cq perspectives nov 2005

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1C r o p Q u e s t P e r s p e c t i v e s

Volume 15 • Issue 6 • November 2005

Navajo AgriculturalP roducts Indust ry A Farming Success

In New Mex ico

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CROP QUEST AGRONOMIC SERVICES, INC



2 C 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

Navajo Agricultural Products Industry Continued from Page 1

Leonard Scot

“Over a short period of time, I have gone from being a

skeptic to being a strong supporter of Crop Quest,” he says.

“I depend on my farm managers, and each of the three

who work with Crop Quest on a regular basis tell me the

relationship has made them more efcient,” Lewis says.

Leonard Scott, who is small grains crop manager at NAPI,

says his relationship with Crop Quest is one of trust. “John

Hecht (Crop Quest special projects manager) and I have been

working together for three or four years, and I now trust him to

provide me the production information I need to meet my goals,”Scott says. “Each year, I set aside a number that I hope to reach in

terms of yield per acre and, so far, we have met our goal each year

that John and I have worked together,” he says with Navajo pride.

Scott s̓ number is not a small one for wheat, averaging over 100

bushels per acres for up to 10,000 acres of wheat for the past three

years.

“Storage and transportation are my main problems with wheat

production,” Lewis says. “We recently built two new silos, each

holding 15,000 tons, which has helped with storing such huge

amounts of grain that we generate at harvest time,” he explains.

“Most of our wheat goes to California and has to be trucked

about 90 miles to the nearest railhead, so we still struggle with

transportation from time to time,” he concludes.“From a production standpoint, we donʼt have many problems.

John Hecht, Adam Sandoval (small grain crop foreman) and I sit

down and plan out our crop each year. John provides me with the

information I need for fertility and water needs at planting and

monitors weed and insect buildups during the growing season,

so the production part of growing wheat goes smoothly – as long

as we plan carefully – I am a big believer in planning to get the

timing of everything right,” Scott stresses.

“Wheat prices have been good in recent years, and we have had

good yields, so we can expect acreage to increase on the farm. We

currently have 70,000 acres under irrigation, and we have another

35,000 acres or so to develop,” Scott explains. “If we continue

to do well with our crops, we will surely need to take advantage

of grid sampling, variable rate chemical application and other

precision farming techniques that Crop Quest has introduced to

growers in other parts of the country,” Scott concludes.

The

single largestcrop produced at

NAPI is alfalfa.

The high-quality alfalfa

hay produced by NAPI

goes primarily (about

80%) to dairy farms in New

Mexico, but some makes it way to the thoroughbred farms of

Kentucky and to other regions of the country.

The alfalfa operation, which will likely reach 16,500 acres th

year, is headed by Jennifer Elliott. Elliott, who is not Navajo,

exudes the same pride in alfalfa as do her Navajo counterparts

other NAPI crop production areas.

“This past year, I started working with Gary Knight (Crop Quagronomist) who helps me with water scheduling, especially on

new stand alfalfa,” Elliott says. “Out here, we have to schedule

water two to three days ahead of time, so that the reservoir, wh

is about 30 miles away, will have time to get water to us,” she

explains.

“With so many acres of alfalfa under center pivots, it is critic

to have another set of eyes in the eld. Gary has been a great he

in keeping me aware of production needs and pest problems,”

Elliott says.

In the high desert of New Mexico, alfalfa grows for eight

months of the year. Elliott plants alfalfa from July to Septembe

and harvests hay four times a year from May until October. Las

yearʼs crop averaged over six tons per acre, making alfalfa ano

protable crop for NAPI.

“Gary and I typically meet once or twice a week to talk abou

what he is seeing in the eld and what we need to do. Sometim

he sees problems in a certain area or I will direct him to a certa

area. He also works with our alfalfa crop foreman and, among t

three of us, we are able to stay ahead of any production problem

that might come up,” Elliott concludes.

“I also have marketing responsibilities for alfalfa, so it often

becomes impossible to focus on the everyday production probl

that occur. Gary and my crop foreman take care of many of the

routine problems we see, freeing me to look at the crop on a

bigger scope,” Elliott explains.“All of our crop managers do a wonderful job of managing th

overall crop,” says General Manager Lewis. “Sometimes they a

so focused on the forest, they donʼt see the trees so well and

Crop Quest keeps track of the trees, allowing the forest to grow

as it should,” he explains.

