Podcast

What to know about biologicals for produce

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 18:57:18 GMT

Biocontrols. Biopesticides. Biologicals. These words are often used interchangeably and mean similar, but different things. In this “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast episode, Pam Marrone, co-founder and executive chairperson of the Invasive Species Corporation, takes a look at the rapidly changing biological industry.

Marrone, whose career in the biologicals and fresh produce industry spans several companies, said biocontrols can mean something such as predatory mites — controlling one bug with another — or biopesticides, products with microorganisms or microbials. While it might be easy to assume biological products are used solely by organic growers, that’s not the case, Marrone said.

“Seventy percent of all biologicals and biocontrols are used by conventional farmers,” she said. “Most biocontrols or biopesticides are listed as organic, but there are some natural materials that are not registered as biologicals or biopesticides but are organic.”

She said an example is spinosads or pyrethrums.

“They’re natural materials because they have a toxic mode of action,” Marrone said. “Not all organics organic materials and organic pesticides are biological pesticides and registered as biologicals; some are registered as chemicals.”

Benefits to using biological products, especially in produce, include lower minimal risk levels, maximum residue levels, and preharvest and reentry intervals, so growers could spray a biological product close to harvest and still harvest and export the crop.

“You don’t harm beneficials. You can have better biodiversity in the field, improve soil health but at the same time actually increase yield and quality,” Marrone said. “Typically, when biologicals are incorporated into programs you see better quality and then pest management than with chemical only programs because of that synergy of the modes of action.”

Marrone said the biological and biocontrol categories continue to grow. While biological products might make up only 10% of inputs currently, that number will rise, she said.

“The predictions are, by 2040, the biological market and size will be equal to chemicals,” Marrone said. “Chemicals are only growing at 5% a year and biologicals are growing 10% to 20%, so they’re going to cross over at some point.”

Growers interested in adding biologicals need to work with their vendors to understand how to clearly handle the product and set realistic expectations of how the products work, as there is a bit of a difference in terms of application and modes of action.

For growers who are hesitant to use biologicals or had a bad experience using them in the past, Marrone said it’s worth giving them a try.

“If you used a biological five years ago, you got to try it again,” she said. “The technology is changing so fast. We have new tools to improve the products now. That’s the thing with biologicals, you can keep improving them and it’s worth looking at them again. If you’ve tried them and it didn’t work some years ago, it’s worth trying them again.”

From Wild Pigs to Property Rights, Journalist Chris Bennett Goes Unscripted

Mon, 20 May 2024 13:37:30 GMT

Few writers covering the ag industry and rural America today can tell a story quite like Chris Bennett, a senior writer for AgWeb and Farm Journal magazine. From Ponzi schemes to “antler madness,” pig motels to suing the feds, Bennett has a nose for news you won’t find anywhere else in the media world that most of us tap into every day.

On the second episode of Unscripted , a new podcast hosted by AgDay’s Clinton Griffiths and U.S. Farm Report’s Tyne Morgan, Bennett provides a behind-the-scenes look at how he finds such amazing stories and how he tells them so well.

“Crazy draws crazy, I guess,” he says, then adds that some of his stories take years to complete. “It’s a blessing to work on all of these farm stories at one time.” With an office full of fat folders, he remains patient during his investigations, allowing stories to develop at their own pace.

Case in point: Bennett recently drew plenty of readers to his story about new research that revealed more human beings are killed every year by wild pigs than by sharks . On Unscripted, he says that researcher John J. Mayer “hollered at me a long while back” about a study he was doing on the subject. Bennett asked Mayer to let him know when the study was released to the public. He then combined a report about the study with the story of a Texas woman who was mauled to death by wild pigs in 2019.

But for a story to catch his interest, it doesn’t have to pit Hogzilla against Jaws. It’s more a matter of deciding what will interest his readers and how best to investigate — and ultimately tell — the tale. “I have to approach these stories with the mindset of a 10-year-old,” he says. “You have to approach a story with wonder and with humility.” He also says listening deeply to the people he interviews is critical to the process.

As accomplished storytellers themselves, Morgan and Griffiths share their own beliefs about the art and craft. “You can find something interesting when talking to almost anybody,” Griffiths says. “But you can’t go in with a preconceived notion. You have to be willing to hear what they say.” Morgan agrees, adding, “It’s about allowing them to tell the story and not getting in the way of it.”

Telling powerful stories about farm country is a highly specialized skill, and hearing how it’s done from three of the industry’s best is time well spent. Click here to watch the full episode .

For more articles from Chris Bennett ( cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:

Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told

American Gothic: Farm Couple Nailed In Massive $9M Crop Insurance Fraud

Priceless Pistol Found After Decades Lost in Farmhouse Attic

Cottonmouth Farmer: The Insane Tale of a Buck-Wild Scheme to Corner the Snake Venom Market

Tractorcade: How an Epic Convoy and Legendary Farmer Army Shook Washington, D.C.

Bizarre Mystery of Mummified Coon Dog Solved After 40 Years

While America Slept, China Stole the Farm

Ferrie: Dry Conditions Make Fall Anhydrous Applications ‘Nearly Impossible’ to Seal

Mon, 10 Oct 2022 21:24:54 GMT

While dry field conditions are helping central Illinois farmers with harvest, they are also concerning, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

He says the most immediate challenge is for those farmers who want to make fall anhydrous ammonia applications.

“When the soil temperature drops, without moisture available, fall applications of anhydrous are going to be about impossible to get sealed,” he explains.

Soil moisture is needed to temporarily hold the ammonia so it can become attached to clay or organic matter in the soil, according to Iowa State University Extension. If dry soils are cloddy and do not seal properly, the ammonia can be lost at injection, or seep through the large pores between clods after application.

Ferrie has three additional concerns about the current dry conditions.

1. If they persist, corn crops still in the field can be at risk from fire.

2. Soils in production fields need their water reserves replenished before freeze up so the moisture will be available for corn and soybean seed next spring.

3. Tough broadleaf weeds, such as waterhemp, are in the process of adding to the seed bank in fields.

“These fields will take three years of staying on top of that waterhemp to get them back to where they were before this year,” Ferrie says. “So scouts keep pictures and scouting reports of these fields to remind everybody this is going to be a three-year project.”

Silver Linings For Fieldwork

On the plus side, Ferrie says dry conditions in central Illinois are allowing strip-till farmers to build good strips. He reiterates, though, that growers building strips now for next spring will need to potentially bypass some anhydrous applications.

“Give it a thought on some acres, though, so you don’t miss the window to get good strips on all your acres,” he says.

Farmers using vertical tillage are also benefiting from the dry conditions. “One of the big pluses is we get good shatter from fall tillage,” Ferrie says. “For the vertical tillage guys, this means you won’t have to go as deep to achieve full shatter. But be sure to check behind equipment to confirm you’re getting full shatter.”

Frost Impact Is Showing Up
Ferrie says the frost that hit fields in his area on the night/morning of September 28-29 had more impact than he initially thought, especially north of Highway 36.

“In double-crop soybeans it’s going to ding the yields a little, and with some of the corn that was still green and not quite finished putting in black layer, especially in those hybrids that gain a lot of their yield in kernel depth,” he says.

“I am surprised to how much damage we have for no colder than it got for such a short amount of time and assume it had to do with low humidity, low dewpoint, wind speed or all of the above,” he adds.

For Ferrie’s complete report on harvest and agronomic conditions, check out the Boots In The Field podcast filed on Monday:

Ferrie: Add Weight to Planters, Break Out Rotary Hoes, Tend to Strip-Till Seedbeds

Fri, 06 May 2022 13:28:26 GMT

It looks like Mother Nature is finally going to cooperate in central Illinois next week.

If that’s the case, look for a lot of corn and soybeans to get planted as a result, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

In this week’s Boots In The Field podcast, issued Wednesday, May 4, Ferrie offers a range of recommendations on what you might need to consider now.

Add Weight To The Planter. With all the rain events, even though they’ve been light in nature, Ferrie says the ground is getting hard and presents a challenge for field work.

“Growers are struggling with the wings on both their tillage equipment and planters wanting to float out. Some guys have been asking about adding weight-transfer systems to soybean planters to try to keep the wings from floating up,” notes Ferrie.

He says it’s a good idea – if you’re running a center-fill planter and you have the weight to transfer. If you’re running a box planter, most likely you don’t have sufficient weight to transfer. In this case you’re going to need to add weight to the wings.

“Some guys will use front-end tractor weights out there in the wings; others will use a starter tank on the wings and just fill them with water,” he says.

Another option is to hit the cornstalks with vertical tillage, to allow for better planting. Given recent wind events in central Illinois, Ferrie says to be aware of the wind potential to prevent blowing soil and stalks.

