by Leave a Comment

Taking the Road to Success

Fall is a great time to evaluate how our management decisions made this spring have worked out.  Did the “road map” we laid out last winter and executed throughout the spring and summer get us where we wanted to go?  When traveling the Huron area, it is evident when a weed management program worked on soybean fields, but, getting a handle on how well our corn weed control program worked takes a few steps into a field.

While we are looking at corn fields and checking our herbicide success or failure, it is also a great time to investigate whether our planter was set properly in the spring.  The opportunity to improve stands with Deltaforce, Speed-tube, and V-Drive from Precision Planting become even more evident when walking down a corn row and figuring out why some plants have produced a nice ear and others have only a partial ear.  Was it pollination, emergence, or improper planting depth?

A careful inspection of the roots beneath a plant will give us insight into management solutions we should consider in 2019 and beyond.  Everyone likes a new planter, but we may be miles (and dollars) ahead by investing in an upgrade to our existing planter rather than completely replacing it.  We would love the opportunity to discuss those potential solutions for your planter on your farm.

While we in crop production wrestle with the issues that we encounter along the road toward harvest, it is heartwarming to recognize the successful young people that our communities have helped set on the path to achievement.

Make plans to tune in to ABC television at 8 pm on Sunday night the 9th of September.
We will be rooting for Miss South Dakota 2018, Carrie Wintle.  Carrie grew up in rural Iroquois and graduated from Huron High School in 2012.  She is promoting financial literacy while representing her home state.  She has published 2 books that appeal to 2 age groups of youth instilling the basics of financial literacy.  I learned a few things from the books, too!  They are available by contacting Carrie at   www.Money-sheep.com. She is an asset that we can all be proud of!  Go Carrie!

Another home grown star is Abby Bischoff, a rural Huron native.  Abby lives in Sioux Falls and has produced, for several years, a popular Abandoned South Dakota wall calendar featuring photographs of rural South Dakota. Abby has now published a beautiful Coffee Table book highlighting more beautiful photos. Start your Christmas shopping early or secure a copy of this book for yourself by going to abandonedsd.com.

Finally, while attending the SD State Fair, in Huron, be sure to take in the 4-H livestock and static exhibits.  Abby and Carrie are both examples of what 4-Hers can do when they “grow up.” You will be proud of all the things the boys and girls in 4-H have accomplished over just the past year. Just imagine what‘s in store for them down the road!

by Leave a Comment

No Time Like the Present

Deadlines; meet one and there is another fast on its heels.

One person’s approach to meeting deadlines can be a lot different than another’s.   Some of us work best under pressure; others enjoy the satisfaction of getting done well in advance of the 11th hour.  I guess I am a last-minute kind of guy.  Interestingly, much as I dawdle at getting things done in a timely fashion, I sure am annoyed when I am ready to attack the next project (behind schedule, of course) and the equipment I need to proceed isn’t ready to go, because once again, I waited until the last minute. Ironic isn’t it?

Once planting is done, if you are the really efficient type, the planter is cleaned up, inspected, adjustments and repairs made and then the planter tucked in the shed until next spring.  When that baby is pulled out of the shed in the spring it is ready to roll to the field.

The fairly efficient grower will clean up the planter, perhaps make a few notes about what to work on during the winter months, and then put the planter away until winter or maybe early spring.  When spring rolls around there may still be some work needing to be done.  If notes were made they come in pretty handy.

The last-minute grower gets the planter put away just before the first snow flies, hopefully.   The planter gets pulled out of the shed in the spring, and then the head scratching begins.  What was it that I want to be sure was fixed on this planter from last year?   Meanwhile the planting deadline looms.

No matter which camp you may fit into you may not be as well organized nor as far behind as you think.   If you answer no to any one of the following questions, your planter should not be in the shed!

  1. Have you walked your fields to identify mechanical planting errors? Did your starter work like you intended?  Did your corn come up evenly or is some of it a collar or 2 behind?
  2. Have you written down your plans for improving your planter’s performance in 2019? (And I don’t mean trading it in)
  3. Have planter meters been inspected, cleaned, and calibrated for next season?
  4. Have you analyzed your planting maps and do they show if each row planted as you set it?
  5. Have you gotten quotes for planter upgrades that will address your planter’s issues?

Now is the time to analyze your plant stand, and your planter’s issues.  Meters should be worked on now and put away clean and prepped.  Summertime is the budget friendliest time to purchase upgrades and the best time to make wise logical choices to improve your planter’s efficiency. The best part? There’s no deadline pressure looming! No deadline, that is, other than the Precision Planting Summer Deal Upgrade Package from Bauman Agency, in which we offer a $200 discount per row, ending August 31st.

We are happy to walk fields with you.   Jonathan, Callee and Wade can help you analyze your plant stand with the aid of Precision Planting’s Pogo.  Planter issues can be identified and resolved with summer deals and meters can be checked.  Our service is budget friendly and long on experience.   Give us a call at Bauman Agency, 605-353-1112. After all, there is no time like the present!

