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

Opportunity Out of Adversity

On a recent trip Louise and I were delayed 4 hours from departure from Joe Foss field, in Sioux Falls.  We spent 2 hours on the plane and then 2 hours off the plane, while we waited for the elusive de-icer to appear. Consequently, we missed our connection and spent a short night in a Dallas, Texas hotel before making another connection and then our final destination, twenty-four hours late.

There was some solace in our predicament because eight Pioneer Sales Agencies, sixteen people in all, were flying on the same plane, with the same itinerary. We each knew only a couple of the others; most were strangers when we first got on the plane. Four hours later we were getting well acquainted as we worked together in getting our flights rebooked, vouchers for accommodations procured, ground transportation set up etc. The experience highlighted a few lessons:

  • Delayed airline departure to a business meeting where it is warm and sunny in the middle of winter is a “First-World Problem.”
  • Accept the things that you cannot change……. and make the best of it.
  • When you can control the outcome get busy and protect your interests.
  • New friends and great relationships can be made while solving problems together.

 In hindsight we realized that we got acquainted with great people that we wouldn’t have gotten to know as well under normal circumstances.  We look forward to meeting them again.

How do I apply my highlighted lessons to the importance of crop insurance?

  • March 15th is the Sales Closing Date for Crop Insurance Coverage for the 2018 growing season.  Crop Insurance is our “First-World” opportunity to protect our yields and our revenue.   Take advantage of your many options and products available to best insure your crops.
  • Weather:  We haven’t figured out how to control it….yet.  Best option?  Accept it and insure against it.
  • Crop Insurance can be a grower’s tool to manage risk and insure profits in a very risky line of work considering today’s environment of low commodity prices.  A good relationship with a knowledgeable, well trained, crop insurance agent, who understands crop and livestock production, and has a good understanding of your operation and your goals, is critical.  Working with your agent determining your farms best cropping strategy is an important step in realizing your profit potential.  Your coverage should be tailored to your needs and your agent should be available to you when you need him or her. Your relationship with your crop insurance agent is important and a good relationship will allow for a great problem solving team.    

Louise and I, and our staff, have been in the crop insurance business for more than a few years now and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.  We’ve made ourselves available to you beyond the office and appreciate the relationships we have made with many of you and look forward to getting acquainted with more of you.  Each one of us has established ourselves in this area with our own farming operations.  At Bauman Agency we are here to stay and we truly do see crop insurance from your side of the fence.   All of us welcome the opportunity to work together, with you, to insure your success.

Featured Image Credit: Bartkusa

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!

The Secrets to Success

In a recent study, “Successful Farmer” magazine found that farmers who adopted Precision Technology had an average annual yield gain of 20-40%.  How is that possible?  In my experience from the years spent working on my own farm and from walking the fields of my customers and friends, I have observed a few key actions that are taken to make these farmers a cut above the rest.

  • They consistently perform routine maintenance. I am always struck by each grower’s care of their machinery, or in some cases, the lack thereof.  To me, it doesn’t have to be the newest or the shiniest to get the job done, but it DOES require that whatever equipment used is maintained.  It isn’t possible to achieve the highest potential yields without making sure the instruments you use to achieve them are accurate and fully functional.  Often, I see planters that are “good enough” to get by, but fail to meet the standards of maintenance excellence needed to achieve an “excellent” crop.  It’s all about bushels gained, especially in an economic climate with low corn prices.  Maintaining your planter is an excellent start.
  • They calibrate their equipment. After things are in good working order, it is important to calibrate each piece of technology so the information you gather is accurate.  There is nothing more disappointing than seeing huge yields on the monitor in the combine, then seeing just a fraction of that translate to dollars at the elevator. We can collect all the data we want, but if the data isn’t accurate, is there any value to it?  A farm is a business, and if we treat it like we should, at the end of the day, we need an unfettered picture of reality on our farm to make better decisions for the next year.
  • They adopt technology and use it to their advantage. It is astounding how quickly technology changes and evolves in this day and age, and even more amazing to imagine all the uses for it.  The ag industry is no different than the rest of the world with a hunger for the “latest” thing to make operating easier and more efficient on a daily basis.  What I have found with my most successful growers, is that the technology they do invest in, they USE.  They don’t buy corn planters for what it COULD do someday in the future, but what it CAN do on their farm today.  They don’t buy an iPad and hope to someday integrate something at the farm, it is purchased and put to work to share and analyze field information.  Make it an investment working immediately FOR you, not a liability collecting dust.
  • Finally, they walk their fields and “dig” into issues. The biggest hallmark of a top-notch grower is their willingness to dig in the dirt.  Aerial imagery, planting maps, etc. are a wonderful tool for telling you what happened, but if you want to understand the health and viability of your field, there is no better picture than checking things out live and in color.  Getting your hands dirty allows you to gain a perspective that digital information cannot.  You can detect what may need improvement and note what you did well this growing year.

