“Hey Marc… I’m currently working on a land deal. I may need about 2,500 additional acres of Pioneer® soybean seed. You still have some, right?”
“Oh yeah, we can get you some Pioneer® soybeans – no worries.”
“Noooo,
I want the really good ones. You know, that high yielding Pioneer®
variety we had last year.”
“You worry about the land deal; I’ll ensure
the seed supply.”
Well, it’s that time of year where a successful seed company is sold-out on a few products, but that is expected – I’m sure you currently have some empty grain storage bins in your business too! It is also expected that a large successful seed company will have some quality genetics remaining for our customers who have found additional opportunities. If you are tweaking your crop rotation plans now that crop insurance premiums are set, or have found some additional land to farm, top performing Pioneer genetics can still be acquired – it’s our job to be a reliable seed supplier and that is why you folks do business with a company like Pioneer® and Corteva®.
At the end of the day, the services our Pioneer®
sales agency teams provide of seed treating, delivering seed, helping customers
place a hybrid/variety by field plan together, scouting pests, monitoring
genetics, etc. are the most important activities we conduct each year.
However, it’s nice to be able to provide some additional product during the
winter and spring to further support our customers as needed. Also, it’s great to get some positive
feedback on our genetic performance.
Thanks for all the tremendous support this season and over the
years. We look to keep our activity and
engagement level high going through the spring and summer.
Regional Weather
It should be another week of
melting and thawing conditions as most days are forecasted for high temps in
the 40’s and 50’s. The snow pack is
about gone and soil temps should begin to build soon as conditions
thaw-out. Unfortunately, there is not
much chance of precipitation for the week, but most folks would appreciate some
rain to help remove the frost. I’ll
include an NDAWN soil temp map next week.
I’ll count on your weather app
for the best guidance through the 7-8 day forecast, but looking beyond that,
I’ve found this site from National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) to be
fairly reliable for a general 8-14 day outlook (next week).
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/index.php
For the third full week of March,
the forecast is towards cooler than average potential for temperatures. Regarding the precipitation chances, they remain
below average for the region.
The NOAA organization
also provides three month outlooks. If
we would like to get a general forecast for the key months of the upcoming
growing season (Jun-Jul-Aug), it can be seen here:
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/...lead=4
This forecast
currently predicts above average chances on the temperature potential, along
with equal chances for precipitation in our region. Overall, that would typically be welcome
news, but with our current dry conditions, we hope to see those equal chances
trend towards more precipitation developing for the crops.
Corteva® to Discontinue Fexepan™ Herbicide
As Corteva® continues to strive towards fully
supporting the Enlist™ or E-3 soybean weed control system for the future, it
has decided to withdraw support for Fexepan™ (branded dicamba formulation for
use in RR2Xtend® soybeans). The Corteva
sales team will continue to support Xtend® A-Series™ soybean genetics and full
weed management programs which can entail other Corteva herbicides such as
Sonic™, Afforia™, Durango™, Kyber™ and/or EverpreX™.
http://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---38187.htm
Soybean Herbicide Options from Corteva™
Speaking of soybeans and herbicides, let’s review these Corteva™ options for spending some of those TruChoice® dollars. Afforia® is our top pre-emerge product for the region due to its great rotation flexibility (10 months to sugarbeets; 6 months to potatoes with pre-plant tillage).
Women’s History Month
If your farm operation has women on the employee or management team, or
women as an outside partner/influencer, please take advantage in the month of
March to let them know how much they are appreciated. It’s a great opportunities to reflect on the
vital role women can and do play in agriculture.
https://www.womenshistory.org/womens-history/womens-history-month
China’s Domestic Soybean Futures Price Hits Record High
In China, it’s the Dalian Commodity Exchange
in Shanghai as the primary board of trade for agriculture commodities. It is forecasted that Chinese soybean
crushers will have to slow-down operations soon as the soybean harvest in
Brazil is delayed. Supposedly, top grade
soybean futures prices rose to 6,058 yuan/MT on March 1st. With the yuan equal to 15.48 cents of the US
dollar and 2200 lbs/MT, it would calculate to US$25.57 per 60 lb bu.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40068937
Shipping Container Squeeze
China is rebounding from the pandemic in a
quicker fashion than other nations at this time. Their recovery has placed a significant pinch
on a critical component to exports – shipping containers. The squeeze is so significant that China is
paying for freight to have the containers returned empty as other countries
struggle with logistics in the turn-around time.
