thing to keep in mind is that these yields removed a lot of nutrients from the soil. To maintain these yields, you need to put the nutrients back. With fertilizer prices coming down to a more manageable level, this will be easier to do. With regard to chemicals, it should be noted that there are a couple new ones coming out with totally new chemistry that are looking very good.

As always, we encourage you to stop in or give us a call. Our Sales Staff at any of our three locations will be more than happy to sit down with you and help put something together. Your cost per acre is going to be a lot better than a year ago.

We would like to wish you a prosperous and safe New Year. Just think... the way time flies, in a couple months we’ll be getting ready for Christmas 2010!

What a year from a seed standpoint! We have new technology coming from everywhere: Roundup Ready 2 Yield Soybeans, SmartStax Corn, not to mention a completely new chemical from BASF! I would like to take a few minutes and explain the benefits of the new seed technology.

Roundup Ready 2 Yield Soybeans were placed on the market last year as commercial products. This year, for 2010, we will have a larger supply as well as more products to choose from. According to many of the tests that were completed before the commercial release of the products, an average of 7 to 11 percent higher yields were seen in the Roundup Ready 2 Yield Soybeans. It is not necessarily more plants per acre, but more beans per plant. While walking fields this summer, it was evident that the Roundup Ready 2 Yield Soybeans had more pods than a Roundup Ready Soybean. At some points, I could tell if we were walking in the RR2Y section of the field or the RR1 just by looking at the pods and the number of beans per pod. It takes only six more beans per plant in order to increase yields by over 4 bushels per acre. You may be asking how this was achieved. It was through the new technology of gene mapping and the ability to carefully place the Roundup gene in a specific location that did not have the yield drag that many farmers saw in the first generation Roundup beans. Another item that makes the Roundup Ready 2 Yield Soybean special is the new Acceleron seed treatment that will be on all Monsanto Roundup Ready 2 Yield Soybeans. This seed treatment will allow the plant to have early vigor and growth with an exclusive plant health agent.

The recent release of the SmartStax Corn is another exciting factor in Monsanto’s goal to double yields by 2030. This eight way stack corn has three genes for above ground insect protection, three methods of below ground insect protection, as well as two herbicide tolerant genes. SmartStax has triple modes to protect your crop against European Corn Borer, Southwestern Corn Borer, and Fall Armyworm. In addition to those, it has double protection against Northern Corn Rootworm, Western Corn Rootworm, and Corn Earworm. They have also added protection against Western Bean Cutworm and Black Cutworm. Since SmartStax has multiple modes of action, the refuge has been reduced to 5 percent in the corn belt. The reduced refuge allows a farm to be planted with the highest yield potential, having only 5 percent to feed the deer, let the wind blow down, or have insect damage. Just like the Roundup Ready 2 Yield Soybeans, the SmartStax Corn will be treated with the Acceleron for corn, which will help protect against secondary insects and diseases.

If you have any questions regarding the new technology for 2010, please do not hesitate to stop by one of our three offices and visit with one of our Sales Staff. We all wish you a Happy New Year!

With harvest season upon us, it is time again to begin thinking about our seed needs for next year. With regard to purchasing seed for the 2010 season, we have a couple of early order discounts that we can offer you. For Asgrow and DEKALB seed, a 10% discount is taken off of your seed order if you purchase your seed by October 10, 2009 and pay for it by December 15, 2009. If you choose to purchase Stine seed products, we have an early order and take discount of 5% if you order by November 10, 2009 and take by March 1, 2010.

As always, please visit any of our three locations to determine the variety that is best suited for your farming operation and to learn of other discounts available to you. I wish you all the best of luck as harvest approaches.