While this is nowhere near a complete list of requirements for big yields it is a good start.  I am certain that many of you reading this have done some or all of these things, but, for me, it is a good reminder of the actions I need to take day in and day out to truly be a “successful farmer.”

Featured Image Credit: US Department of Agriculture

Data Rich, Knowledge Poor

Information. It’s everywhere.  And in the ag world, it is quite the buzz word. There are more devices, add-ons, and functionality of programs and applications used daily than we could have even dreamed of 5 years ago, let alone when I started farming in the early 70’s.

As a farmer, I KNOW I need the data.  I can turn the page of any of my favorite farm magazines and read about how important it is to capture information such as what I plant, how I plant it, when I plant it, etc…but what is that really telling me?  And most importantly, how do I USE it to directly add to my bottom line? Here are a few things I have gleaned over my time as a grower working to avoid being a data rich, knowledge poor farmer.

NOT ALL DATA IS CREATED EQUAL

Too often I see folks making seed purchasing decisions by looking at a very limited scope.  How often do we accept information at face value without verifying if it is both accurate and complete?  We pick out our best piece of ground, highest performer, or sweet spot blessed with rain that year. Imagine this: I harvested my crop and am on my way to the elevator to sell it. What my yield monitor told me and what the elevator told me were not within a ½ of a percent of each other. In fact, they are as much as 30% different.

If I didn’t take the time to accurately calibrate my yield data in the first place, how can I legitimately use it to make wise decisions on my farm? Data collected at the coffee shop is never as accurate as real harvest data.  The same product in differing conditions is like comparing apples to grapes.  They are two different animals (well, plants) altogether.

DOES THIS TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW

When trying to decide what data services I need, it can get dicey. I have to look past the bells and whistles to try to understand what features I am really paying for. Does my field report tell me exactly what I would find out if I simply got out of the cab and walked my fields; or does the information gathered add a level of analysis and comparison that I would never have penciled out on my kitchen table? Data is great, but it is most vital when it provides insights into my operation that I would not otherwise have.

IS THIS READABLE?

One question I like to ask myself is…how useful is the information if I can’t understand it?  There is a lot of wisdom in an old family bible written in Latin, and I KNOW there is something there that would really be good to use in my life…but I don’t speak Latin, haven’t learned Latin, and have no tutor to teach me Latin.  Although the information has value, I can’t use it.  I either need to get it in a form I CAN use and understand; or do the work needed to gain the skills and insights to read the material as is.  Only when I understand the data am I able to USE it.  How often do we skip that vital step and assume that just “having” is the same as “using?”

WHO DOES THIS BELONG TO?

The final litmus test is getting a grasp on who has access to my data.  Too often I see agreements with stipulations for data collection allowing the companies I buy from to see and harvest my information.  As the owner of that data, I feel I should have the opportunity to decide whose eyes are on it. Although I don’t relish having to read the fine print of every click-through contract in every piece of computer hardware and software I have in my farm operation, I think it is important to know what I am agreeing to and being comfortable with the circulation of my personal data.

BE DATA RICH…AND KNOWLEDGE RICH

In the world of digitized information there are literally hundreds of ways to collect, process, and store data. I hope these few guidelines help you determine whether you are using the necessary tools, or need to make some changes to better manage your farm in 2018.

