March 8, 2021 Edition

 

“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).

Afforia® is a premix of flumioxazin (Valor®), tribenuron (Express®), and thifensulfuron (Harmony®).  It’s strength for controlled weeds will be lambsquarter, pigweeds, dandelion, Canada thistle, and volunteer canola.  Afforia® will be weak on kochia and ragweed; if you can handle the changes in crop rotation restrictions, add some metribuzin (Sencor®).  Alternatively, the kochia and ragweed management plan can lean-on the dicamba or 2,4-D choline in the post-emerge application.  https://...DuPont_Afforia_Herbicide_Label2.pdf

Speaking of metribuzin, a new option from Corteva™ for a pre-emerge option in soybeans is Kyber™.  Obviously, Kyber™ will create some longer crop rotation intervals than Afforia® with the metribuzin in the jug, but it brings activity against kochia and common ragweed to the table.  Crop rotation restrictions will be 18 months to canola, potatoes, and sugarbeets.  Kyber™ is a pre-mix of flumioxazin (Valor), pyroxasulfone (Zidua®), and metribuzin (Sencor®) – with the Zidua® in the tank, it’ll be priced as a premium product, but well worth the dollars from a weed spectrum and weed control standpoint.  https://...production/pdfs/Kyber_Label1.pdf

Enlist One® and Enlist Duo® are Corteva’s™ two different 2,4-D choline formulations.  Enlist One® is pure 2,4-D choline product, while the Enlist Duo® brings glyphosate (Durango®) into the jug.  There has been some documented cases of additional broadleaf weed resistance to 2,4-D since the introduction of Enlist™ soybeans in southern states so the use of a pre-emerge product is highly recommended within the weed control system.  https://...Enlist_Duo1m_Label.pdf

EverpreX® is Corteva’s S-metolachlor product.  Metolachlor’s residual control is best on small seeded broadleaf weeds like pigweeds, lambsquarter, waterhemp, and nightshades along with grass weeds like foxtails and barnyardgrass.  EverpreX® can be utilized pre-emerge, but it’s primary fit would be used as a layby treatment in post-emerge mixes with the 2,4-D/dicamba for extended residual.  If you are looking for a product to help control late emerging waterhemp, metolachlor is your answer.  https://...DuPont_EverpreX_Label.pdf

Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History Month, and International Women’s Day is celebrated globally on March 8.  We all know the significance around the world that women play in agriculture.  It may be a surprising statistic, but it’s estimated that women represent 43% of the world’s food production workforce and more than 25% of its farming population.  Women play a crucial role in producing ag-commodities – many are highly involved in agriculture through various facets, and on the farm, many families view the husband and wife as equal contributors to the business’ overall success.

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.

China’s large trade imbalance typically results in the volume to export three shipping containers full of goods for every one container imported.  It is estimated that approximately 60% of global goods are moved by shipping containers.

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...

Crop Insurance - 2021

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). 

Sudden Death Syndrome is a root-rot organism that gains favor in poorly drained and compacted soils that remain wet in high rainfall seasons.  As plants deteriorate from the loss of leaf area and effective root translocation, yield impacts can be dramatic. 

Because of how the disease moves in the plant, foliar fungicides are not effective against the pathogen.  Since the fungi originates from the soil and infects the soybean plant early in the life cycle, seed treatments have shown good efficacy.  There are genetic differences in individual varieties to the tolerance levels of SDS, but for our region and the Group 00 to Group 0 relative maturity (RM) zones, genetic tolerances are below average at best. 

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 2/3^rds 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.

March 1, 2021 Edition

 

53 points on 83% FG shooting, 32 rebounds, 14 assists, 11 steals, and 24 block shots

Officially, there has never been a quintuple double achieved in the NBA nor ABA.  Heck, it’s even been over 25 years since the last quadruple double was recorded (David Robinson – February 1994) and there has only been five such occurrences of a quadruple double in all of NBA history (none in the ABA) – Nate Thurmond (October ’74), Alvin Robertson (February ’86), Hakeem Olajuwon (twice in March of 1990), and then Robinson’s in ‘94.  The official statistics collected on steals and blocked shots did not begin to occur in the NBA until the 1973-’74 season.  The ABA started their league in the autumn of 1967 and always did have the two stat categories in their official bookkeeping.

