cq perspectives jul 2006

8/4/2019 CQ Perspectives Jul 2006

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2/4C r o p Q u e s t P e r s p e c t i v e s w w w . c r o p q u e s t . c o m2

Crop Quest, Inc. promotes and provides for an internship programto meet the needs of college students, Crop Quest agronomists andfarmer clients.

However, it is much easier to understand how the program is meet-

ing the needs of the students. We encourage agricultural students from

colleges and universities to apply for a summer internship program

that will allow them exposure to a career they are thinking about en-

tering. Many young people have a difcult time making up their mindabout what they want to do when they graduate from college. Our

program is designed to give them exposure to the crop consultant pro-

fession while enhancing their agricultural education. They get valu-

able training in identifying insects, weeds, diseases and understanding

economic threshold levels and the risks and rewards of farming. They

get to see rst hand the challenges farmers face everyday in makingdecisions to follow recommendations while hoping to maintain some

level of protability in growing their crops.The Crop Quest agronomists benet from the internship program

as it provides them the critical help they need to scout the number

of elds they have to cover to remain protable. It also forces themto stay current in their own agronomic knowledge, since the intern

students are full of questions and have such inquiring minds.Hopefully, the farmer is beneting the most from this program,

even though it may not be

as noticeable. By having

students (who have fresh

inquiring minds and a sense

of curiosity) scouting their

elds, the students are lesslikely to miss those things that sometimes we all have a tendenc

take for granted after several years of service. This forces the ag

mists to constantly rethink the problem or situation and determin

there is a solution.

It provides that second set of eyes to observe and look for pro

or solutions that might have an impact on the crop. It also brings

new ideas to the eld from students who are studying the latest ifertility, weed management, plant pathology and genetics, even

though Crop Quest strives to stay up-to-date on the latest in agroic production and technology.

Those involved in our internship program this summer are: Re

Abbott, Hannah Bartel, Sarah Bartel, Jon French, Heath HackerAdam Hampel, Damian Helms, Brett Jennison, Rawly KaufmanBrian Mapel, Allen Miller, Jared Miller, Justin Neusch, Clint Pat

Lance Richardson, Josh Sauer, Justin Stauffer, Alan Vogel, CoryWeathered and Trevor Witt.

By: Ron OHaPresident

Member, National A

of Independent Crop

Consultants, CPCC-

Certied

By: Jim Gleason

Regional Vice President

St. John, Kan.

Summer interns stufor a weed ID quiz.

B e n e f i t s o f t h e I n t e r n s h i p P r o g r a

With the winter wheat crop in the bin, it is time to

make plans for next years crop. The steps you takenow will directly inuence next years success.The rst step is to have your elds soil sampled tond out how much fertilizer youll need to reachyour yield goal. Last years crop may not have used

up all of the fertilizer that was applied, and a soilsample is a cheap way to nd out. If you take a guessand are wrong, you could either short the crop or buy

some unnecessary fertilizer.

The second step is to select what varieties you

want to plant and where to plant them. It is always a

good idea to look at several years of results when

selecting a variety. Some criteria to base this evalua-

tion are emergence, grazing ability or fall growth,

disease resistance and yield. No two years are the

same, so by looking at a varietys performance overa period of time, you can select one that will do a

good job for you.

Planting a blend of varieties is becoming more

popular in some areas. Picking varieties that

compliment each others strengths and weaknessesis very important. Mixing two or more wheat

varieties can improve your chances against winter

injury or disease outbreaks. Matching the maturity

of the components of the blend is very important,especially if one of them is prone to shattering easily.

Dry weather had the biggest inuence on last years wheat crand the drought may not be over yet. We may be planting the cr

less than ideal conditions this fall. Take some time to look over

seeding equipment. Pay special attention to the openers. You m

have to plant deeper than you normally do to get the stand you

Can your openers consistently place the seed at the desired depthe openers are worn more than 5%, it will be worth replacing t

Getting a good stand is critical for the success of your wheat

Talk to your Crop Quest agronomist today and get the whole piprior to planting. Paying attention to little details will pay big d

dends for the upcoming wheat crop.

Prepare Now For A Successful Wheat Crop


3/4C r o p Q u e s t P e r s p e c t i v e s 3

Ve t e ran Ag ronomi s t S t a t es ,Stay The Course

The winter wheat harvest is in full swing across the Plains.

The early forecast is for 1.26 billion bushels of winter wheat,

down 16% from last years crop. Production forecasts dropped

4% from May, while price estimates improved 10 cents over

May, to $3.60 to $4.20 per bushel, up from an average of

$3.42 last year.

Those producers who planted and properly managed their win-

ter wheat crop are now seeing the monetary benets. Because of

the smaller crop in 2006, the price is favorable for those who did

everything right in 2005/2006.

The best advice Crop Quest agronomist Kyle Aljoe,Dimmit, Tex., gave to his farmers in 2005 is paying big divi-

dends in 2006 Stay the course. If you are going to plant wheat

after cotton or corn, plant it and manage it as if it was a major

crop. If youre not going to commit the resources to the wheat

crop, dont plant it.

