- Published On:1/23/2012
- Author:Dale Botten
- Categories:Agronomy, Admin
The 2010 fall harvest season started out very wet. One year later, the 2011 fall harvest season started out very dry which resulted in a very quick harvest, with yields lower than expected.
The agronomy department started spreading dry fertilizer in early October and continued spreading every day until late November, giving Crystal Valley a record number of acres spread. Of these acres, a large percentage were spread using variable rate technology (VRT) because of the grid soil sampling that Crystal Valley patrons had done in their fi elds during the early summer and fall months. Anhydrous ammonia applications started early as well, with dryer than normal soil conditions requiring slower application speeds. It was a difficult anhydrous ammonia application season that required a large number of replacement parts on equipment. Twenty percent of the anhydrous ammonia normally applied in the fall was not able to be applied because of dry, hard soil conditions. These acres will need to be applied next spring.
Fall 2011 corn yield results using fall 2010 applied urea proved positive, which resulted in additional urea applications this fall with the nitrogen stabilizer, “Instinct.” Throughout the year of 2011, the price of fertilizer has moved up with the price of corn and soybeans. With these higher crop nutrient prices, planning for your spring fertilizer needs will be even more important to ensure supply availability. Crystal Valley encourages you to contract your future crop nutrient needs as you forward contract your corn and soybeans.
This past summer Crystal Valley had a large increase in the number of acres custom applied at the V5 stage of corn through tassel of the fungicide products, Quadris and Quilt. Ask your Crystal Valley agronomist about the yield results and additional profit per acre from using Quadris and Quilt fungicides.
With the high variable costs associated with planting your crop, it is even more important to have your soil sampled on a periodic basis. Contact your agronomist to line up your soil sampling needs for next spring and fall!
As the Crystal Valley agronomy department increases the number of acres of custom applications, we continue to analyze what investments we need to make to ensure the highest level of customer service. This past fall we purchased four new dry floatation spreading units. We have also purchased three new high clearance sprayers for use this coming spring and summer.
2012 will bring additional regulations and enforcement from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on mini-bulk shuttles that are commonly used for storing and transporting bulk crop protection herbicides to the farm. These regulations will increase the cost on your farm and for
Crystal Valley. We are in the process of identifying the best way to comply with these regulations, while at the same time maintaining our level of customer service and minimizing additional costs for our customers. As we identify the different options to provide shuttle tanks to our customers in the future, our agronomy staff is committed to open communication with our consumers.
Several new employees were hired in the Janesville area before the fall application season began. Tim Arndt, Shane Shumski and Jesse Nikoley were all brought on board as Custom Applicators. Steve Rohman was also hired in Janesville as the Shop Foreman. Please join me in welcoming these new employees to the Crystal Valley team.
Check with your Crystal Valley agronomist for your spring herbicide, seed, fertilizer and custom applications needs for spring. Thank you for your business in 2011, we look forward to serving you in 2012!