“Working with NAPI is an ongoing learning experience and

denitely a work in progress,” notes John Hecht. “With the lan

base they have and the availability of water on the farm, their

opportunities are endless. We feel like we have just scratched th

surface in helping the farm managers here be more efcient and

productive with their crops,” he concludes.



Fertilizer Prices As the price of anhydrous ammonia pushes over $500 per

ton, the question on everyoneʼs mind is, why are we seeing such

a sharp rise in fertilizer prices? It has to be more than just the

increase in the cost of natural gas or the hurricane disasters.

According to a recent article by “The Fertilizer Institute,”

since fertilizer is a commodity, the supply and demand factors in

major world markets are having an impact on the price that U.S.farmers are paying for fertilizers. What are some of the primary

factors that have resulted in these higher prices?

The article pointed out that there has been an increased global

demand for fertilizers in recent years that have played a large

part in putting pressure on fertilizer prices. From FY2000/01

to FY2004/05, world fertilizer demand has increased by an

estimated 20 million nutrient tons, or by 13%. This increase in

demand alone is almost equivalent to the total nutrient usage in

the United States, which was 23.4 million nutrient tons during

the 2003 to 2004 fertilizer usage period. Over this same time

period, world nitrogen demand rose by almost 10%, phosphate

usage grew by 13% and potash usage rose an alarming 25%.

In addition, the supply factor is also driving up fertilizerprices, especially nitrogen, due to the increased cost of natural

gas. Anhydrous ammonia is the source of almost all the nitrogen

fertilizers produced in the world, and since it is produced by

combining nitrogen from the air with hydrogen from natural

gas, it stands to reason that an increase in the price of natural

gas will impact the price of anhydrous ammonia. Seventy to

90% of the production cost of ammonia is due to the cost of

natural gas. From 1999 to 2003, the latest year for which dataare available, the average U.S. ammonia production costs

doubled and the price of natural gas has continued to rise since

that time. As a result of the high cost of natural gas and the

squeeze on production margins, U.S. ammonia production has

fallen by 34% in only ve years with the closing of 16 ammonia

plants and the idling of an additional ve plants. Consequently,

the United States now relies on imports for nearly 45% of its

nitrogen supplies which has risen from 15% during the 1990s.

It appears in the near term, higher prices for fertilizers are

going to be with us. Soil testing is even more critical during

these times of high cost. Visit with your Crop Quest agronomist

about how you can protect your yields while making the most

efcient use of your fertilizer dollars.

By: Ron OʼHanlon,President

Member, National Alliance

of Independent Crop

Consultants, CPCC-I

Certied

With the cost of diesel fuel and petroleum-based products

soaring, farmers across the country are looking for ways to

reduce application costs. Crop Quest s̓ precision agriculture

leader, Nathan Woydziak, and Kyle Aljoe, a Crop Quest

agronomist working in Dimmitt, Texas, have used computer-directed (applied by air) variable application rates to improve

efciency of both application and production of cotton.

Woydziak says, “This is the rst year we have worked with

the concept of varying application rates by air. We have used

ground application successfully for several years, using Grid

Sampling as the basis for varying rates of fertilizer and other

farm chemicals.”

The rst use of the new application technology was done in

July on eight cotton elds in west Texas. “So far the cotton looks

good and the aerial applicator was very pleased with how easy

the system was to use,” notes Aljoe. “It allows the applicator

to make only one pass across the eld, instead of having to

make a second pass across parts of the eld where the cotton isgrowing.”

Woydziak explains that Crop Quest agronomists use SST

Summit™ Pro software to collect and store data. “We have

digital eld maps loaded into SST Summit Pro which allows

us to break the eld into management zones,” he says. “Once

the zones are created, Kyle sends them to us, where we

further process the data using Del Norteʼs FliteTrac™ 2005

software. Finally the rened formulations are sent back to Kyle

and the aerial applicator,” Woydziak explains.