Featured Image Credit: ajmexico

Nothin’ Beats a Penthouse View

The seat in the combine cab is the best seat in the county.  Talk about a room with a view!  If you operate your own combine, nothing beats the vista before you.  Harvest time in the combine provides me the chance to truly enjoy gathering the fruits of my labor.  I see rich fall colors, spectacular sunsets, and starlit skies, plenty of deer and an occasional pheasant.  During a harvest moon it is fun to shut the combine lights off for a moment and simply appreciate harvest by moonlight.  My wife thinks I am weird, but I like to watch the ears of corn feed into the feeder-house and then, with a look out my rear window, I can see the grain fill the tank.  Can it get better that that?

Image Credit: David Wright

Of course, sitting in my penthouse isn’t all “Better Homes and Gardens” and “HGTV.”   From my perch I also see the weeds that escaped my herbicide program, the stand I got when I planted, the variations that show up from hybrid to hybrid and the beeping and blaring from my monitors telling me to make adjustments.  My 20/20YieldSense monitor shows instant yield averages right before my eyes.  That is of course, IF I calibrated my combine before I began to harvest each crop type.  Even  so, the information that is being recorded should always be verified by getting off the combine and checking inside and out, confirming that everything is setup and working properly.

My soapbox message this month is:  Calibrate, Calibrate, Calibrate. You won’t really know what you have got without completing that necessary step.  A properly calibrated yield monitor providing reliable data makes analyzing this year’s crop management choices accurate and easier resulting in a worthwhile plan for next year.  This data is also a great resource to use when completing your crop insurance production report.

If you hire your combining done, don’t let the custom combine driver have all the fun- spend some time in the buddy seat to look for the issues and successes in your fields from that perspective.  Analyzing your failures to make sure those mistakes are not repeated is probably the most important objective.     Don’t rely on our memory alone, note and record the changes you need to make for next season.   Use your smart phone, iPad, notebook, or lunch napkin but write it down!  Gathering your information from your fields is the best way to determine your needs.  I know how much I appreciate accurate harvest data when working with my grower’s in determining their seed needs.  With the right information we can truly place the right seed variety to the right acre and meet the individual needs of our growers.

I have to say I agree with Lisa Douglas on her Green Acres farm, “I just adore a penthouse view! “  Don’t you?

Featured Image Credit: Anthony Arrigo

Drought, Hail, Heavy Rain, High Winds…and Wilt

Just when you thought your 2017 corn crop had suffered every indignity that weather and the grain markets could dish out, another hit to the area’s corn arrived in the form of Goss’s wilt. According to research data from Dupont Pioneer, yield robbing Goss’s wilt and leaf blight is a bacterial disease that causes leaf loss, poorer stalk quality, and light test weight corn. Higher levels of corn residue from corn-after-corn production and reduced tillage contribute to the spread of the disease and these are both practices we see in this part of SD. Summer storms that produce hail, wind, or rain that damage corn leaves can also impact the severity of the infection and loss in any growing season. This year, there are farmers in our region that have experienced all of these weather events. Crops have rebounded in some areas with summer rains but another culprit looms that can reduce yields even more.

Goss’s wilt overwinters in infected corn residue and host plants such as green foxtail, barnyard grass and shattercane. From this infected residue, bacteria are transferred to growing plants. Bacteria invade the plant tissue through the wounds caused by hail, heavy rain, wind, or mechanical damage. Infection can happen at any stage of development. Wet weather and high humidity encourage the spread of the disease. Sadly, Goss’s wilt isn’t too fussy and will spread in hot dry conditions as well. Even if you remained in a drought area this year, you still are susceptible to the Goss’s infection.

Disease cycle of Goss’s wilt in corn

Goss’s wilt is in our area and once it is here, it is here to stay. The disease, now a crop management factor for us, may be transmitted from field to field by tillage equipment, balers, and ever-present South Dakota wind. Management of the disease is critical.   However, Goss’s wilt is a bacterial infection – not fungus, so foliar fungicides are not effective and there are no rescue measures available to control the disease. Crop rotation, tillage when practical, reducing crop residue, and minimizing grassy weeds can help.

“Varnish” on leaves give them a frozen appearance and they may eventually wilt and dry up

The primary method for management of this disease is hybrid resistance. Levels of resistance are rated in Pioneer brand corn seed using 1 (susceptible) to 9 (resistant) scoring systems. This fall, when making your hybrid seed selections to plant in 2018, visit with your seed provider about the hybrids that offer the appropriate levels of resistance for each of your fields.