The current shortage of shipping containers
is causing freight costs to increase dramatically as Chinese manufacturer’s
raise their bids for shipping space.
Forty-foot container shipping cost is up 85% since June. With international passenger airline flight
volumes also greatly reduced due to the pandemic, airplane cargo volume capacity
is below typical levels - also creating additional short-term demand for
shipping containers.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-shipping-container...
Kent
Thiesse from the MInnStar Bank had an excellent article on crop insurance
options for the 2021 growing season. Kent
writes a great weekly column and I’d recommend sending him a simple e-mail and
requesting access to his insights (if not already) (kent.thiesse@minnstarbank.com).
Here
are some of Mr. Thiesse’s views on crop insurance selections this particular
growing season:
·
Base price revenue protection and yield
protection have been set for 2021 at $4.58/bu for corn, and $11.87/bu for
soybeans. These prices are the highest since
2013/’14
·
Fully evaluate the 80% or 85% coverage
levels. Yep, they cost more of a premium,
but can guarantee profitable revenue (depending on APH yields)
·
“Supplemental Crop Option” (SCO) and “Enhanced
Coverage Option” (ECO) are both available for 2021. These are options to gain added coverage
under either PLC or ARC-CO with significant portions of the premium subsidized
·
Other “buy-up” private policies along with SCO
and ECO will combine to allow up to 95% coverage
·
“Optional” versus “enterprise” units. Often, “enterprise units” get most of the
play due to cheaper premiums, but there are instances when “optional units”
does make sense despite the added costs.
Typically, this would be in situations where farm units are more spread
out geographically and yields more variable across the farm
·
Lastly, evaluate the farm’s “Trend Adjusted (TA)
– APH” option. Many farms can opt for
enhanced insurance protection for only slightly higher premium costs
In a
potentially dry season, having a thorough conversation with your crop insurance
agent could easily lead to the most important decisions a farm will make for
the season. The following are some very good web sites with crop insurance
information:
USDA
Risk Management Agency (RMA): http://www.rma.usda.gov University of Illinois
FarmDoc: http://www.farmdoc.illinois.edu/cropins
Soybean
Agronomy - SDS
Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) was first
identified in North Dakota in the very southeastern part of the state (Richland
County) during the summer of 2018. In
the 2020 growing season, NDSU pathologists identified multiple fields of SDS in
the same region. It is even reported
that SDS was identified and confirmed in the northeastern part of the state as
well in 2020 (Cavalier County).
The SDS disease has been around since the
early 1970’s in the US, with first confirmations in the state of Arkansas in
the summer of ’71 . It’s a type of
fusarium fungi that infects the root initially, and produces a toxin that moves
from the root tissue through the xylem to the upper portions of the plant. It is this toxin that causes foliar symptoms to
be expressed later in the season (picture).
Another distinguishing characteristic of SDS is the darker colored pith
of the soybean stem (top SDS infected versus bottom (healthy) – see picture).
Soybean Cyst Nematodes (SCN) are another
significant factor in SDS development.
Infection wounds on soybean roots from SCN provide entry points into the
plant for the SDS soil-born pathogen.
Scientists have also found that SCN can be a vector for carrying the
SDS.
Today, seed treatment utilization, top SCN management,
and enhanced field drainage will be the best defense against SDS in the
northern 2/3rds of North Dakota and NW Minnesota. IleVO® fungicide seed treatment (FST) is an industry
leading soybean fungicide FST with activity against both SDS and SCN.
Yield data from 2012-’14 (three seasons) reveals in locations with SDS
pressure, a yield increase was achieved with IleVO® at 9.8 bu/ac (see graph).
https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/cpr/plant-pathology/...sds-of-soybeans-08-27-20 https://www.pioneer.com/us/agronomy/sds....
Sunflower Production Survey from NDSU
This national survey is centered around black
bird impacts to the crop, but regardless of your sunflower acre size, history in
raising the crop, or bird impact levels, they would like to hear from you. The survey should take no longer than 10-15
min to complete and will help shape the future of research ideas and topics
that go into the crop. With only 1.6 to
1.7 mil acres annually of sunflower production in the US and Canada, research
dollars are limited. Your input is
valued; access the survey here: https://ndstate.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1UoXI3SKlKGW8PH
Product Spotlight: P8859AM
The next product in our series of new Pioneer corn genetics for the spring is P8859AM. It’s probably our strongest agronomic new hybrid with above average trait characteristic scores for drought, stress emergence, brittle-snap and late season standability. It’s medium-tall for plant height and average for Goss’s Wilt at 88 RM (relative maturity). Yield potential is solid as it should outpace both P8989AM and P9188AM, plus be about ½ to a full point drier.