However, during the 1960’s and early 70’s in the NBA, it was common during games for the play-by-play announcer or newspaper journalist in attendance to keep a running tally of blocked shots and steals to help describe the game.  At the time, the official game scorer or statistician kept record only on the traditional categories: points, rebounds, assists, personal fouls, shot attempts (with makes) and playing time.  Since it was the era of the big dominating centers like Bill Russel, Wilt Chamberlain, Walt Bellamy, Nate Thurmond, and even the early days of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, blocked shots began to obtain significant air time with the play-by-play announcers (and/or writers) as they used it to help differentiate the big man play.  The significant All-Star backcourt players at the time of Oscar Robertson, Rick Berry, Jerry West, Sam Jones, and Elgin Baylor created a significant amount of opposing player turnovers and thus announcers/writers found the category of steals valuable to help communicate the talent and impactful influence of the smaller players on the court.

This brings us to March 18, 1968 and a Philadelphia 76ers 158 to 128 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.  Officially, Wilt Chamberlain’s performance in leading his team to a fairly easy win at home was recorded as 53 points on (24 of 29 field goals – 82.8%), 32 rebounds, and 14 assists for a monster triple double on 48 minutes (full game) of playing time.  Unofficially, Wilt is said to also have collected 11 steals and 24 blocked shots in this same game.  Add it all together and it’s a quintuple double!  And, most would agree that it is one insane single game performance.

https://fadeawayworld.net/2020/04/01/wilt-chamberlain-reportedly... https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/196803180PHI.html

It would be very interesting to witness how Wilt Chamberlain would be perceived throughout history if steals and blocked shots were recorded during his entire playing career (probably even more valuable would have been video footage of his games – it is estimated that only 1-2% of Wilt’s performances have video).  Mr. Chamberlain holds numerous single game, single season, and career statistical records, including the most points in a single game (100), most rebounds in a single game (55), and never fouling-out of a contest in his career.  After he was criticized in the press for being too one-dimensional in the summer of ‘67, Wilt responded with his play on the court.  He concluded the 1967-68 season by winning his third straight and final league MVP award (4^th total) with tops in FG% (60%), total assists (702), rebounds (23.8/game), and playing time (46.8 min/game)!

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/chambwi01.html

What type of statistics do you keep track of in your farm business?  The ag-professionals say we should track at minimum our cost of production per bushel (or 100 weight or ton) in each crop, input costs per acre, field by field profitability, and if we’re doing some variable rate applications, a zone cost analysis versus a whole field or lump sum acre analysis.  The financial partners will desire evaluating more dynamic stats like working capital, debt to asset ratio, return on assets, liquidity ratio, etc.  Every farm manager will see more value in certain financial numbers over others.  At the end of the day, the important thing is the consistent work being done to keep all the business stakeholders informed so the ship stays pointed in the right direction.  Good luck!

Regional Weather

It should be a week of melting and thawing conditions as most days are forecasted for high temps in the 40’s.  Combine those temperatures with the relatively light snow pack, and we should see very minimal snow in the fields after the first week in March.  These conditions create very “lamb” like conditions for the first part of March.  We’ll see if the lion rears its ugly head at the end of the month!

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 second full week of March, the forecast is to have greater potential for above average temperatures.  Regarding the precipitation chances, they are split as we go from east to west in our region - above average chances to the east and below average chances to the west.

The NOAA organization also provides three month outlooks.  If we would like to get a general forecast for the latter half of the upcoming spring season (April-May-June), it can be seen here:

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=2

This forecast currently predicts above average chances on the temperature potential, along with equal chances for precipitation in our region.  Overall, if that holds true, we would welcome the developments and hope to see a drift towards enhanced chances of precipitation for the crops.

Can Farms Fail in Good Times?

