AGRONOMIC THOUGHTS - JULY 2024

The 2024 wheat harvest is mostly finished for our PrairieLand Partners customers. Overall, the yields were much better than expected. We had just enough moisture in most places with a relatively cool filling period that pushed yields beyond what was expected. The disease pressure that showed up was late enough that even susceptible varieties that didn’t have a fungicide weren’t hurt much. There are areas that had “best ever” yields. Also, the wheat price ran up nicely before harvest, hopefully everyone was able to capture some better prices at that time.

The corn, soybeans, cotton and milo that were planted in April and May are looking good at this time. A lot of the corn is pollinating through this hotter weather but should still pollenate well as long as there is good moisture in the field. The early planted beans should be blooming now as well. Some areas are sitting very good with moisture, and some are “just getting by”. We will need to continue getting rain throughout the summer since many areas do not have an abundance of profile moisture. Looks like the double crop soybeans planted after wheat are off to a good start. If the moisture continues the PrairieLand territory should have good crops this year, especially compared to last year.

If your wheat acres haven’t been double cropped, now would be a good time to get your grid samples pulled. This would allow plenty of time to get any fertility issues addressed before wheat planting. Scheduling fall sampling over the summer is also a good idea so that we can have you on the list to be pulled right after harvest. 

We will be rolling out a program soon with a company called VRAFY. This will give us the ability to view grid sample results in the Operations Center. Look for details coming this fall.

Speaking of Operations Center, if your yield maps aren’t flowing into your account from the combine, ask your salesman what you need to make that happen. Also, if you need any help getting data loaded from a non-connected piece of equipment, we can help you with that. Even if you have some data from something that isn’t John Deere, we can help you get that loaded. Upgrades are continuing in the Operations Center, and it gets better and more stable all the time. It should become a valuable piece of your farming organization.

As always, let us know what we can do to help you with your farm operation!

Rob Meyer, Agronomic Specialist, CCA