Consider Breaking Out The Rotary Hoe. As crops try to emerge they may need some help if the surface crust is hard, meaning you might need to run a rotary hoe.

“We always say ‘hoe before you know,’” Ferrie says. “When you know you’re already in trouble with the crust, and it’s usually getting too late to get the full benefit out of a rotary hoe.

“Just remember, with $8 corn and $15 soybeans you need to play every card you’ve got,” he adds.

Click here to see more than 250 rotary hoes listed for sale on MachineryPete.com

Strip-Till Seedbeds Need Attention. Ferrie is getting reports from farmers that their strip-till seed beds are not in good condition. If that is your situation, he says to consider using your planter as a row freshener.

“Set the planting depth in the shallowest setting, use a light amount of down pressure, and then use your row cleaners to prepare that strip,” Ferrie explains. “After the surface dries, reset the planter, come back and plant into that strip.”

Spring strip till preparation is getting a little risky at this point, he says. Running a knife this late in the season is going to set you up for clods and/or too dry of soil to plant into.

“I recommend removing the knife and using your strip tiller as a row freshener,” Ferrie advises.

Beware Of Salt Burn. Another concern he has is where farmers want to do spring strip till, use dry fertilizer in the process, and then plant into the strips in a matter of days to a week later.

“Let’s not forget about the salt in this fertilizer and its location with relation to where the seed is going to be,” Ferrie says.

“This is especially true for spring strip tillers applying dry urea in the center of the strip, a couple inches below the surface,” he adds. “When this urea goes through hydrolysis, the first product produced is ammonia, which will burn seed – especially with the rate and the concentration in the band right where we’re about to place the seed.”

Farmers sometimes then add more injury potential to the crop by using in-furrow fertilizer, increasing the risk of salt burn even more.

“Now. the problem with salt burn is you’re looking at two to three weeks before we can know what’s really going on in the stand. If you have to replant you’re looking at June,” he says.

Either Switch Crops Or Plant Both. Ferrie says given the forecast for warmer soil temperatures in central Illinois and the calendar date, anyone who can’t plant corn and beans at the same time needs to switch to corn.

“The cost of delayed corn planting will be higher than any gain on the soybeans at this date,” he says.

Monitor Early-Season Pests. Soybeans that were planted in test plots on April 12 have emerged and show some bean leaf beetle feeding.

“As slowly as these beans are coming up, we’re getting some stem damage right where the beans are trying to push through, and we’re losing some of the cotyledons,” Ferrie says. “Crop scouts be on the lookout for bean leaf beetle feeding, especially if it’s the only field in the neighborhood where the beans are coming up.”

Register For Farm Journal Corn And Soybean College. Registration is now open for the live event, set for July 26-27 in Heyworth. A one-day virtual event will be held on January 5, 2023. Learn more at https://www.croptechinc.com/cbc/

“Anyone who signs up for the live event will automatically be enrolled in our virtual event as well. For those who can’t make it to the live event, registration for the virtual event will open later,” Ferrie says. “With the border back open, it’d be nice to see our Canadian friends in person again.”

You can listen to this week’s podcast here:

Ferrie: Which Crop to Plant First? Corn or Soybeans?

Tue, 05 Apr 2022 18:09:58 GMT

The first week of April 2021 was warm enough many farmers in central Illinois fired up their tractors, put seed in their planters and went to the field.

That’s not the case this spring, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, near Heyworth, Ill.

He believes it’s too wet to get into most fields, and he expects conditions could stay that way for another week or so. Ferrie is concerned the opportunity to plant soybeans early is slipping away. Some of his customers are, too.

When The Ground Is Fit
The question local growers are asking him is, “When do we (switch) from full-season soybeans to shorter season soybeans?”

His response is to consider what crop needs to be planted when. Weather conditions may tell you to plant corn.

“The first thing to remember is we plant corn when the ground is fit and not by the calendar,” he says. “While we don’t mud corn in, when this weather pattern turns and soil warms up to allow for good corn planting conditions, we plant corn.”

If you have the ability to plant corn and soybeans at the same time, that’s great. But, if you can’t plant corn and soybeans at the same time, “don’t waste good corn planting conditions” trying to get beans planted.

Night Length Plays An Important Role
“With soybeans we do plant by the calendar,” Ferrie says. “They have an internal clock that keeps flowering on track for the natural environment they are planted into.”

The “clock” monitors night length to know what calendar day it is. Based on night length, or photoperiod, the clock triggers flowering.

Learn more about soybean maturities and flowering in this brief 2-minute video by Matt Duesterhaus, Crop-Tech Consulting agronomist:

Ferrie says a soybean plant will kick the reproductive process into high gear if it feels it’s necessary to get the plant through all its reproductive stages before the growing season ends.

“Because night length varies from north to south, each maturity group, from Group 0 in the north to Group 7 in the south, has a different clock setting,” he says.

To mitigate potential negative impacts from weather, Ferrie recommends that farmers plant 30% early soybean varieties, 50% mid-season and 20% late-season.

“It also gets harvest started sooner and prevents all your soybeans from ripening at the same time,” he says.

In the following Boots In The Field podcast, Ferrie along with Matt Duesterhaus, Crop-Tech agronomist, provide more details on planting corn and soybeans. Ferrie also provides his outlook for early season pest problems:

Ferrie: Your Seed Company Called and Wants Its Corn Back. Say Thank You

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 19:21:09 GMT

Some batches of seed corn go out of condition every year. Many times it’s due to agronomic factors encountered during harvest the previous year and that affected the grain during winter.

Lately, Illinois farmers have told Ken Ferrie they have had calls from seed companies wanting to come out and retrieve their seed corn because saturated cold tests reveal poor germination scores.

The question he gets from farmers is, should you be concerned about other seed you got from that company?

“My answer is no. If they take back a seed lot, that’s an indication you’re working with a good seed company,” says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, Heyworth, Ill.

Reputable companies monitor samples of every lot of seed they send out to farmers. When a company representative calls to say they want to take back delivered seed, that’s a sign you’re dealing with a well-run organization.

“My advice: Instead of being concerned about a recall, thank them for caring so much about your business,” Ferrie advises.

Get Bait Stations Ready
It’s time to be considering how you’re going to deal with the insects that will be headed to fields this season.

Wireworms continue to see an uptick in populations through parts of Illinois.

“If it damaged your field the last time it was in corn and you’re not sure you’re going to use an insecticide, now’s the time to put out a bait station,” Ferrie advises. “Wireworms take seven years to run through a complete life cycle, so if you had them two years ago, they will be back.”

He says to use yield maps and aerial images from previous corn crops to identify problem areas. Pay particular attention to sides of hills and small rises within fields, which tend to warm up first.

In those areas, Ferrie says to dig a few small holes in the soil and throw in handfuls of wheat and corn. Then, cover the holes with some black plastic to concentrate the heat units and speed up grain decomposition, which will attract the pest.

“Before planting, dig up that area and see if there is any wireworm present,” Ferrie says. “If you find one wireworm per bait station, you’d better implement a plan to protect your crop.”

While you’re at it, now is a good time to plan on putting out cutworm and armyworm lures, he adds.

Rodents Are Emerging From Hibernation
Pests such as the thirteen-lined ground squirrel and common vole will be emerging shortly and starting to repopulate.

They are especially a nuisance in no-till fields and wherever cover crops are grown, because the coverage provides protection from predators.

While both pests are prolific, voles are extremely so. Female voles mature in 35 to 40 days and have five to 10 litters per year, each one with three to six young.

“You can get 30 to 60 colonies in a 40-acre field,” Ferrie notes. “It’s too hard to come back from that type of population, so we have to reset – remove the ground cover and do some tillage, so they are exposed to predation.”

Implementing some control measures now can help you address problem rodent populations before they get out of hand in the field, Ferrie says.

Listen to this week’s Boots In The Field podcast discussion here:

Ferrie: Expect a Rocky Start with Corn in 2022 from Fall Anhydrous Only Use

Ferrie: Let Weather, Soil Conditions Guide Planting Decisions

Ferrie: Rushing To Plant Early Soybeans Could Cost You 30 Bu/A Of Corn Yield Next Year

Ferrie: 5 Reasons To Not Apply All Your Nitrogen Upfront

Ferrie: Changing Your Rotation? Be Sure to Evaluate Herbicide Carryover

Ferrie Answers ‘Can a Soil Test Help Determine the Need for Fungicides?’

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 21:45:28 GMT

Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, hosted a series of online agronomic sessions for farmers called Beyond The Basics this past week. (Learn more at www.croptechinc.com/beyondthebasics/)

During the event, one farmer asked: “Can a soil test help determine the need for a fungicide application, and does healthy soil correlate with less need for fungicide?”