There is always risk of failure.  Even though market prices are much stronger currently then we have seen in the past several years, there is still work remaining to build back additional equity into our businesses.  Farm Progress had a good article reminding farm managers to stay diligent at working on the business to faster achieve your goals.  A few good reminders:

·         Borrow and invest in things that have a strong return on investment.  If you have an expensive hobby – you should play in that space with disposable cash

·         Continue to prioritize and implement your marketing plan or strategy – these actions should have even greater rewards with profitable commodity markets

·         Communication remains key.  Work to keep all business partners on the same page and the communication open.  Nothing breaks down a business more quickly than lack of communication which quickly and easily moves to a lack of trust

·         Continue to have a reasonable, realistic, and budgeted family living expense

·         Avoid spending large sums of money to completely avoid taxes.  Remember the old saying, “nobody goes broke paying taxes”

·         Continue focusing on building a strong farm business team – employees, business partners, family, outside business relationships, etc.

https://www.farmprogress.com/commentary/why-farms-fail-even-good-times?...

Farm Inheritance and Estate Planning

It’s difficult to expand on this topic much as each farm operation is different in how they are planning on passing down the farm business to the next generation.  However, I thought it was interesting to note that discussions are occurring at the federal level in basis point calculations.  Stay in touch with your financial planner and/or tax accountant on how things are developing on this topic.  Finding avenues through local connections on how you can potentially have your voice heard among the federal law makers is also a worthy investment of time.

https://www.farmprogress.com/commentary/step-basis-rules-are-changes-coming?utm_source=Bibblio&utm_campaign=Related

Spring Wheat Herbicide Options from Corteva®

For those of you with TruChoice™ dollars committed – thank you.  I know many of you are on the ball and already have a plan placed together on where specifically you will spend those dollars.  Others maybe shooting from the hip, so let’s review a couple simple, cost-effective, and solid weed killing solutions in the spring wheat crop for our TruChoice™ commitment.

WideARmatch™ – This pre-mix of Arylex™ active (halauxifen-methyl), Stinger™ (copyralid), and Starane™ (fluroxypyr), should be a big hit for growers in our region to provide some strong broadleaf control as well as keep us open for crop rotation flexibility.  WideARmatch™ tank-mixed with 2.4-D will control all of our tough broadleaf weeds including – waterhemp, common lambsquarter, ragweed, and kochia.  WideARmatch™ alone can be applied from 2-leaf to flag leaf emerged, but the 2.4-D will restrict application from full tiller to before jointing.  If grass weed (wild oat and/or green/yellow foxtail) control is desired, tank-mix with Puma® or Axial®.

Pixxaro™ EC – If you are a little leery of Stinger carryover into the following year’s crop of soybeans or dry beans under drier conditions, you could move to Pixxaro™ EC.  Pixxaro™ EC is a premix of Arylex™ active and Starane®.

Bayer® is bringing out Huskie® FX which adds Starane® to their mix.  However, be a little concerned as they are only adding a 2.9 oz/ac rate of Starane® in their Huskie® FX jug while Corteva® brings a 5.0 to 5.1 oz/ac rate of Starane® in Pixxaro® EC and WideARmatch® respectively.

Product Spotlight: DroneDeploy’s Stand Assessment Software

DroneDeploy continues their march ahead to maintain a leading edge as one of the world’s top software companies for generating impactful data with drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).  Agriculture is a significant part of DroneDeploy’s business, and thus they have recently announced bringing capabilities to farms globally for assessing early crop stands (or plant establishment).  The announced collaboration with Corteva Agriscience (developers of the Artificial Intelligence software for crop establishment) will bring whole field stand assessments to farm managers, consultants and other partners who see value in accurately assessing whole fields for early performance of a crop and the corresponding genetics.