For some growers in this area, the dismal growing conditions of the spring improved throughout the summer months. Hail, wind, and drought played a role this year as well. Though it can be frustrating to deal with these issues, it is amazing how resilient the corn and soybean plants are. Yields look much more promising than we deemed possible earlier on in the growing season. Mother Nature can deal out some tough blows as we have seen in hurricane affected Texas and Florida and Montana’s wildfires. Guess I‘ll stick with the hassles we’ve got. Wilt and all.

Featured Image Credit: Purdue University

Improving and Advancing, It’s the American Way!

As I contemplated the theme for this month’s ramblings, we were in the throes of an impending “no-rain disaster.” Growers were not interested in walking their fields with me to analyze their planter’s 2017 operating performance. The importance of a perfect stand seems minimal when dust is blowing across the field. Now that some relief has been granted, we need to look forward to 2018. The best time to discover needed planter improvements is when corn plants are small enough to analyze. For example, at this stage it is easy determine the timing of emergence, one of the key factors in determining final yield potential.

One of the newest tools from Precision Planting is the “Pogo.” This Pogo is not to be confused with the pogo stick of my youth, which I never did master. The art of bouncing and balancing at the same time (on a gravel driveway) eluded me. The Precision Pogo is an instrument used to help evaluate corn stands and planter performance. This device allows us to measure emergence, singulation, spacing, final planted population versus intended population and more. All of this information is gathered and put on scorecard to help us make the correct adjustments and needed improvements to our planters before we break them out to plant in 2018. This is a great tool and I encourage you to contact our office so we can schedule a field of yours to Pogo. Now is the time to look forward to next year!

As I marvel at state- of- the- art- technologies in agriculture today, like the Pogo and other Precision Planting technology planter components, I am feeling proud, lucky, and a bit patriotic. US Secretary of Agriculture Perdue recently released this comment: “Floods, droughts, and natural disasters are a fact of life for farmers, ranchers, and foresters.  They have persevered in the past, and they will adapt in the future – with the assistance of the scientists and experts at USDA.  To be effective, our research and programs need to be focused on finding solutions and providing state-of-the-art technologies to improve management decisions on farm and on forest lands.”

The American farmer has been persevering, adapting, improving, and advancing with good ol’ Yankee ingenuity for more than 200 years. While the weather is a factor that farmers cannot control, we CAN control how we respond to them. Utilization of the continued improvements in available technologies is one way to combat the effects of Mother Nature. Pushing crop yield barriers is something all farmers strive to accomplish. We can’t stop now, it’s the American way!

Image Credit: Torbakhopper

Five Foundations of Financial Literacy: Money $heep

Carrie Wintle grew up on an area farm. Her promotion of financial literacy for youth of all ages is inspiring. I have asked her to guest author this month’s article of the Prairie Tracks for you to gain an understanding of the work she is doing. The ag community, and in fact every consumer, should be armed with these financial fundamentals, and learning them at a young age is all the better. An accomplished pianist, dancer, and recent college graduate with graduate school on the horizon; Carrie has now added children’s book author to her resume. I have ordered my copy of her children’s book, Mr. Money $heep, and, after I study up, I might let my kids and grandkids read it! I asked Carrie to tell us a little bit about herself and her book this month — enjoy!

Carrie with some of her best students

The Origins of Mr. Money $heep

As a young girl, raised on a farm just South of Cavour, SD, I was heavily involved in 4-H. My love for animals was unbreakable and led me to try showing all of them in 4-H, even my cat (I wouldn’t recommend this). Eventually I stumbled upon the idea of showing a lamb. Soon after, I bought my first lamb, Pookie. Thus began a 10-year journey that grew from one lamb to a 40 plus sheep flock.

This experience, along with my interest and studies in math, led to my platform as a Miss South Dakota contestant, Money $heep. The goal of Money $heep is for youth to build a financial foundation from which they can tackle the financial world. Although I use my personal experience of owning lambs to talk about financial literacy, every student’s experience is different. The important part is for youth to learn how finances relate to their own personal life.

Money $heep is centered around the Five Foundations of Financial Literacy: budgeting, saving, income, loans/debt, and investment risk. These five financial topics equip youth with a base of financial knowledge they can use in their lives and the world. I choose to focus on this base of knowledge because it is critical for youth to learn the basics before advancing into more complex areas.