Ferrie responded in detail during his Boots in the Field podcast: “The answer to these questions is yes, maybe, sorta,” he says.

“We all know about the disease triangle: you must have the disease, a host and the right conditions to trigger disease outbreak. Soil health falls under the area of conditions, and soil test can help identify conditions.

Soil tests do not detect the presence of disease or tell you that disease is present in the field. Fields that have good soil health have as much disease present as any other unhealthy field. Healthy soils do not prevent disease from moving into a field.

What we do know is healthy plants handle stress better than unhealthy plants. This was evident in our fertility plots this year as we dealt with a toxic mixture of multiple diseases on top of heavy tar spot pressure. Some of our N plots made an additional 30 pounds of N look like a fungicide application when it came to keeping corn greener longer—packing more starch in before disease shut down the plant.

Calcium and potassium play a big part in disease defense. While we don’t see many calcium deficiencies in Illinois, we do see potash deficiencies. A soil test can give us a good indication of which farms are going to come under more stress due to a lack of nutrient uptake.

Low potash-testing fields will have more trouble than those fields where the potash is adequate. Fields that are acid and need limestone will be more susceptible to disease pressure. Fields that run out of nitrogen during grain fill are more susceptible to disease pressure. In our plots as we pulled N rates back some hybrids died a month early, knocking 30 bushels to 50 bushels off of the yield outcome.

As we focus on things like soil pH and potassium levels, trying to keep them at optimum levels, many years there’s not a direct correlation between these values and yield – until you get to a year like 2021 where heavy disease pressure takes down the weak corn first.

Fields with low soil tests tend to get in trouble first, with premature death and down corn. Low potassium values in fields that receive high amounts of N – either commercial fertilizer or manure – tend to fall apart first. The better your overall fertility, the more disease pressure you can handle. The same goes for soil health – the healthier your soil the better your crop can handle disease stress.

With tar spot, as well as many other diseases, it’s a matter of trying to outrun the disease. Get the plant far enough along that you can get more grain fill before it dies.

With that said, we have good fertility. But if the conditions are right and the crop is susceptible to the diseases present, you’re going to have a disease outbreak. Fungicides and good fertility will lessen the impact of the outbreak, but they will not eliminate it.

Therefore, we want to be careful pulling back too far on our fall fertility, especially in those fields that aren’t at the optimum levels to begin with.

Several growers have reported that while a lot of their corn went down due to disease, the newer farms that we don’t have up to speed yet on fertility and pH have taken the hardest hits in yield. Balanced fertility is just one of the tools that we use in the toolbox to handle disease along with hybrid and variety selection, residue management, fungicides and of course scouting.

Hear the complete Boots in the Field podcast below, and check out these additional articles:

Farming In The Sustainable Triangle: Human, Natural and Physical Environments

Unraveling the Genetic Mysteries of Maize

Unspoken Truths About Pests: Down The Vole Hole

Go Vertical: Manage the Subsurface Environment for Maximum Yield

Ferrie: Dry Wet Beans, Make Better Strips, Stop Gas Escapes

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 20:04:39 GMT

A lot of wet soybeans went into bins last week in Illinois, says Ken Ferrie. If that was your situation, he says to be sure to knock down high moisture levels before taking those beans to the elevator.

“Don’t let those beans go out of condition. Find that right combination of when to run the fans and the heat,” encourages Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting Inc., Heyworth, Ill.

You’ll need to evaluate the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) to accomplish that. Ferrie recommends using the Clemson EMC calculator from Clemson University for that purpose.

“You can plug in your zip code, and and it’ll take your forecast and help predict the EMC basically on an hour basis for a week out,” Ferrie says. “So that’ll help you know when you can run your fans, when to shut them off or when to turn on the heat.”

Here is a link to the Clemson EMC Calculator: https://bit.ly/3wQIgMu

Preparation Underway for 2022

Ferrie says if you’re applying anhydrous now, make sure trenches are sealing and not releasing gas.

“If the bar is smoking at the knife or smoking in the slot behind it, tap the brakes,” he says. “This stuff is too expensive to let off. I know you want to check the box and get it done, but let’s not screw up next year’s crop in the process.”

Strip-till bars are running in a lot of areas, as farmers finish up harvesting soybeans. In this situation, Ferrie says to keep in mind that you’re building next year’s seedbed.

“Some of the strips that I looked at this week, I could stick my hand down the knife slot 6” to 7” deep. These will not overwinter and make a good seedbed.” Ferrie says. “You’ll end up with air pockets and false bottoms in the seed trench, causing seed to get too deep.

Consider Your Options

“We have found shallowing up the knife will help if you’re not applying anhydrous at the same time,” Ferrie adds. “But you’ve got to get that gas to seal. You can’t let it get away. In some of these fields, we may have to make the call to put on the gas and forego the strip or build the best strip possible and forego the gas or wait for better conditions.”

Even with shallowing up the knives or taking the knives off, Ferrie says strip passes are coming up chunky due to the wet harvest.

“Next spring you may need some help with something like a furrow freshener or row freshener to get the seedbed you’re looking for,” he says. “It may be time to come up with Plan B. I always recommend that our strip-till growers have a plan B for years just like this, when good strips are hard to come by.”

Even for growers who decide to go no-till next spring, Ferrie says be aware that you’re likely to have combine and grain-cart tracks in fields that will make for poor seedbed conditions.

“You may need some spring fresheners run on fields before planting or some sort of vertical tillage to get a uniform stand,” he says. “This is not an issue for you guys using horizontal tillage out of the planter, you’ll build your seedbed then. But for the large percentage of you guys that are farming vertical, a uniform seedbed starts this fall.”

Ferrie: Don’t Screw Up The 2021 Crop Just To Mark Anhydrous Applications Off Your To-Do List

Ferrie: Your Fields May Need A Leveling Pass Now To Prepare For Spring Planting

Ken Ferrie Answers Your Questions About Starter Fertilizer

Leasing new Ground? Great, but Beware of Bad Fertility

Mon, 08 Nov 2021 20:05:00 GMT

Every year, a certain amount of farm ground changes hands. Usually, that’s an exciting opportunity for the grower who picks up the additional acreage. But this year, leaser beware, advises Ken Ferrie.

“I have to say some of these fields coming in that we’re testing are rather trashed when it comes to soil pH and fertility levels,” says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, Heyworth, Ill.

With today’s fertilizer prices, Ferrie is concerned about what you’ll have to invest to get those acres into productive condition for the 2022 season.

“I know if you let that farm go by somebody else is going to cash rent it and you’re probably going to miss your opportunity,” he says. “But when you can’t get a current soil test on a parcel that you’re after, there’s probably a pretty good reason for that. So, I would say enter those leases with caution.”

Better yet, put some conditions into your lease as far as what fertility parameters must be present before you are willing to part with your hard-earned dollars.

“That way you won’t end up with something like the test we looked at the other day, where the ground was 7 tons to 10 tons behind on lime and had single-digit phosphates. There’s no cheap way to fix something like that,” Ferrie says. “And we don’t have enough horsepower in the ground to make it back in yield.”

Bottom line: while there is opportunity available to rent new ground this fall, don’t get caught blind in the process.

“You don’t want to pick up ground thinking that you gained something and then end up with a money losing ordeal,” Ferrie cautions.

Wet Beans? Here’s What To Do.

As harvest finishes up, farmers are still dealing with wet soybeans and need to look at their equilibrium moisture if you put them in the bin.

Whenever the humidity level is below 70%, you can address the moisture with air.

“Just turn the air on and you’ll pull that moisture level down into that 13% range,” says Ferrie. “You only need to add heat – and a low amount of heat at that – when humidity is above 70%.

“So, in most cases that is going to be in the evenings through the night, that you’re going to need to add some heat to it and then you’ll be shutting it back off in the morning as humidity comes down,” he adds.

Stay on Top of Field Harvest Order.

Ferrie encourages scouts to keep a close eye on soybean quality. In many cases, pods are splitting open, exposing beans to weather conditions and pests. If that’s your situation, move those at-risk fields higher on your pecking list to harvest.

“We have to cut beans when they’ll cut, and when we can’t do that, then go back to corn,” Ferrie says. “Try not to lose any time at this point, so we can get harvest completed and dragged across the finish line.”

Ferrie’s complete recommendations are available in his Boots In The Field podcast here:

Drying Beans? Know the Temp, Humidity and Equilibrium Moisture

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 16:46:01 GMT

Fields are wet in central Illinois, harvest is delayed and soybean quality is suffering. The combination means farmers will need to start pushing to get the crop out of the field, even though conditions are unfavorable.

Find out now what the dockage is at your point of delivery, Ken Ferrie advises.

“Early in the harvest, elevators weren’t taking wet beans,” says Ferrie. “The word now is that some are taking up to 18% moisture beans. Know what that dockage is and prepare your landowners and farm managers for it.”