Corteva has one of the world’s largest agricultural UAV fleets with over 600 drones and is a very significant annual contributor to DroneDeploy’s agricultural mapping volume (55 mil acres mapped in 2020 for DroneDeploy).  If you should have concerns next spring with your stand establishment and contemplating replant, please reach-out to discuss and we’ll make time to fly our drone(s) across your fields.  If you have a drone and are looking for software to help make more impactful use out of it across the farm, please visit the DroneDeploy website below.

https://www.dronedeploy.com/solutions/agriculture/ http://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---38050.htm

China Continues with Strong Corn Import Volumes

China’s demand for corn remains robust as the country is trying to rebuild its grain stock reserves amid high domestic prices and growth in animal feed consumption.  S&P Global Platts Analytics estimates China to have a 30 mil MT (1.18 bil bu) “structural deficit” for corn in the current marketing year due to their high demand.  In the 2019-20 marketing year, China only imported 7.6 mil MT of US corn and it is forecasted that the current marketing year will see a 3 to 4-fold increase.

https://www.spglobal.com/...chinas-buying-to-keep-us-corn-prices...

Glufosinate Resistance Confirmed

We knew it would happen sooner or later, and now it’s here – glufosinate (Liberty™) weed resistance in a major US broadacre weed species.  It comes as no surprise that Palmer Amaranth is the villain.

University of Arkansas Extension weed scientists have confirmed glufosinate resistance in a couple different Palmer amaranth populations in the northeast part of the state.  With glyphosate resistance first confirmed about a dozen years ago in the area, many farm producers have shifted to an over-reliance on glufosinate to control P. amaranath.  Last summer, dicamba resistant P. amaranth was confirmed just to the west of Arkansas in the neighboring state of Tennessee.

Weed scientists in the delta region realize the consistent battle they are involved in to effectively control weeds such as Palmer amaranth and waterhemp.  Long-term intensive integrated management practices are being coached to area farm managers to help extend the herbicide resource.  Outside the box tactics entail everything from cover crops to hand-weeding to harvest weed seed control.  These management tactics are being employed to minimize the genetic selection pressure on herbicides and to keep the weeds sensitive to remaining control strategies.

Our more diverse crop rotations in the far northern regions of the US do help us naturally fight the weed resistance battle, but I’m sure we will see our battles become more intense as weeds continue to evolve under only herbicide pressure.  If you would like to evaluate some IWM tactics this coming summer in your overall weed management program, please contact me for a brainstorming discussion.  Being proactive today will place your farm in a good spot for the future.

https://www.dtnpf.com/...2021/02/17/glufosinate-resistant-palmer

Enlist™ Training

For those farms with only Enlist™ soybean acres, you do not have any additional mandatory pesticide training for the winter.  However, if you have liked the timely reminders on the key aspects of pesticide application, and/or see the need for some added training for your new and returning employees, here is a comprehensive online site for enhanced Enlist™ training:

https://enlist360training.bader-rutter.com/#/

Product Spotlight (2): P8431AM

The next product in our series of new Pioneer corn genetics for the spring is P8431AM.  It’s medium to tall for plant height at 84 RM (relative maturity) with above average trait characteristics for brittle-snap tolerance and Goss’s Wilt.

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 rated with 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 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.

Overall, P8431AM’s strength will be yield for maturity as it is competing very well against other hybrids in the industry for the mid-80 RM zone.  We may see a bit of late season standability issues with a root score of “4”, but late season root lodging typically only occurs when conditions are very wet in mid-August and later (every hybrid has a weakness somewhere).  Most of the other traits for this particular hybrid rate adequate/acceptable, so it’ll be interesting to see how this hybrid performs across the variable conditions in the 2021 growing season.

We’ll have a few units of P8431AM available this spring, so please reach-out to myself and/or your local Pioneer agent if you would like to see the hybrid on your farm this spring.

Random Agricultural Facts – Fertilizer History

The FarmDoc Daily out of the University of Illinois recently had an interesting article on the history of synthetic nitrogen in the USA.  Lewis B. Nelson also authored a book in 1990 on the topic.  I don’t have a link or copy of Nelson’s book, but here is FarmDoc’s article:

https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2021/02/synthetic-nitrogen-fertilizer...