For
a quick review, Pioneer rates their products on a 1-9 scale with 9 being the
best/strongest/tallest. Average
characteristic performance scores are typically 4’s and 5’s; below average is
3, and above average strength would rate 6 to 7. It is fairly rare to see an advanced product
with a trait score of 8, but it does happen.
Most all products that would rate below a 3 on any given single
agronomic score would not make it through the process to become a commercially
available product.
Unfortunately,
we’ll only have units of this hybrid in our Pioneer IMPACT or advancement trial plots. This data will help drive confidence within the sales team for 2022 placements. If you’d be interested in driving additional data on your farm, we could definitely help plan a strip
trial or side-by-side comparisons on your farm. Please reach-out to myself and/or your local Pioneer agent
and we’ll put a plan in place.
Kochia Weed
Resistance Management
Here
is a good summary of kochia management from the University of Wyoming. Yeah, I know the agriculture in Wyoming is a
lot different than our region, but this particular research was done under high
rainfall (irrigation), and crop rotations that included sugar beets, corn, dry
beans and small grains (barley or spring wheat). Sound familiar? Also, I know that kochia may not be your
number one weed concern, but with kochia being a large seeded broadleaf weed,
the management tactics that aid in helping control kochia are going to be
beneficial against other broadleaf weeds like ragweed and waterhemp.
The
research evaluated crop rotations and tillage intensity along with herbicides
in managing kochia. Kochia weed
evaluations were done on weed density (plants), seed production per plant, and
seedbank numbers.
In
summary, the most diverse the crop rotation (corn-dry bean-small
grain-sugarbeet versus corn-corn-corn-corn or corn-sugarbeet-corn-sugarbeet) had
the lowest kochia numbers. Conversely,
the sugarbeet crop was identified as having the least ability to compete with
the kochia and therefore the corn-sugarbeet-corn-sugarbeet crop rotation led to
the highest kochia numbers.
For
herbicides, it is no surprise that the old ALS herbicides (i.e. Glean™, Aly™, Express™,
and Harmony™) no longer control kochia due to resistance. Therefore, alternative herbicides and
tank-mixed herbicide recipes provided much greater control. Full tillage was more advantageous than
no-till in aiding to keep kochia weed density numbers lower. Kochia has a short weed seedbank life (approximately
two years), making short-term management more impactful.
This
article basically confirms that our current practices for sound weed management
strategies are on par with leading state university recommendations. The challenge will be for top producers to
find ways to stay ahead of the evolution of weeds, during this time of expanding
herbicide resistance. What will it take
for the next decade of weed control to reduce weed seedbank numbers? It’s probably safe to say innovation, and a
continued openness to implement those ideas.
http://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---38229.htm
Random
Agricultural Facts – Tillage Trends in the US
The other day, I had an inquiry
about how much of the US farm ground receives conventional tillage versus
no-till. Well, the closest data I could
find was from the USDA and published in September of 2018. The University of Illinois recapped the USDA
publication at this link: https://farmpolicynews.illinois.edu/2018/09/ers-report-tillage-intensity-and-conservation-cropping-in-the-u-s/
Farmer tillage practices vary by
crop and region of the US (see chart above), but overall the trend is evolving
to more reduced tillage (mulch-till and no-till) in our agricultural systems. United States wide (chart below), the
concentration of “no-till” acres is dominating the reduced tillage class when
the wheat or soybean crop is planned.
When corn is the crop being grown, most of those acres are receiving
tillage (either mulch tillage, or conventional tillage). Cotton still has the vast majority of acres
under conventional tillage practices (neither mulch-till or no-till).
No-till adoption is greatest in the south and south-central (Prairie Gateway) part of the US where there are warmer soil conditions. The Northern Great Plains utilizes more no-till in the wheat crop and less no-till in the soybeans – the only region in the US where reduced tillage is under 50% in the soybeans.
Additionally, it was also
interesting to note that farm managers implementing no-till were more likely to
use cover crops.
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