Farmers have been calling Ferrie to ask about putting soybeans in the bin and adding air and/or heat to them. He says if you have open bins with good air capacity, this is a good option.

“You’ll have to monitor your air temperature and outside humidity to know what that soybean equilibrium moisture is,” he cautions. He provides two examples for consideration. Example 1 explains a scenario that doesn’t work, while example 2 is plausible and effective.

Example 1
On Thursday, Ferrie says the weather report showed 52 degrees °F and 90% humidity, making the soybean equilibrium moisture 19.4%.

“The only way you could have dried beans yesterday with air would have been if the beans were 20%. But if they were below 19.4%, adding air into that situation would have raised the temperature,” he says. “If you had turned the fan on and tried to pull down 17% moisture, it would have gone up instead of down and possibly could have caused structural issues to the bin once those beans expanded.”

Example 2
On Friday, Ferrie says the weather report showed 53 degrees °F and 60% humidity, putting the soybean equilibrium moisture at 11.2%.

“Today is a bean-drying day,” he says. “If you can add a low amount of heat, you could dry those wet beans on those wet days. Keeping the heat low is a necessity to keep you from burning the beans and causing splits,” he adds.

For a full explanation on assessing temperature, humidity and soybean equilibrium moisture, listen to Ferrie’s podcast, Boots In The Field. Here’s a link:

Ferrie says it’s important to set up your bin with 2 CFM of airflow per bushel of grain. You will need to use a bin with a full aeration floor. Two cubic feet per minute of airflow per bushel of grain is recommended for natural air drying. As a rule of thumb, most fans produce about 1000 CFM per 1 horsepower, but this depends on fan type – contact your fan supplier for detailed charts. If your fan is too small, increase the “effective” airflow by putting fewer bushels in the bin.

Ferrie provides this article on drying soybeans for a more detailed explanation: https://bit.ly/3jPffLP

Because soil conditions are wet, evaluate your flotation on harvest equipment. The more flotation now, the better.

“In falls like this where the more things are on tracks, the better off you are,” Ferrie says. “For no-tillers, remember these lug tracks are next year’s seedbed.”

He offers two recommendations:

1. If you have floatation on the grain cart and not the combine, keep the combine light and unload more often.

2. If you have flotation on the combine and not the grain cart, dump on the ends.

The fields you track up this fall may need some vertical tillage in the spring to get a good seed bed, Ferrie notes. Fields with ruts are going to need more aggressive tillage between now and planting.

“Let’s keep track of these fields as we finish up harvest, so we know what our plan of attack is for each of these fields going forward,” he says. “Putting in tracks or ruts combining corn going to no-till beans next year is a little more forgiving. Beans don’t usually respond to tillage, and you can go in and fix ruts and tracks without much detriment to yield.”

However, ruts in bean fields going to no-till corn next year will need to be fixed or corn yields will suffer.

“That means we’ll have to pull them out of no-till, fix this year’s damage and then go back into no-till,” Ferrie says.

Vilsack Says 98.9% of Farmers Won’t Be Impacted by Biden’s Tax Plan, Tax Experts and Economists Still Disagree

Tue, 28 Sep 2021 20:28:55 GMT

President Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda continues to be put to the test this week, as the key to passing the plan sits with Congress. Not only are legislators working on a stopgap spending bill before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, but House leaders are working to pass the $1 trillion infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, which has drawn criticism from counterparts on the right.

Monday, the Senate GOP blocked a measure to raise the debt ceiling. The stopgap bill would have funded the government through Dec. 3, suspended the debt limit, as well as provided hurricane relief. the bill was backed by Democrats, saying the GOP was sabotaging the ability for the United States to pay its bills, while GOP leaders stated they would support a bill that focuses solely on government funding and hurricane relief, but raising the debt ceiling wasn’t an option.

The battled played out Monday, as Democrats have a series of bills they aimed to pass this week. The reconciliation bill includes the “human infrastructure” element as well as climate initiatives, childcare subsidies, Medicare expansion and more. Democrats are pushing for tax increases to help pay for the massive price tag but those tax changes are coming with major opposition from the GOP. Among the possible taxes measures are changes to capital gains, which are still causing a stir because many farm groups which argue the tax changes will cost family farms.

Vilsack Defends Biden Administration’s Proposed Tax Changes

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has gone on the offense, trying to set the record straight on how the possible capital gains tax changes would impact family farmers. Not only did he write an op-ed in the Wall Steet Journal earlier this month, but he made his case on AgriTalk with Chip Flory last week. Contrary to previous reports, he says nearly all family farms will see no impact from the possible changes to stepped-up basis.

“I understand and appreciate the criticism that I’ve gotten, but the reality is the criticism is based on an incomplete analysis of the proposal. It’s one thing if what’s proposed were that the only folks who qualify for the exemption, if you will, are those whose family continue to own and operate the farm. But they’ve forgotten in their calculations and in their review about the exemption levels of $1 million per person, $2 million per couple, if there’s a homestead, $2.5 million per couple. When you apply that, combined with the exemption for owner and operator, you get 98% of the farms, almost 99% of the farms, not covered by this.”

Vilsack’s statement used a statistic produced by a recent USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) study , which showed 98.9% of family farm estates would not owe capital gains taxes when the principal operator dies, based on the proposed exemption levels, or be impacted by carryover basis. Furthermore, ERS points out their analysis of the tax changes found 80.7% of estimated family farm estates have total farm and non-farm gains less than the exemption, meaning they would have no change to their capital gains tax liability under the proposal.

Contradicting Claims

The data — and Vilsack’s statement on AgriTalk — contradicts a study done by Texas A&M University’s Agricultural & Food Policy Center (AFPC) that shows the Biden Administration’s proposed tax changes could be costly for family farms . The AFPC study found only two farms out of those studied would be immune to the proposed tax changes, and those two farms rent 100% of the land they farm. The remaining family farms would possibly have to take on more debt just to finance the higher tax bill.

“There would be a significant tax liability across all the farms that we looked at, except for two, so 92 of the 94 farms,” Joe Outlaw, co-director of Agricultural Food Policy Center and a Texas A&M economist, told Farm Journal after the report was released. “The one sure thing I can tell you is even with the projection of higher prices from FAPRI that we have right now, none of those farms can absorb this tax liability without having to refinance and go into debt. Not one. That’s the take-home.”

The AFPC study was done at the directive of Senate Ag Committee GOP leaders, but Outlaw pointed out their economic analysis is done for both sides of the aisle and the findings have no political bias. Under the AFPC’s modeling system where producers provided actual accounting records, AFPC found even with higher prices, most farms don’t have the cash on hand to pay for it.

Differing Definitions of a Farm Family

So, how can one study find nearly 99% of family farms won’t be impacted by the tax changes, yet another one comes to the conclusion nearly all family farms will be hit with a higher tax bill and accrue additional debt? Farm CPA Paul Neiffer says it goes back to the database each used and what the two groups used as the definition of a family farm. Neiffer thinks if the ERS analysis would have included only those farmers who make most of their income directly from farming, then the analysis would show a different result.

“USDA needs to parse their database to only include farmers who make a living from farming. If they did that, I would expect more than 75% of those farmers would be affected by President Biden’s tax proposal,” says Paul Neiffer, CPA and partner with CLA who focuses on agriculture. “Also not including farm landlords, which again may be the majority of farmers since their land is likely in entities, would likely dramatically increase the number of farmers potentially subject to the tax. An exemption of $1 million likely only covers less than 100 acres of ground in Iowa that was purchased only 20 years ago.”

The ERS report states the data set used comprised of 1.97 million family farm households. However, an ERS spokesperson told Farm Journal of those 1.97 million family farm households, 918,209, or 46%, say their primary occupation is farming.

The Texas A&M AFPC report, which found all but two operations would be impacted by changes in the stepped-up basis, as well as inheritance tax, used a database of 94 representative farms in 30 states. The data is then combined with a farm-level policy simulation model, which has been used for decades. Despite USDA and Secretary Vilsack’s claims the tax changes won’t impact nearly 99% of family farms, economists say the findings of the Texas A&M study still hold true.

Congress In Control

Even as Vilsack pushes for farmers to trust the Biden administration when they say most family farmers will not be impacted by the proposed tax changes, ultimately, it’s up to Congress.

In September, the House Ways and Means committee put some farmers fears to rest, as the Committee’s version of the bill didn’t include the transfer tax and left the “stepped-up in basis intact.”

More recently, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) was asked by reporters if changes to stepped-up basis were still on the table. He responded by saying, “Not at the moment. No.”