The first agriculture sales of commercial fertilizer in the US occurred around 1840 and these specific sales lasted for approximately 30 years.  Any guesses to the product? …Have you ever heard (or remember) the term, guano?  Guano is basically bird manure and the primary deposits of guano harvested for fertilizer supply across the world at the time came from the west coast of South America in Peru and Chile.  However, the guano was a finite supply and transporting it in large volumes was a continuous challenge both logistically and with concerns to human health (anyone who has ever shoveled-out a chicken coop would know the hazard!).  Other early sources of commercial fertilizer used globally included bones, fish scraps, slaughterhouse waste, wood ashes, sodium nitrate, ammonium sulfate from coal gas plants, cottonseed meal, livestock manure, and poudrette (human waste).  These various sources supplied the growing need for nitrogen fertilizer through the early 1900’s. 

In the late 19^th century, it was confirmed knowledge that the earth’s atmospheric air was largely in the concentration of nitrogen at about 78% concentration.  Also, with the very stagnant crop yields of the time, it was forecasted/speculated that the world’s food production would not be able to adequately meet the demand of the growing human global population at some point in the next century.  Therefore, some leading chemists of the day in Europe were challenged to find a way to create a nitrogen field crop fertility product by harnessing the earth’s atmospheric nitrogen. 

By 1913, two BASF chemists had standardized the process to create anhydrous ammonia with 82% nitrogen content.  The Haber-Bosch process, named after Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, utilizes extremely high pressure and temperature with a metal catalyst to create the ammonia.  After cold water is used to condense the gaseous solution, the final product is obtained as a liquid under high pressure for transportation.  Once the liquid formulation losses it’s pressurized state during application, it immediately reverts to a gaseous product and therefore the term “ammonia gas” has been commonly used by farmers.  Since the NH₃ or ammonia gas is highly attracted to water, soil moisture receives the NH3 molecule and eventually the molecule transforms slightly to become a plant available nitrogen source for uptake as an essential macro-nutrient.

Today, the US is 4^th in the world in terms of producing nitrogen fertilizer from the process.  Basically, all you need to produce the product is a cheap energy source to create the temperature and pressures needed to transform volumes of atmospheric air.  Other sources of nitrogen fertilizer like urea (dry solid formulation at 46% nitrogen), ammonium sulfate or AMS (dry solid formulation with 21% N and 26% sulfur), and UAN liquid solutions (28% or 32% N concentrations), are all created with anhydrous ammonia as the base ingredient (see chart). 

Most ammonia production comes from areas with cheap and abundant natural gas available for an energy source – for the US, it’s the region of Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma.  I would think with all the flaring of natural gas in western North Dakota, there should be some local opportunities for nitrogen fertilizer production.  Maybe someday…

Feb. 15th, 2021 Edition

“... you know what’s wrong with this team?  We don’t have any team play.  We don’t care about each other.  Let me give you an example.  Tonight, I had 48 points with two minutes to go.  Did anybody pass me the ball so I could get 50?  Huh?  No, they just kept the ball to themselves and I got stuck at 48.  Stuff like that; that’s what’s wrong with these guys.” – Marvin Barnes, St. Louis Spirits of the ABA

 

Although you and I chuckle, once you hear some of the stories about Mr. Barnes there isn’t any question to the sincerity of this quote – he was dead serious!  The American Basketball Association (ABA) was known to have some eccentric characters in its day and Marvin Barnes was definitely one of those folks.  Barnes was quite the talent as he was the ABA’s Rookie of the Year recipient for the 1974-75 season with averages of 24.0 points and 15.6 rebounds per game.  Marvin also was an ABA All-Star for his first two years in the league.  After the 1975-76 season, the ABA merged with the NBA and Marvin’s theatrics couldn’t find a consistent home let alone consistent playing time.  Unfortunately, the St. Louis Spirits continually strove to have Mr. Barnes’s immense talent be the face of the franchise, but with his awful selfish behavior they were never able to develop the culture of a winning tradition for the business.  Marvin’s poor choices both on and off the court led to immense frustration by everyone around him – teammates, coaches, front office personnel, and I’m sure even his close family and agents.  When the ABA merged with the NBA, the St. Louis franchise did not survive, and the city has not seen professional basketball since.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/barnema01.html

