Ken Ferrie: Early Bird Gets the Bushels
You can’t always predict the weather; but you can put plans in place so you’re ready to plant in all conditions.
“We're getting close to game time, so now is the time to put the finishing plans together, meaning what's going to happen in each field and when you're planning on it happening,” says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist. “Sometimes a great plan doesn't end up that way if not everybody in the farm operation knows the plan.”
Listen to Ken Ferrie discuss mistake prevention with AgriTalk’s Chip Flory at the recent National Farm Machinery Show:
Ferrie’s advice is to put pen to your plan, review the plan, make any final adjustments then share the plan with your entire team.
“Your team could be your seed supplier, retailer, employees and others,” he says. “When we run into snafus on farms, it's usually because somebody involved in the plan didn't understand it. “The more people who know about the plan, the less hiccups you’ll have.”
A good example of when this type of planning pays is with planting soybeans early.
“You just can't wake up on April 10 and decide you're going to plant soybeans,” Ferrie says. “The land has to be ready, the herbicide has to have been applied and your seed needs seed treatments. If you don’t have everything ready, you may miss that window and end up planting them in May anyway.”
Read More: 8 Tips for Planting Soybeans Early
Ferrie’s research shows planting soybeans early is one of the most consistent practices to bump soybean yields.
“Over the last six or seven years, it's one way to move bean yields anywhere from 5 bu. to 10 bu. — and moving beans 5 bu. is like moving heaven and earth,” he says. “In our territory, a large percentage of the beans will go in ahead of corn, which just 10 years ago would have been unheard of. It's been something that's worked from central Illinois all the way up into Canada.”
Read More
Stack The Odds For Soybeans this Spring
6 Factors That Influence Soybean Yield
Use Technology to Build the Perfect Furrow
The New Art of Hybrid Selection to Overcome Field Stresses