That advice made in the fall of 2005 is bringing his customers

excellent returns especially with the sudden increase in wheat

prices.

Too many farmers will commit to a wheat crop, but try and

cut every corner to save a dime, Aljoe notes. That usually

means theyll cut herbicide costs, not water enough, etc. Even in

years where wheat prices are not that great, a good crop of wheat

that is managed well will pay for itself and make the growermoney. This year is an excellent example where staying the

course can be especially protable.

Some dryland farmers in Aljoes area around Dimmit are

only cutting eight to 10 bushels dryland wheat. In our irrigated

areas where we have been working with our customers to make

sure they invest the inputs needed to make a good crop, we are

seeing yields ranging from 60 to 100 bushels per acre. The

growers that did not water their elds early and often are

feeling the effects with greatly reduced yields and poor-

quality wheat.

This year I had a lot of growers graze their cattle a

little longer than usual, Aljoe explains. The reason

we did was there was quite a bit of foliage on the

elds that was sucking all the moisture out ofthe ground. Where we had producers graze a bit

longer, they are having good yields. However,

those same people came back in and top-dressed

the elds and maintained a good watering schedule.

Aljoe adds, Every year is different and this year was no

exception. If you want to make yields, you need to put some

money into it. We want to be economical about it; however, we

needed to start the process with the cotton/corn crop regarding

herbicides, fertility, water tables, etc. It all ts together.

Aljoe says the one thing his customers learned the hard way

was to make sure and plow up all their volunteer wheat. Last

August, we were really wet. Consequently, there was a great deaof volunteer wheat in the area and Wheat Streak Mosaic ruined

many elds. Many growers now know why plowing under the

volunteer wheat makes good sense.

W hen Commi t t i ng To A W hea t C rop

Kyle Al


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Mission StatementCrop Quest is an employee-owned company dedicated to providing the highest quality agricultural services for each customer. The quest of our network

professionals is to practice integrity and innovation to ensure our services are economically and environmentally sound.

PRSRT STD

US POSTAGE

PAID

DODGE CITY K

PERMIT NO. 4

Employee-Owned & Customer DrivenCrop Quest Agronomic Services, Inc.

Main Ofce: Phone 620.225.2233

Fax 620.225.3199Internet: www.cropquest.com

[email protected]

Crop Quest Board of Directors President: Ron OHanlon

Director: Jim Gleason

Director: Dwight Koops

Director: Cort Minor

Director: Chris McInteer

Director: Rob Meyer

It is interesting to watch the different suc-cesses and failures producers have with theirchem-fallow programs. The rst observa-tion is that no one is successful with their

program every time. There are way too manyvariables that come into play to allow 100%success, so it is important that producers re-main very exible when implementing their

herbicide treatments and cultural practices of chem-fallow. Weatheris an obvious variable that cannot be overlooked it is too hot, toowindy, too wet, too dry or too something.

We need to keep in mind what we are trying to accomplish withour chem-fallow programs.

Trap and save as much soil moisture as possible.Prepare a seedbed for the subsequent crop which willallow ease of planting.Save money and time in labor and equipment expenses.

There will, however, be more time spent on managing andmonitoring the program instead of the physical labor involved inconventional tillage.

A good chem-fallow program starts with the growing crop.Maintain good weed control; utilizing certain residual herbicideshelps with controllingweeds during the fallowperiod. Proper harvesttechniques benet agood chem-fallow

program. It is important that crop residue is spread evenly overa eld. The height at which the crop is cut is important. If a crois cut too low, there wont be adequate residue to trap snows anrains. If a crop is cut too high, it makes it a challenge to plant thsubsequent crop. If residue is chopped or shredded after harvescloser to planting, it is important that the amount and length of residue that remains will ow through planters and drills.

Too often we see producers allowing their elds to green-up weeds before making the initial herbicide application. It is imptive that weeds are treated when they are small, when they areeasier to kill, and more soil moisture will be saved.

A good chem-fallow program utilizes residual herbicides. Thamount of residual control, and which chemistry to use, is detemined by knowing what the intended crop will be and the plandate.

There also needs to be a commitment from the farmer to makthis program work. It is easy to go back to our comfort zone anpull out the tandem disk. You get immediate results, and it looklike youve done something. It also appears cheaper. Its tough get a mindset that you are trading equipment time and costs forherbicides. Those equipment costs include ownership costs, as

as operating costs. Conventional tillage typically costs more inlabor expenses as well. If a producer can resolve those issues, tthere will be greater motivation to commit to an herbicide progand follow through with it. There will always be pitfalls alongthe way. Producers that are successful with these programs havadopted a philosophy of being proactive and ready to adjust to constantly changing conditions.

Your Crop Quest agronomist realizes the intricacies and variables involved in a successful chem-fallow program. We encouyou to utilize our services to help you make good management

decisions on your fallow acres this year.

By: Dwight Koops

Regional Vice President

Ulysses, Kan.

Being Successful With Chem-Fallow

cq perspectives jul 2006

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