If you’re looking for a good winter time read, and are interested in a little entertainment as well as a historical perspective on the business of professional basketball from the late 1960’s to the mid 70’s, “Loose Balls” by Terry Pluto will not disappoint.  https://www.amazon.com/Loose-Balls-American-Basketball-Association/dp/141654061X

The business world today is similar to the game of basketball where it takes team play and a willingness to include others to experience success.  If we expand on this thought for our significant farm businesses in the region, we understand that farm operations with a strong employee team and a willingness to partner with other key businesses in the local area seem to more easily develop success.  I’ve even seen smaller farms – with only 2-3 people involved in the whole business – conduct a very profitable enterprise with a commitment to good communication internally as well as with others who they rely upon to help their farm succeed.

At the end of the day, the better team any business is able to build within and around them, the better success everyone will enjoy.  You may see some short-term value in negotiating for that last nickel or dime on the cost of a farm input item or an employee’s salary, but if the value is there and the business or individual is providing a quality product, service, and /or labor in return, those extra dollars are fairly inexpensive and the money should be viewed as well spent.

 

Regional Weather

Well, that was probably the coldest weekend my family has spent in Grand Forks in our 10 years of being residents.  I’m sure we are all looking for the above zero temperatures later this coming week.  Hopefully, we’ll start a slow warm-up from here and looking at spring conditions in the not too distant future.

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 last full week of February, the forecast is to have greater chances of above average temperatures, as well as above average (west) to equal chances (east) on the precipitation front for our region.

The NOAA organization also provides three month outlooks.  If we would like to get a general forecast for next season’s harvest run (Sept-Oct-Nov), it can be seen here:

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=8

This forecast currently predicts above average to equal chances on the temperature potential, along with equal chances for precipitation in our region.  Overall, if that holds true, we would welcome the developments and hope to accomplish significant additional tasks besides just the harvest.

Dicamba Formulations for 2021 RR2Xtend® Soybeans

I  had a few questions after last week’s newsletter regarding Fexepan™ from Corteva® as an approved dicamba formulation for use in dicamba tolerant soybean production.  In a nutshell, Corteva® is anticipating renewal registration being granted by the EPA any day now for the 2021 season and beyond.  Corteva® has an agreement with Bayer® to market the formulation (Fexepan™ has the exact same components as Bayer’s® Extendimax™) and therefore Corteva® is obligated to follow Bayer’s® lead regarding the registration of the product.  Extendimax™ obviously received federal approval back in October, and that triggered the Corteva® team to begin the process for Fexepan™.  All the paperwork has been submitted to the EPA from Corteva® regarding Fexepan™, and it should be an easy approval for the EPA to make, but for some reason it is taking longer than anticipated – probably typical under a change of executive branch which the EPA reports directly through. 

With Xtend® acres forecasted to be down this year in the US, there should be plenty of dicamba product available this summer – regardless of the EPA delay regarding Fexepan™.  I will keep you posted on any further developments when they do occur. 

Planter Maintenance

It’s that time of year where the planters are going through the shop for their yearly maintenance.  Precision Planting placed together a very thorough website on the topic and has included several short videos (all under 5 min; many under 2-3 min) on the key items for monitoring to insure the planter will be performing at top-notch come this spring.

Some key items for winter maintenance and in the field adjustments:

·         Parallel arm bushings – make sure the row unit does not have too much play from right to left or up and down in a resting position.  Replace the bushings on one row unit and then compare other rows to the newly rebuilt unit if you are unsure

·         Seed tubes – worn seed tubes can affect kernel spacing.  Often the seed tube becomes damaged (tip and sides of the tube) due to worn disc openers and/or worn seed tube guards.