As the House punts to the Senate, Senate leaders could have the final say. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wouldn’t offer any details on the plan, declining to provide any details on the menu of tax options,

As the two chambers hash out details, Neiffer says without changes to stepped-up basis, including the transfer tax due at death, the House’s plan is more favorable for family farmers and ranchers, but it does include some changes that could cause dairy farmers and larger farms to pay more.

“As far as a grade, what used to be probably an ‘F’ plan is now up to a ‘B-’ or ‘C+’, at least based on the House Ways and Means Committee proposals that came out,” Neiffer says.

He says if the House adds back in the transfer tax , then his grade would go back to an ‘F.’

AgriTalk: Three Ag Leaders Reflect on Reconciliation Bill

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 20:31:27 GMT

The reconciliation bill has been a hot-button topic for agricultural America this week, and South Dakota Senator John Thune, Arkansas Senator John Boozman and American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall dropped in on AgriTalk to share their views with Host Chip Flory.

Thune says the effects of the bill as it currently stands will be felt across more than large corporations.

“These taxes are going to be passed on. They’ll argue we’re just taxing the rich, we’re just taxing businesses and we’re just taxing big corporations. I think the people who will get hurt by this are consumers, workers, families and business because we’re talking about $3.5 trillion, which is a huge amount of tax increase, and nobody is going to be spared,” says Thune.

Agricultural America, as Thune puts it, will experience a great deal of these negative effects.

“We’ve been fighting hard against some of the ideas that are out there that would really adversely impact agriculture. But this is just bad news and there is no good way to raise $3.5 trillion without hurting a lot of people,” says Thune.

Senator Boozman says that agriculture is not about Republicans and Democrats, rather the regions of the country and the commodities they grow. He says in the past, members from each party would generally seek input from commodity groups when working on a bill of this nature, but that was not the case this time around.

“When you look back over the last 40 years, we’ve had several reconciliation packages, several entities like this. This is the first time there has been no input from one of the parties. There has been no input at all from republicans and no input from stakeholders; no amendments to this bill,” says Boozman. “I’m very upset about it and your listeners are upset because this is strictly coming from the Biden Administration.”

As a country, he says, we expect our governmental parties to work together to agree on legislature that is for the betterment of all. Agriculture falls short in the reconciliation bill as a result of divided parties.

“My concern is the senate. We’re seeing one side of the administration can unilaterally, without any input from anyone, come back and rewrite the farm bill, which they’re doing again. Now, all that’s being thrown out the window,” says Boozman.

AFBF President Duvall seconds Senator Boozman’s notion that the House Ag Committee is working in a partisan manner.

“Normally, on the House Ag Committee or the Senate Ag Committee, you see more bipartisan working relationships and efforts going on. Unfortunately, in this day and time, everything is partisan, and we do have a serious problem with the process,” says Duvall. “The process should be dealt with on both sides of the aisle; our country depends on us to be able to sit down and come up with solutions from both sides of the isle.”

For more on the reconciliation bill, click here .

Grassley Comments on Reported RFS Cuts, Vilsack Defends Administration’s ‘Stable’ Approach to Blending Targets

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:46:59 GMT

As corn growers and the renewable fuels industry await EPA to release the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) blending requirements for 2020, 2021 and 2022, rumors continue to surface as to what those updated numbers may be.

On Wednesday, Reuters released an exclusive story citing documents that showed EPA is mulling significant cuts to biofuel blending levels. The report outlined the EPA proposal, which would reduce the mandates for 2020 and 2021 to about 17.1 billion gallons and about 18.6 billion gallons. Reuters also reported the agency would set the 2022 levels at about 20.8 gallons, calling it a win for the oil industry.

The Reuters story, on which the EPA wouldn’t comment but cautioned the numbers are subject to change, stated the updated 2020 levels would be lower than what was finalized for 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The news comes nearly a month after another Reuters report claimed the Biden administration was preparing to suggest lowering the renewable fuel volume requirements within the RFS. Citing sources, the news caused grain and oilseed prices to take a nosedive.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Responds

AgriTalk host Chip Flory pressed Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on the subject Wednesday, asking if rumors the final EPA numbers would be released Friday, Sept. 24. Vilsack said while he didn’t know timing, EPA would release the numbers when the agency is ready.

“I don’t know what the numbers will be,” Vilsack told Flory. “What I do know is that that it’s fair to say that there were some significant disruptions during 20 and 21, as a result of the pandemic, certainly during 20 [we saw] significant disruptions. And the impact that the pandemic had on numbers, you know, the administrator would know, the EPA would know. But at the end of day, I’m going to look for ways in which we a USDA can provide help and assistance. That’s why we are prepared to provide $700 million of assistance now and additional resources above and beyond that, for infrastructure to expand the capacity to get higher blends out there to consumers. We’re going to continue to do what we can’t USDA to support this industry.”

Grassley Voices Concern

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) was also on AgriTalk Wednesday. When asked about the Reuters story, Grassley said at this point, the rumor is just a rumor. He went on to tell Flory EPA has not confirmed any of it but made clear that if the Reuters story holds true, it could be detrimental to ethanol, and possibly even biodiesel.

“When Biden was campaigning in Iowa, he supported ethanol,” Grassley said on AgriTalk. “I’ve had good conversations with the EPA director on it. And I thought they were favorable to it. And I don’t know the rationale behind it, but it could have something to do with their promoting of electric vehicles. It surely can’t have anything to do with their caving in to big oil, because they don’t like fossil fuels at all.”

Making the Case for Stability with RFS Release

While no reports have been confirmed, Vilsack pointed out that no matter what is released by the Biden Administration, he says one thing is certain: it will provide stable numbers that won’t waiver to carveouts for small refinery exemptions and other possible requests, taking a slam at the Trump Administration’s track record over four years.

“I think what people have to understand about the RFS is the most important thing to it is stability,” Vilsack told Flory. “In my view, the most important thing is to be able to count on the numbers that you’re provided. I contrast that to the previous administration that basically gave you a number and then basically through a series of waivers reduced that number. So, there was always instability, always uncertainty. I think [EPA] Administrator Regan, what his job is, he really wants to make sure that the numbers are solid, make sure that they’re set that they are, they are supported by the facts and that they are real, that there isn’t going to be a liberal use of the waiver process that will basically make those numbers not real.”

Biofuels Groups Respond

While the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) didn’t comment on the Reuters story regarding rumored changed to the RFS, the group did email reporters saying an erroneous e-mail being sent to some reporters contained fabricated information, and an email that didn’t help the rumor mill Wednesday.

“We’ve been made aware that some reporters may be receiving an email that includes fake 2020-2022 RVO numbers that were supposedly shared by RFA with its members. We want you to know that this is a complete fabrication and a shameful “spoofing” attempt. We are trying to get to the bottom of who is sending this and why. RFA never sent any such email or circulated any potential RVO numbers to our member companies.”

RFA went on to say it doesn’t have information or confirmation regarding the 2021-2022 RVO numbers and are “anxiously awaiting” the release of those RVO proposals.

The Case for Supporting Low-Carbon Biofuels

Just last week, Growth Energy urged Biden to upload his commitments to clean energy, commitments that were referenced by Grassley on AgriTalk Wednesday. During a virtual fly-in, Growth Energy sent a letter urging Biden to take clear action on climate change by upholding the RFS, which Growth Energy says supports low-carbon biofuels.

“If we are to achieve net-zero by 2050, we must use all tools in the toolbox – including biofuels,” Growth Energy stated in the letter. The group also stated fuels like ethanol reduce carbon emissions by 46% over their full lifecycle.

“It is vital that conventional biofuel blending targets meet the15-billion-gallon minimum required by law,” the letter went on to say.

Renewable Identification Number (RIN) values tanked Tuesday, possibly ahead of the Reuters news. However, corn prices seemed to shake off the Reuters report, still trading in the green mid-day.

Secy. Vilsack, ‘I think at the end of the day I should pay tax’

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:45:59 GMT

In April, the Biden Administration released the American Families Plan (AFP), which included their intention to make stepped-up basis, or accumulated gains in asset value subject to capital gains taxation when the asset owner dies, a law.

The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) recently released data to showcase those who would be affected if the stepped-up basis were approved in the AFP.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack told AgriTalk’s Chip Flory agricultural America’s analysis of the stepped-up basis is mostly inaccurate, creating a lack of support in the stepped-up basis concept.

“In their calculations, they’ve forgotten about the exemption levels of $1 million per person, $2 million per couple, and if there’s a homestead, $2.5 million per couple,” says Vilsack. “When you apply that, combined with the exemption for owner and operator, you get 98% of farmers—almost 99% of farmers—are not covered by this.”

The 1.1% impacted by stepped-up basis, according to Vilsack, are those who own land and don’t have any heirs who are interested in farming the land. It’s those who have the land as an investment that appreciates over time.

