PrairieLand Partner’s Agronomic Outlook
Each season brings a unique set of challenges, and at the beginning of 2019 the list has been long. Starting last fall we were unable to get into fields to fertilize, burndown, or do any field preparation. With everything crammed into such a short window we have been forced to do things differently than most years. Strip till has been left undone. Anhydrous was exchanged for dry or liquid. Burndown and residual were combined into one pass. All these changes will provide learning for the year ahead and may provide opportunity for further trials and learning throughout the year.
Along with forced trials from the weather we have been handed, there is always new technology and equipment available to test. While not brand new for this season, Deere’s ExactEmerge™ planter unit and individual hydraulic downforce are untested by most. As a dealership we are trying to get these technologies on more acres for 2019. We have undertaken a test plot program with acres spread across our geography. These will provide field days near you so that you can see the job these planters perform. We have already seen early results where stand has incredible spacing and even emergence. These planters have performed exceptionally both in metering and placement. We will follow these plots through the whole season to monitor the difference this makes to yield. We know that a high-speed planter increases productivity, but ultimately the quality of job carries more importance. You can follow along with our test plots on our by clicking this link, www.PrairieLandPartners.com/--testplots. And, keep watching our social media and look for signs of field days near you so that you can judge for yourself the job these planters do.
With the spring that we had, have you switched to a planned side-dress application of nitrogen? If you answer yes, what is your timing plan? And do you plan to test before applying? We have some tools to help with both these questions. First, we can test for nitrogen availability with our 360 SoilScan™ to wait as far into the season as possible before applying the remaining nitrogen. Further, depending upon the weather we have, we can adjust our total amount needed. We can react to favorable weather to either increase our yield goals or to take advantage of nitrogen mineralization. Second, with 360 Y-Drops® we have the equipment necessary to make that later application. Last year at our Clay Center field we saw excellent yields even from our base rate of nitrogen due to great mineralization. We reduced our nitrogen application and pushed it to near tassel without having any negative effects upon our yield. You can look at our past connection articles or talk to your advisor from Prairieland to learn more details.
Finally, lets talk about more planned research on your field. With our Field Command program, we can help design and execute research on YOUR field, testing YOUR ideas. That is what we all want right? I don’t know how many times I have heard “well it works for them”, or “it works if your soil is black gold”, or “that won’t work here”. Let’s put that to the test, with the ability to quantify results and declare whether a practice provided a return. We are here to provide the right solutions for the problems you are facing. We have great tools to help with that. Let’s plan to learn a lot from the 2019 growing season.
Ryan Cyr - Precision Ag Specialist & Certified Crop Adviser