·         Seed tube guard – should be at minimum 3/4” wide to start the season.  New guards are approximately 15/16” wide

·         Disc openers – Always check the maintenance guide for the specific model, but most discs are 15” in diameter new and should be replaced at 14.5” in diameter.  Disc shims should be utilized to have a consistent 1.5-2” of contact at the point of furrow creation

·         Meter calibration – seals and brushes are common wear items inside the meter along with worn seed plates that can cause inconsistent seed spacing.  Research on inconsistent plant spacing has shown significant yield reductions.  Individual meter calibration should be performed yearly to ensure a consistent seed drop performance from row to row across the planter

·         Planter bar height – in the field, most planter models will need to be set around 20-22” height (bottom of bar to the soil surface).  Parallel arm bushings should run parallel or horizontal in relation to the planter bar and row units

·         Downforce setting – there are risks of too much (extra soil compaction) and too little down force (dry soil crumbles back into the trench creating poor seed to soil contact, shallow seed placement, and/or inconsistent soil moisture for germination).

https://www.precisionplanting.com/agronomy/research/your-planter-maintenance-guide

EPA and Amazon.com

The EPA office in Seattle has issued a “stop sale” order to Amazon.com for many illegal pesticides they have been marketing.  The most common ways that a pesticide can lose its EPA approval status is through the following avenues (vast majority of cases): 1) de-registration, 2) adulteration of the formulation after the original formulation was granted EPA approval, and/or 3) misbranding – false, unproven, or misleading claims about the product which are added to the label after approval.  Some products may become available illegally by never being submitted to the EPA for registration (actually somewhat common).

Many of the products outlined in the “stop sale” order are disinfectants or antibacterial formulations with mis-branding claims around “CoronaVirus protection”, “Safe for Kids”, “Safe for family and pets”, “Kills 99.9% of harmful bacteria”, etc.  Other products on the list lack an EPA registration number.

A few of the products on the list are insecticides for mosquitoes, spiders, ants, and other bugs, plus a few are rodenticides for mice and rats. 

I don’t think Amazon is yet in the business of selling broadacre agricultural pesticides, but this is a good reminder for the safety of our employee teams and family (plus pets) to buy these types of products from reputable businesses with recognizable brand names.  The tad bit extra the established brands may charge for their product is easily justifiable for extra assurance and safety.  When it comes to on-line purchases for agricultural pesticides, it’s probably worth your time to ask for labels of considered products and cross-reference with the EPA.  This should help insure that products have been EPA tested and thus should perform as intended.

https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/ssuro-amazoncom...june-10-2020 http://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---38040.htm

Product Spotlight: The Weed Zapper!

Last summer I heard a bit about machines in local fields using electricity to kill weeds – primarily in sugarbeet and dry edible bean fields.  “The Weed Zapper” is a USA based company investing in the technology. 

It’s a two part implement with the electric generator on a trailer hitch for towing behind the tractor (I assume runs off PTO), along with a front mounted boom for easy sight and maneuverability.  Supposedly, the generator provides up to a 15,000-volt experience for killing targeted plants.

Successful Farming had an article on the efficacy of the device based on some preliminary research from the University of Missouri.  Their findings report the pros and cons:

·         Research and observations were on soybeans with waterhemp as the primary targeted weed species

·         Electrocution was instantaneous to every plant the boom made contact with.  It was rare, but there was unintended contact with the crop and yields were reduced (10-15% depending on the growth stage of the crop when the kill occurred).  I would assume some yield loss was due to the addition of late season wheel traffic as well

·         Taller weeds that portrayed above the canopy were more susceptible – especially if they had some good leaf area for the electric boom to contact.  Generally speaking, broadleaf weeds were more susceptible than grass weeds

·         Smaller weeds at the time of initial application were not controlled – a second pass would typically be warranted

·         Not all crop competition would be eliminated as applications would be made mid to late season to provide time for weeds to gain height

·         Operator safety was a concern.

Overall, The Weed Zapper isn’t going to be a first line defense against resistant weed populations, but used in combination with a strong herbicide program, it should help significantly reduce weed seedbank populations.

https://theweedzapper.com/ https://www.agriculture.com/crops/soybeans/the-mizzou-weeds...