Vilsack used his own financial situation as an example.

“When I die, is it fair for my own kids to get a huge tax break, or is it better for my kids to pay their fair share and in doing so, allow families across the United States to have access to a child credit? It makes it easier for working families, middle class families, including farm families, to be able to support their children,” says Vilsack. “Is it better to have the opportunity to have more affordable college for millions of kids? Or is it better for Tom Vilsack and his kids to have a huge tax break? At the end of the day, that’s what this is all about.”

Secretary Vilsack says the “us vs. them” political division has hindered politicians from completing items of business, which has also fueled American’s lack of trust in politicians. Enabling this stepped-up basis will help dissolve this distrust, according to Vilsack.

“I think at the end of the day I should pay tax. I don’t think a family farm or farmer who owns and operates a farm, and his kids want to own and operate the farm, I don’t think they should pay the tax,” says Vilsack. “That’s the reason we pressed hard when this was put forward to make sure there was an exemption, and there is for 98.9% of farms.”

To hear more of Flory’s interview with Vilsack, listen here.

Ferrie: Got Northern Corn Leaf Blight? Call Your Retailer

Mon, 02 Aug 2021 12:01:09 GMT

Disease pressure is building in many Illinois corn fields this week, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, Heyworth, Ill.

Northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) is of particular concern this season. Ferrie says if you see “any hint of it” to contact your retailer to see how quickly they might be able to treat.

“The concern is in some areas, farmers are having to wait up to two weeks for a plane to fly their fields,” he says.

As for treatment pecking order, Ferrie say to spray corn first and then soybeans.

If you’re unfamiliar with NCLB, check corn leaves for narrow, tan lesions – sometimes referred to as cigar-shaped – that form parallel to leaf margins. Depending on hybrid susceptibility, the lesions commonly range in length from 1” to 6” long.

Since the early 2000s, both the prevalence and severity of NCLB have increased in the Midwest.

“During wet weather yield losses may be as high as 30% to 50% if the disease becomes establishes before tasseling,” according to Ohio State University Extension agronomists. “However, if leaf damage is only moderate or is delayed until six weeks after silking, yield losses are minimal. Severe damage caused by NCLB also predisposes plants to stalk rot and lodging, which may further reduce yield and grain quality (read more at https://bit.ly/3ffhjuu).”

Don’t be ho-hum about corn rootworm.

“I’ve been receiving pictures from guys running ground rigs, where the hood and the windshield are just covered with corn rootworm beetle,” Ferrie says. “A lot of them are the northern CRW, the green beetle, which is a bit of a surprise because our sticky traps last year indicated we’d have few CRW this year.”

Ferrie says several factors are in play.

First, the use of sticky traps isn’t an exact science and is still in the calibration phase.

“We catch the beetle in sticky traps by accident; we aren’t luring them in with a lure,” Ferrie says.

This year, central Illinois didn’t experience any timely rains to knock the CRW population down, like it has in other years.

Third, farmers are encountering more of the northern CRW, the green beetle, which has an extended diapause. That simply means eggs the beetle lays in the ground can sit there for two years before they hatch.

Last but not least, CRW beetles can move in from a neighboring field, and fields of pumpkins are of particular concern. “Some of our pumpkin fields are having problems with disease this year, so the beetles are moving early,” Ferrie notes.

If you have large numbers of CRW beetles, now is the time to do root washes. “If you’re seeing a lot of damage on your roots, whatever you’re doing to manage the CRW event, you need to do something different next year,” he advises.

Plus, don’t forget that if you have northern CRW, the eggs beetles lay this year won’t hatch until the 2023 season.

Wind damage? Round up a reel now.

Ferrie says fields in central Illinois have had more wind problems this season than usual, and that could spell trouble at harvest.

“If you have corn growing in all different directions, it’s going to be prone to break off at the ‘goose neck,’ so round up a reel if you can,” he advises.

Still time to register for Corn and Soybean College

Ferrie and team will be hosting the 2021 Farm Journal Corn and Soybean College program next week, Aug. 3-4. You can check out the agenda and register at https://www.croptechinc.com/cbc/

Some of the topics include:

Cover Crops, Carbon and CO2
Navigating through Nutrient Regulation
Managing Your Subsurface Environment
Maximizing the Environment for High-Yield Soybeans
It All Starts in the Furrow

“Come early and be prepared to learn and be challenged about what you thought you knew,” Ferrie says.

Farmers from all across the U.S. are registered to attend, and you’ll have plenty of time to mingle and make new friends and see some old ones, too.

Check out the agenda and register at https://www.croptechinc.com/cbc/

Listen here for this week’s Boots In The Field podcast:

Ferrie: Downed Corn and Still Need to Apply N? Consider Your Options

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 20:34:59 GMT

This past week farmers in parts of the Corn Belt, including central Illinois, saw a wide range of rainfall from a light smattering to 3” hard downpours. In some places, wind and hail also struck corn and soybean fields.

“In those areas where there were high winds and 3” of rain, we did see some buildings destroyed, center pivots tipped over, down corn and soybean damage,” says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting near Heyworth, Ill.

Ferrie says while the corn might have looked worse, soybean crops seemed most affected by the hail, and he reminds growers to report damage to their crop insurance company.

Keep Corn Crops Fueled With N

In fields where corn was pushed over – and not snapped off – he anticipates that much of the crop will straighten itself up from its base.

“You’ll see a nook at the bottom of the plants after they straighten up, but the good news is the corn should stand up pretty decent, and it’s much better to have had this happen now than after tasseling,” he says.

If you planned to Y-drop apply nitrogen (N), Ferrie believes that will still be possible in many corn crops, though it will be slow-going through those fields.

In fields where the corn is down enough you aren’t comfortable trying to get through it with a ground application, Ferrie says to consider scheduling an aerial application of N.

As always, take into consideration your weather forecast, as some parts of Illinois are forecast to get another 3” to 8” of rain this week.

Ferrie says additional rain would be a mixed blessing. “It depends on whether you end up on the 3” side of the rain or the 8” side,” he says. “If we get rain, and it doesn’t run off too quickly, it’ll get us through pollination and the end of July. I know you’re likely frustrated, but too much water is a smaller issue than worrying about a crop that’s burning up during pollination.”

Ferrie’s agronomic team pulled tile gates last Friday. He says if their fields get only 1” to 3” of rain this week, his team will put the gates back in.

He adds if you’re concerned about N loss, and still plan to apply N, you might consider pulling some nitrate samples.

There’s been limited disease pressure in corn this year, to date, but Ferrie says if rains come this week the disease pressure will likely pick up in the next 10 days.

Consider Soybean Growth Stage Before Applying Herbicides

With the rainfall, Ferrie says you’ll likely see those soybeans that had been stalled out due to the carbon penalty and dry soils have a growth spurt this week.

“If you have soybeans that are at R2, meaning they’re at V6 or V7, they’re likely flowering in the upper part of the canopy now, so you need to be careful about post herbicide applications or rescue treatments that could knock off the flowers and affect yield,” he cautions.

He also addresses topics for the 2021 Farm Journal Corn and Soybean College in this week’s podcast.

If you know a high school or college student who is interested in participating in one of the upcoming events, check out the scholarship Ferrie is offering. More details are available at:

Corn & Soybean College

Rootless Corn Syndrome Cause and ‘Cure’

DC Signal to Noise: Big Infrastructure Plans Require a Big Budget

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 18:56:55 GMT

AgriTalk’s Chip Flory and Pro Farmer’s Jim Wiesemeyer recap the hot topics last week and a look ahead to what to watch this week.

Watch the video above or listen to the podcast below for discussion on these topics and more: Clip and Jim take a closer look at the U.S. China trade relationship and the clock is ticking on the infrastructure bill.

Rootless Corn Syndrome Cause and 'Cure'

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 18:51:05 GMT

As Ken Ferrie traveled through Minnesota and into northern Iowa this past week, he saw a number of fields with rootless corn syndrome, sometimes referred to as floppy corn syndrome.

“These are fields that had been worked, but they’re so dry at the (soil) surface that as we try to make the hand off from the seed (seminal) roots to the crown roots – in that V4 to V5 window – it’s too dry, and the crown roots just come out and nub off,” says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting in central Illinois, near Heyworth.

A contributing factor to the problem is when you don’t or can’t firm up the soil tightly enough over the top of the seed when planting in dry conditions.

“That’s why we stay away from a spoked-like closing wheel in a conventional tillage system, because we can’t firm (the soil) enough to keep that moisture tucked in,” Ferrie notes.

The best solution to the problem of rootless or floppy corn is moisture.

“In most cases, all it’s going to take is one good rain shower, and the corn plant will re-anchor,” he says.

In the meantime, some cultivation could potentially help.