Image Credit: Sharib4rd

by Leave a Comment

Hot Days and Cool Nights: Perfect for High Corn Yields

Today, as we wait with snow steadily falling and planters ready to go to the field, I am fielding calls about when, and if, a farmer should change his intended corn maturity. My recommendation is, and always has been, to stay the course on hybrids that are best suited for our area, up until the 15th-20th of May. Here’s why.

I have always believed that planting 103-105 day hybrids in the Beadle County area was the best management choice for high yields year after year. In the 2017 Research Summary from Pioneer, an article by research agronomists explains WHY my long held beliefs are true.

It seems that high yielding corn likes warm days and cool nights to reach fullest yield potential. When shorter day hybrids are planted, the window of grain fill in the fall is narrowed.  When shorter day maturities are planted earlier in the spring, the critical grain fill period for corn is moved to mid-August through mid-September, when nights still remain warm.

The high yielding corn of today contains much of the genetic heritage of corn plants that originally grew in the high plains of Mexico, where days are warm and nights are cool.  Planting the longer day corn varieties in our area delays the maturity of the plant until September and early October when we get the cooling effect of fall nights.

Why is this important?

When corn grows all day long there is a buildup of stored energy (sugar) in the plant. Think of a corn plant as we would the gas tank in our car.  When the “tank” is full, more sugars are being produced and that produced energy must go someplace.  A full corn “tank“ turns excess sugars into starch in the kernels.  The more starches built into the reserve, the higher the yield.  Therefore, warm sunny days encourage the most production from the corn plant.

Corn is a living plant that also lives at night.  When nights are warm, the corn plant must use some of the energy that it produced the day before to respirate. The higher the nighttime respiration the more energy it consumes that it held to build starches.  On a cool night, the plant respiration slows so that it doesn’t use as much of its stored energy.  Thinking again of a corn plant as a full “gas” tank, if I park my car at night and don’t drive my tank is still full the next morning (cool night, 50 degrees).  If I let my car idle all night long, the tank is a little less full, but not significantly so (cool night, 65 degrees).  If I drive my car all night, (warm night 80 degrees) I will need to refill before I can start my normal routine.

Planting 103-105 day hybrids allow us to capitalize on the ideal high-yield weather that generally occurs, in our area, the last week of August thru the first week of October.  That is, of course, unless we get an early frost!

Featured Image Credit: Patrick Findeiss

by Leave a Comment

The Ground Hog vs. New Year‘s Resolutions

As I write this note, I am reminded by my wife that I made several New Year’s resolutions that I have yet to work at accomplishing.  We spent several evenings before the end of 2017 discussing what areas of our life needed improvement, and even got Charleston Wachter (our 5 year old grandson) to enumerate his goals for the New Year.

One of my first and foremost resolutions was to be a better marketer for the commodities I grow.  We had no problem focusing on the holes in my 2016/2017 grain marketing.  I was determined not to sell corn for less than $3/bushel, as I wanted to make a profit as well as cover my cost of production:  so much for that plan as I sold a bunch of corn for way less than that.  Even though the $3/bushel opportunities were there, I did not act and my hesitation due to fear and greed was costly.

My 2018 marketing goal is still to sell corn for $3 or more per bushel.  This year I am “resolved” to pull the trigger on some bushels.   One of the first steps to figuring out my target price of $3 was determining my cost of production in 2017.  I have all that info at hand, including my yields vs. how much I spent to accomplish those yields and what my fixed costs are/were.  When you are dueling with a foe, you will always lose if you never pull the trigger.  Hence, $3 here I come!

Should $3 be your marketing goal?  Maybe, or maybe not. What is your cost of production?  What target price do you need to cover your cost of production and meet your operation’s needs?

Perhaps the best way to better understand the upcoming market opportunities in 2018 is to come and listen and question Rich Morrison, a Senior Risk Analyst for Diversified Services, a division of one of the crop insurance companies for which we write.  Rich, a marketing guru, will be our guest at a FREE seminar focused on the Crop Marketing Outlook for 2018.  Rich always provides solid information and is happy to field your questions.  Join us Friday morning February 16th at the Nordby Event Center on the SD State Fairgrounds in Huron and consider what Rich has to say.  I can guarantee that he knows more about marketing than I ever will and he also understands how subsidized multi-peril crop insurance revenue products can help you develop a solid marketing plan.

Groundhog Day is around the corner.  We all know how dependable Punxatauney Phil’s forecasting is. Obviously, my “predicting” skills are no good, so I have to rely on the information I have at hand, advice from the experts, and a steady hand when pulling my 2018 trigger.

Back to Charleston, a couple of his New Year’s resolutions were to 1) take his dad to the Cracker Barrel and to 2) have his Dad take him to Chucky Cheese.  These are both lofty goals for a five year old and I wish him better luck at accomplishing them than this grandpa has been at achieving his.  But this year, by golly, is going to be different and a success for us both!