“Thus far, we have been focusing on cotton, because it is

simple to see the benets,” notes Aljoe. In the future, Aljoe and

Woydziak agree that once they get more procient using the

technology, there will likely be other situations in which variable

rate aerial application will be advantageous for other crops.

For more information on ground or aerial application, contact

your local Crop Quest agronomist. By the 2006 crop year, each

Crop Quest agronomist will have SST Summit Pro software andwill be able to assist in planning more precise ways to manage

crops to reduce overall fuel usage.

V a r i a b l e R a t e A e r i a l A p p l i c a t i o nIncreases Efficiency in Texas Cotton

7.73 gal/ac

3.87 gal/ac

5.80 gal/ac

4.83 gal/ac

3.87 gal/ac

FliteTrac™ 2005 is a registered trademark of Del Norte Technology, Inc.

SST Summit™ Pro is a registered trademark of Site-Specic Technology Development Group, In

This map shows how different parts of one of the Texascotton elds received varying amounts of growth regulator.Traditionally one application rate is used, thus, some partsof the eld would get too much chemical and some parts not

enough.

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



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. 43

“Employee-Owned & Customer Driven” Crop Quest Agronomic Services, Inc.

Main Ofce: Phone 620.225.2233

Fax 620.225.3199

Internet: www.cropquest.com

[email protected]

Crop Quest Board of Directors President: Ron OʼHanlon

Director: Jim Gleason

Director: Dwight Koops

Director: Cort Minor

Director: Chris McInteer

Director: Rob Meyer

What Did We Learn About Asian Soybean Rust This Summ

A

Randy Waldren, Senior Agronomist and Administrative

Assistant, recently celebrated 30 years of service to farmers in

Kansas, having spent most of his career serving

clients in Ford and Hodgeman Counties.

Randy currently serves clients on more than

8,000 acres of cropland. Additionally, Randy

does nutrient management planning with Excel

Corporation and a swine farm in Norton

County. Throughout most of his career, he

has also been responsible for vehicle and

communication systems purchases, auto

insurance policies and vehicle damage

reporting for Crop Quest.

Randy was born in Tribune, Kan.,

and he and his wife Francis have a 15-

year-old son named Quincy.

Randy graduated from Kansas State University with a B

degree in biology and an MS degree from Fort Hays State

University in biology. He started his career in crop consul

on October 15, 1975, and he has been with Crop Quest sin

beginning in 1992.

Among the many highlights of his career are the introdu

of the glyphosate herbicides to Kansas farmers, and more

recently, the increased usage of no-till farming practices.

“Randy has been a tremendous asset to Crop Quest sinc

inception of our company,” notes Ron OʼHanlon, presiden

Crop Quest. “His leadership with technological innovation

including the introduction of the cellular telephones, has

provided a valuable service to our company,” OʼHanlon

concludes, noting that mobile communication was extrem

limited when Randy began his career.

By: Jim Gleason

Regional Vice President

St. John, Kan.

Randy Waldren Celebrates 30 Years

There was a lot of knowledge gained about soybean

rust this summer but no rst-hand experience of dealing

with this disease in the High Plains region. This disease

has been in the continental United States for a year and

it was only found in soybean elds in the Deep South

this growing season. There was a big effort from USDA,

university people and industry personnel to get the word

out on soybean rust and to educate the public. The rust

spores had overwintered in Florida just as the experts

predicted. Systems were put into place to monitor elds

across the United States to ensure early detection of the

spread of the disease.

All of these efforts had soybean producers prepared for

anything that might develop. We all anxiously watched

each passing storm front for movement northward of the

rust spores and waited for the reports of new infe

There were conrmed reports of spores being blo

into the Corn Belt. Why didnʼt the disease develo

environment was too dry for the spores to take ho

infect the soybean crop. If normal weather with a

rainfall has occurred this summer instead of the d

conditions, things might have turned out differenIn the High Plains, we knew that our arid weathe

conditions would offer us a good line of defense.

not foolproof. It only takes a few hours of leaf we

during the time the spores are trying to germinate

the infection. Dry weather after the disease is und

wonʼt stop it.

It appears that rust will be a concern for us to kee

eye on for next season. We donʼt want to drop ou

just because it never developed into a big problem

summer.

cq perspectives nov 2005

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