“Where we can roll some soil up around the base of the plants, that will stimulate the brace roots to take off,” Ferrie notes.

In fields where corn is leaning heavily, he recommends holding off on herbicide applications, if your specific situation permits a delay.

“I know you’ve got to keep an eye on the weeds and label restrictions, but if you could give this corn a chance to finally set those roots you would be better off,” he says.

If dry conditions persist too long, plants with rootless corn syndrome can have difficulty recovering. “If the plant tips over and the mesocotyl breaks off, that corn won’t survive,” Ferrie says.

Rootworm hatch is underway. In many areas, the hatch is nearly done and larval feeding is becoming evident. Ferrie recommends doing some rootworm floats about the end of June to evaluate the damage.

“It’s to evaluate your traits to make sure that you don’t have rootworms getting around them,” he says.

The floats are also useful for farmers growing non-GMO corn. “It’s helpful if you’re trying to decide whether you can get by without an insecticide,” Ferrie says.

He says if you are unable to do the floats, at the very least take pictures of any significant damage which you can then share with your agronomist. Bear in mind, however, that there is no rescue treatment available for rootworm-damaged corn. The work you do now to evaluate rootworm damage is to help you plan for the 2022 season.

For further insights on pest and disease issues in corn and soybeans at this point in the season, listen to Ferrie’s Boots In The Field podcast below:

Beware of Rootless Corn

Rewind Rootless Corn Syndrome

Signal to Noise: What’s a $4 Trillion Price Tag Get You?

Mon, 10 May 2021 19:04:43 GMT

AgriTalk’s Chip Flory and Pro Farmer’s Jim Wiesemeyer recap the hot topics last week and a look ahead to what to watch this week. Watch the video above or listen to the podcast below for discussion on these topics and more:

> Biden’s $4 trillion dollar infrastructure plan

> Liz Cheney and internal conflict in the Republican party

> Energy markets and gasoline futures

> What China’s corn buys will mean for exports

The New Cash Crop: Carbon

Wed, 17 Mar 2021 19:12:46 GMT

By Claire Jones

What if farmers could get paid for practices that promote ecosystem services? Let’s say you’ve been using cover crops as a way to reduce the amount of nutrient inputs and keep carbon in your soil. Well, now it’s possible to get paid for that. But it’s complicated. So, Field Work podcast hosts Mitchell Hora and Zach Johnson talk to Christophe Jospe, the co-founder of Nori, one of the new companies trying to make this all work.

To start, what would qualify as an ecosystem service? According to Jospe, ecosystem services can mean anything from carbon sequestration, water retention, carbon reduction, and nutrient density. An ecosystem service market, according to Jospe, “is like a digital crop that you can sell. So along with physical grain crops, there are abstractions of the improvement of what you can do to your land and then sell that to companies.”

Those companies could be interested in your data for the supply chain or those who are looking to offset their carbon emissions by paying someone else who can remove an equal amount or carbon.

Nori is focusing solely on carbon removal, meaning the increase in soil organic matter or soil organic carbon in U.S. crop lands.

“If you could incentivize people who could do things that could reduce or remove carbon, that could address the excess CO2 in the atmosphere,” said Jospe.

But it’s important that they are pulling carbon out of the atmosphere above what would normally happen-- a concept called “additionality.” Nori has developed a Dynamic Baseline that isolates the specific practices that increase carbon in the soil, to eliminate climate or weather patterns that naturally increase carbon in some soil types.

Nori is making its own carbon market, with its own units of tradable carbon credits. So, in order to actually get paid for those services, farmers need to choose a field they want to enter into Nori, and assess things like field boundaries, seeding and harvesting dates, yields, fertilizer application, and organic matter additions. They can enter up to five years of previous practices, or start new practices.

Then, they get an assessment and a quote from Nori based on that data of what they might make. If they decide they want to enter into a ten-year contract, then farmers have to pay a third party verifier to measure the changes over the time of the contract.

The goal for Nori is to make these assessments faster and more affordable for the farmers, and to continue to understand how to quantify carbon sequestration and streamline the process.

Have a listen to the Field Work episode on this page to learn more.

Ferrie: Consider Yield Maps as Highly Valued Game Tapes to Review

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 17:03:51 GMT

NFL coaches and their teams routinely review game tapes to scrutinize opponents to identify weaknesses they can exploit on the gridiron. Such information put into play during a game can mean the difference between a big win or a heart-breaking loss.

The same is true for information that yield maps from your fields provide, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting, Inc., based near Heyworth, Ill. The information you gather and then review in end-of-season yield map meetings can give you the insights you need to go out next season, make valuable adjustments to your cropping plans and improve your growing season and yield outcomes.

Yet too many farmers don’t see value in yield maps or in meeting with their team end-of-season to review the information the maps provide.

“Poor-quality maps are the No. 1 reason farmers do not value a yield-map meeting,” Ferrie says. “When you must convince yourself the map is telling you something, or contoured to find any zones, most likely it’s a poor map.”

A common cause for this is having poorly calibrated yield maps that don’t show any spatial differences.

If this describes your situation, you can still improve your game plan for the 2021 season by using the information you do have available and reviewing it with your team to get their input and buy-in. Two practical steps Ferrie recommends are:

1. Gather available data and information for review. Things to include are the original plan you put together for the season as well as any details that changed as the year unfolded. Planting and tillage records, varieties and hybrids used, fungicide, insecticide and fertilizer application records as well as any aerial pictures or drone imagery are valuable to the review and decision-making process.

“Include any notes scribbled down in your pocket notebooks as well as any memories of what happened during the growing season,” Ferrie adds. “Include invoices for any products you purchased, which can often tell you the total amount of what went on the field.”

2. Assemble your team to review the yield maps and accompanying information for at least one full day. The team includes everyone you relied on to get the 2020 crop in the field, through the growing season, harvested and then in the bin.

Everyone’s role and work impact the farming processes and outcomes—even if you and individual team players don’t fully realize that at this moment, because you’re new to the yield-map meeting concept, Ferrie notes. Usually, during the discussions and review of data and information, individual team members and the collective group begin to understand how important each person’s role is on the farm and the results they contributed.

If possible, Ferrie encourages, make the meeting mandatory for all players and managers. The reason: “If people are missing when we’re viewing the game tapes, in the next game, team members will not be pulling in the same direction,” Ferrie explains. “Too many times some very powerful data comes out of the yield-map meeting but does not get implemented, because the farm manager was too busy to be in the meeting,” he adds.

If you’re the farm manager and too busy to lead the yield map meeting, Ferrie says to delegate that job to someone else. “And be sure to give that person the power to implement the things learned in the yield map meeting,” he encourages.

In this week’s Boots In The Field podcast, Ferrie details how to use the information from yield maps and team meetings to start building your cropping plan for 2021. These are don’t-miss-instructions to get your 2021 season on a winning path. Listen to the details here:

Ferrie: Plan For A Normal Crop In 2021; Don’t Let A Drought Threat Drive Your Decisions

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 16:45:21 GMT

The potential for this currently dry winter season to snowball into a dry spring is possible but don’t let that risk drive your hybrid and seed population decisions, advises Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

Instead, “plan for a normal crop, hope for the biggest crop of your career and then mitigate the risk of a drought or crop failure,” Ferrie says, in the latest edition of his Boots In The Field podcast.

“Our first level of drought mitigation is crop insurance. Work with your agent to get the best mitigation risk you can, as droughty farms may need different coverage than your other farms do,” Ferrie adds.

If you’re not sure which soils on your farm are the most drought-prone, consult your 2012 yield maps.

With regard to selecting seed populations, Ferrie says don’t lower your populations for 2021 in anticipation of a drought. Plus, don’t use just one seeding population across every field on every farm.

“That’s not how we mitigate risk in dry seasons,” Ferrie says. “Picking the right population is a process, and it’s important.”

How can you start the process?

Ferrie says look at each field individually to evaluate its potential drought risk.

“The information you need can be compiled from past yield maps, past aerial imagery taken throughout the year, soil type maps, topography maps of the fields as well as personal observation from previous cropping seasons,” Ferrie explains.

Along with taking those steps, investigate each field’s usable, water-holding capacity under your current management style, he advises. A good indicator of this is your yield history – in drier years – by field.

“That’s what our GIS crew looks at and considers – the wet years and dry years – as they break up your fields and put together management zones,” says Ferrie, who owns Crop-Tech Consulting, near Heyworth, Ill. “With this information, we can then pick a realistic yield goal for each field. And that will get us in the ballpark for the population needed.”

As a starting point, Ferrie’s team uses 6.5 bushels per 1,000 plants to meet a farmer’s yield goal. This is a ballpark figure only.