Product Spotlight (2): P7844AM

Well, I thought I would try to delay until closer to planting the introduction of our key new Pioneer products for the season, but I may run out of time between now and then, so let’s get started.  Pioneer’s earliest corn hybrid advancement for the upcoming season in our region will be P7844AM.  It’s a 78 RM (relative maturity) product with above average trait characteristics for good late season standability. 

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 a commercially advanced product with a 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, but those numerical scores are utilized in our research program.

All of the other traits for this particular hybrid rate adequate/acceptable, so it’ll be interesting to see how this hybrid performs for the summer against P7861AM, P7632AM, and P7527AM.  Our internal data says that it should easily out-compete those established benchmark products, but that data only comes from our IMPACT testing system which covers two years and numerous small replicated plots.  The IMPACT system is great for testing and advancing products as the system builds confident statistical data sets, but us field agronomists like to see a product across several acres and through some more widely variable conditions – sandy soil types (added drought and fertility stress), high pH soils, heavy clay soils (stress emergence), water logged conditions, etc. to get a true feel for the genetic yield and performance potential.  We’ll have a few units of this hybrid available this spring, so please reach-out to myself and/or your local Pioneer agent if you would like to see some P7844AM on your farm this spring.

China’s Pork Production

Since the vast majority of China’s imported soybeans are processed for animal feed, the topic is important to review.  Therefore, let’s take a dive into the numbers we are hearing regarding China’s hog production recovery from African Swine Fever (ASF). 

As I’m sure you are well aware, ASF had an outbreak in China a couple years ago (summer of 2018) that caused a quick reduction and culling in their domestic pig herds (40-50% plus by most estimates).    If you do a quick internet search today on the topic, you’ll find many articles talking about a quick recovery.  Here’s one such article stating, “as of Nov. 30, 2020, China’s swine herd recovery was seen at 90% of the pre-ASF levels”.  https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/...

Well, if you dive into some of the Chinese numbers, you begin to question how strong their swine herd rebuilding actually is.  First, pork inputs into China compared to the historic past are still at record volumes through to the very end of 2020.  Second, China’s domestic pork prices are still about twice the long term average (see charts below).

There are some additional concerns in China as well regarding the overall status of the swine herd.  Foremost, their Ministry of Agriculture has recently highlighted concerns on their ability to gather confident domestic statistics.  Also, swine disease concerns are not fading completely away – ASF outbreaks are still occurring in some limited scope, and reports of significant foot and mouth disease are also present.  Many comments have also been shared about questioning the genetic quality of the rebuild as they have witnessed smaller litter sizes and less efficient weight gains – documented with lighter slaughter weights.

https://www.mintecglobal.com/...china...global-pork-imports-in-2021

https://www.thomaseldermarkets.com.au...why-i-dont-trust-chinese...

Mark Twain would say, “if you torture the numbers enough, they’ll confess to anything”.  In today’s world of conflicting news, I’d just prefer to say that we should keep a very open mind to the developing situation and insure that we utilize our marketing plans with sound strategy to make profitable decisions.

Random Agricultural Facts – PIGS

Speaking of pigs, it is believed that pigs were the first domesticated animal on the planet and it occurred about 6000 years ago… Any guesses to the location??  Present day China!

Pigs first came to America around 1540 with the Spanish explorer de Soto.

Over 2 billion pounds of bacon are produced for US consumption annually.  At a population of close to 340 million people, the average US person (man, woman, and child) consumes close to 6 pounds of bacon per year!  In China, the per capita pork consumption is 90 lbs per person annually (or 0.25 lbs/day/person).

Sows have a gestation period of just under 4 months (114 days).  And, while the average litter size worldwide is only 6-10 piglets, an American sow will average around 10-13 due to genetics and nutrition.  Most sows will have 3-4 liters per 2-year timeframe. 

For more facts and figures around hogs: https://realpigfarming.com/15-trivia-winning-facts-about-pigs-6ab00f2d1049