Think of it like mathematics. Students learn to add, multiply, divide, and subtract in elementary school before advancing into harder classes. If a student never learns the beginner topics in math, they will not be able to learn the harder topics. He or she will continue to progress through math classes without understanding the material. The same is true for finance. If youth neglect the basic financial concepts, by the time they reach adulthood they will be unable to truly understand harder topics.

Money $heep’s action plan involves an extensive speaking tour. As a contestant, I visit schools throughout South Dakota to speak about the Five Foundations of Financial Literacy. Every speaking engagement is different because all students have unique needs. I strive to make each presentation impactful by relating it to the audience and students. Furthermore, I authored an illustrated book called Mr. Money $heep with artist, Rayna Pearson. The book is written in an interactive, play format that allows the students to take part in the learning experience. The book can be purchased on Amazon, with all profits going towards purchasing books for students in South Dakota. Finally, thanks to a sponsorship from White Oaks Wealth Advisors, I donated 800 copies of Mr. Money $heep to the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations in South Dakota.

Getting to travel the state to talk with students about Money $heep and the Five Foundations of Financial Literacy has been a blessing. Using my Finance and Accounting degree from the University of South Dakota to help youth build their own base of financial knowledge is exciting and rewarding. I am excited to see how Money $heep can help more students in the future.

 

Just One Thing at a Time, Every Time

Farmers today (and every day) hear about something he/she should be doing better, faster, and more efficiently. Every day brings another new technology to embrace, understand, and use. Every day there is news to digest, EPA warnings to heed, markets to watch, and opportunities to capture. Every day there is more to consider than there was than the day before. It seems that just when you upgrade to the latest/greatest whatever, someone comes out with a better idea. The speed at which information comes to us can be overwhelming and the volume of that information quite daunting. Perhaps the solution to riding the information train and avoid being left behind is this “Just One More Thing.”  How can I adopt just one more thing for certain aspects of my operation over time rather than implementing dozens of them spontaneously just trying to keep up?

Earlier this month, Bauman Agency hosted a day-long training for our customers focused on crop market outlooks, crop insurance and planter updates, technology, and crop management. We called it our Just One More Thing training with the goal of providing at least one good take-home piece of information from each segment of the day.

We were fortunate to host crop market expert Rich Morrison from Jacksonville, Illinois of Diversified Services. Rich presented his crop market outlook for 2017 and highlighted the tools to use to capture prices to meet goals and manage risk. Crop insurance was included in his list of tools as well as a new private product called Price Select. Price Select allows insureds to add months other than February and October to set their crop insurance price guarantees. The concepts that Rich talked about that day were, in my opinion, right on the mark. While he was speaking, I am pretty sure I was nodding my head to many of the suggestions he made. He cautioned us all to know our historical cost of production in order to know when we are approaching a good marketing opportunity. Guess I now have my One Thing from that session.

We also heard Bill Lankswerth’s counsel on ag financial risk management. Bill, from Louisville, KY, representing Agri-Financial Services, specializes in the development of positive financial relationships with lenders. His advice centered on how and what to compile and document to gain the support of our bankers.   The concepts that Bill talked about that day were, in my business partner’s opinion, right on the mark. (My business partner also happens to be my wife.)  While he was speaking my wife was nodding her head to each suggestion he made. Having a documented management approach for our farms was paramount to long term success. He insisted that a written overall strategic plan, including yield protection with crop insurance, product marketing and cost control was essential to gain bankers support and ensure long term profitability. My wife was all smiles! She likes to remind me that if a plan or goal isn’t written down, it doesn’t exist! I am a shoot-from-the-hip kind of guy and I find this process annoying, but, I had to admit that I now had my One Thing to take home from Bill’s session.

Decisions made about crop insurance coverage prior to March 15th are long term and remain in effect throughout the entire crop year. I truly believe that crop insurance coverage choices must be made with your goals for your operation and your risk management needs and crop marketing goals in mind, with an agent that understands and supports your goals. There is no one size fits all to crop insurance. Your risk management and marketing plan needs to be tailored to your needs. Visit with us about your farms coverage and get a quote for Price Select. This might be the One Thing that brings your best returns in 2017.

Image Credit: Will Scullin