“So, if you have a realistic, 200-bushel yield goal in a field, it should take about a 33,000 planting population to reach it,” he explains. “Or if you have a realistic 180-bushel yield goal, it will require a population of about 28,000; a 250-bushel yield goal will take a population of about 38,000.”

Oftentimes, you can have those types of yield ranges in the same field and you need to adjust planting populations to fit them. But if you don’t have the ability to vary planting populations across the field, plan to set the population based on what the majority of the field needs.

“Do your homework and come up with a realistic yield goal for each field,” Ferrie says. “Then, between your individual field experience and the help of your seedsman pick a hybrid and a population for that field.”

However, if you can vary populations within a field, that’s the better practice to adopt. Why? “We know some hybrids can flex as much as 5 to 10 bushels per 1,000 plants, depending on genetics,” Ferrie explains.

This edition of Boots In the Field provides a wealth of practical information that can help you figure out how to pick the right hybrids and planting populations for 2021. Take 10 minutes and listen to the full details Ferrie offers here:

Ferrie: Your Fields May Need A Leveling Pass Now To Prepare For Spring Planting

Ferrie: Seed Treatments And Hybrid, Variety

Ferrie: Don’t Screw Up The 2021 Crop Just To Mark Anhydrous Applications Off Your To-Do List

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 15:01:41 GMT

In the past three weeks, Ken Ferrie says he’s seen a tremendous amount of anhydrous get applied on Illinois farms.

“I hope everyone was using a nitrification inhibitor as soil temperatures were popping above 60 degrees in this warm stretch,” says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting near Heyworth, Ill.

Ferrie notes that in most cases bars are sealing trenches well. However, in some especially dry areas he’s hearing complaints that that’s not always the case.

“Some of these fields are still gassing off 500 feet behind the machine,” he notes.

Ferrie’s guideline for assessing the situation is that once the bar passes, you should be able to drop down to your knees, smell the trench and not smell ammonia.

“If you’re gagging for air when you do this, the bar’s not sealing,” he says.

You also should not be able to smell anhydrous when you’re walking across the field after the application. One grower called in and told Ferrie he could still smell ammonia a day after application and was wondering how much anhydrous he lost as a result.

“My answer was we don’t know, but it’s substantial,” Ferrie says.

Other growers called in and asked why their N-Serve wasn’t stopping their anhydrous losses. Ferrie explained that N-Serve is a nitrification inhibitor, but it doesn’t stop volatility, which is the problem farmers are experiencing.

Instead, the anhydrous needs to find water in the soil to convert to ammonium to be stable. Ferrie notes there are some ‘tricks’ to decrease volatility.

“One trick to decrease the volatility is to decrease the rate of ammonia you’re putting on. Lower rates need less water,” he explains. “But you’ll have to adjust the spring applications to square this rate back up.”

A second trick is to go deeper to expose the ammonia to more soil and more water.

“I know you retailers are cringing when I say that because, as I’ve been talking to some of you, this has been a bad year on shanks as a lot of guys are using the toolbars as subsoilers,” he notes.

Ferrie adds that if you are doing tillage or applying anhydrous where seagulls typically drop behind the tool to scoop up worms brought to the surface but they’re leaving and not coming back, that’s your tip the soil is leaking ammonia.

“They don’t like the smell of ammonia, either,” he says. “Bottom line, guys, if you find yourself holding your breath when you’re switching tanks, the ground is leaking. Don’t just keep running. Let’s not screw up the 2021 crop just to get this marked off the to-do list,” he adds.

Along with Ferrie’s comments on anhydrous applications, he addresses fall tillage practices that can help you level-off fields, so you have more success planting early soybeans next spring. You also can get some practical recommendations on how to address waterhemp seed this fall and next season to prevent it from taking over fields and snuffing out your crop yield potential.

Get all of Ferrie’s practical and timely insights here:

‘We’re Chasing An Additional 10 Bushels With Early Soybeans,’ Agronomist Says

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 19:05:36 GMT

Farmers in west-central Illinois and east-central Missouri are wrapping up the 2020 harvest, and many are seeing above-average corn yields, according to Matt Duesterhaus, Crop-Tech Consulting research agronomist.

“The growing season was excellent overall, a little dry in June, but we got some rain around the 4th of July that took us through pollination just fine,” Duesterhaus told Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, on this week’s Boots In The Field program.

This week, Duesterhaus was working with Ursa Farmers Cooperative, near Quincy, Ill., and some of their farmer customers.

Duesterhaus described the 2020 soybean crop as above average as well, but not delivering as strong of results as the corn crop.

“On the bean side, we’re seeing a lot of 60- and 70-plus yielding beans. Not a lot of 80- and 90-bushel bean averages, but still good yields,” he said.

He anticipates area farmers will plant more early season soybeans next April, prior to starting their corn planting.

“I think we’re chasing an additional 10 bushels with the early beans,” he told Ferrie.

Duesterhaus attributes some of the significant yield bump in early soybeans to plant health benefits derived from fungicide treatments.

“We’ve looked at beans in 30-inch rows, 15-inch rows, April planted and as late as May 30 planted beans, and we’re really seeing that yield response in the early beans. On our more productive soils, with a fungicide-insecticide combination, we saw 4-, 8- and 12-bushel responses,” he said. “In our May-planted beans we saw a 2- to 4-bushel increase with fungicide, which is still positive, but not like with the April beans.”

Moving forward this fall, Duesterhaus said he anticipates putting in more nitrogen plots. “We’ll set out this fall and look at some 100% anhydrous compared to some liquid programs that would be split up between being on the planter, sidedress or Y-drop,” he said, as a for instance. “Plots take time to do, but they can provide valuable information that can help you make better decisions moving forward.”

Duesterhaus added that area farmers interested in soil testing, putting in plots or learning more about the Crop-Tech agronomic program can reach out to Michael Hicks at the Ursa Farmers Co-op (217) 964-2111.

You can listen to the complete Boots In The Field podcast here:

AgPro Podcast: Importance of Soil Testing in 2019

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:18:40 GMT

On the AgPro Podcast, voices from the industry asked: From lessons learned in 2018, how are you helping farmers prepare for 2019?

Steve Patterson

Richmond, Va.

SVP of Marketing and Communications, Southern States Co-op

A: The No. 1 thing they need to do is pretty basic—they need to be soil testing, but not everybody does that. Overall, farmers can’t be sloppy with their practices. You’ve got to pay more attention to your planting rate. Is your planter calibrated? Are you paying attention to how to increase your Maximum economic yields? Are you relying on anybody in the industry that can help you make these tough decisions? In these times of low commodity prices, we believe you can still make money as a producer, but you can’t if you’re just doing the same thing that you’ve always done.

AgPro Podcast: Choosing Better Hybrids in 2019

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:18:40 GMT

On the AgPro Podcast, voices from the industry asked: From lessons learned in 2018, how are you helping farmers prepare for 2019?

Damon Smith

Madison, Wis.

Extension Field Crops Plant Pathologist, University of Wisconsin-Madison

A: When it comes to foliar disease, look really intently at hybrid choices right now. I am a little worried more tolerant hybrids may not have seed available, so look hard, and try to find things that performed well. Hybrids can tolerate a little bit more visual severity than we originally thought. If you had something that just didn’t work well on your farm this year, I think I’d be trying to go with something my neighbor had that looked a little bit better. Until we can get some better hybrid ratings, we’re going to have to do the best we can with the materials that we have.

AgPro Podcast: Integrate Technology on Your Operation in 2019

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:18:40 GMT

On the AgPro Podcast, voices from the industry asked: From lessons learned in 2018, how are you helping farmers prepare for 2019?

Andrew Lambert

Cokato, Minn.

Crop Adviser, Centra Sota Cooperative

A: If you have integrated technology on your farm, use it to its fullest potential. There are plenty of programs out there that don’t get used 100% of what they are able to do. If you don’t have technology on the farm, contact a trusted agronomy adviser to look at different option as far as what programs you could integrate on your farm to make better decisions going into 2019. Precision ag is like home computers in the 1990s—a lot of companies are pushing different programs, so we are helping a grower decide what programs give the best return on investment.

AgPro Podcast: Caring For The Environment For The Next Generation

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:18:36 GMT

On the AgPro Podcast, voices from the industry asked, “Why is environmental stewardship important to your business?”

Jayne Carstensen

Eldridge, Iowa

Communications Specialist, River Valley Co-Op

“Part of our statement is that we as a company and our member-owners are continually improving ways we run our business because we’re all in this together. We’ve had members since 1906, and we’re into fourth generations—and probably with some, our fifth. We want to see this continue as we serve more than 2,800 farming families. We take our obligation of feeding the world as a huge responsibility as a company, and our member-owners feel the same. We’ll do everything we can in order to make sure that we can feed everybody for many years to come.”