Podcast: Harvest Insights - Management Notes from the Combine for a Better Next Year

00:00:00 Management notes from the combine seat. What are you seeing this fall that you should act upon during this winter? 00:00:06 That's the topic of today's extreme ag, cutting the curve. Welcome To extreme Ag Cutting the Curve podcast 00:00:13 where real farmers share real insights and real results to help you improve your farming operation. This episode is brought to you by Simon Innovation. 00:00:22 Protect your crops and maximize yield with a full lineup of innovative precision tools engineered 00:00:28 to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of your sprayer. Visit simon innovations.com and start getting more ROI out of your sprayer. 00:00:36 And now here's your host, Damien Mason. Hey there. Welcome to another fantastic episode of extreme Ag Cutting the Curve. 00:00:42 I've got Gail Stratman with FMC, and I've got Kelly Garrett, one of the founders of Extreme Ag. 00:00:46 And we're talking about right now, we're recording this. It's mid-October. Everybody's hot 00:00:50 and heavy into harvest, right? And there's a lot of stuff going on. It hits y'all at once and worked all season. 00:00:55 You did your pre-season stuff. You came to the events, you came to our field days. You watch what we're doing. You listen to our podcast. 00:01:02 You, you were smart about your inputs. You're now reaping the harvest. What else are you seeing? If all you're watching is a bunch of crops come in the front 00:01:10 of your combine, you're not really keeping your eyes open. What are you seeing at harvest time, 00:01:15 whether you're literally or figuratively in the combine seat? That is an adjustment that you need to make. 00:01:20 Are you making note of it and then going to act upon it? Because we know how it gets, you get a little bit busy 00:01:25 and you kind of forget you are big on this. What should a farmer be looking for and looking at right now, this time of year, 00:01:32 besides the yield monitor and how excited they are, what should we be looking at that we can then do corrective, uh, changes to 00:01:39 between now and next season? Well, the, the condition that that crop is in coming into the combine, um, you know, 00:01:45 whether that, that standability I'm hearing a lot of, a lot of guys are talking about how this crop, 00:01:50 because of all the lack of moisture we've had, has really cannibalized itself in the last 30 days. And, and so sustainability is, 00:01:57 is really becoming a concern out there. Well, you gotta look at that and, and see, is that, is that because I chose not to put a fungicide on these, and, 00:02:07 and that's the one place I've heard from several guys that are taking the yields out of fields is they can really see the difference between 00:02:13 fungicide and no fungicide application this year, even though we got late, late, um, late in the season and got dry and maybe they thought they didn't need it, 00:02:21 but the standability piece is really starting to impact them now. And so now as this crop is, is getting so dry, 00:02:29 they're trying to push through it as hard as they can because they're worried about losing a, a lot of that yield and headed to the soil because 00:02:36 they can't keep it standing up. So, wait A minute. So stand you said standability and fungicide. 00:02:40 I guess I wasn't aware that those two things go together. Kelly does stand stand standability and fungicide. 00:02:44 Uh, fungicide treatments go hand to hand. Well, Fungicide will give you along with other things, but fungicide will give you better plant health 00:02:52 and plant health will give you standability. Yes. Is is there anything else that I could have done or a need to next year? 00:02:59 'cause since this year's already about done, is there anything I can do next year to help my plant standability 00:03:03 besides making sure that I've got fungicide treatments or something else? I can do everything. I guess plant health stuff. Every 00:03:10 Plant health, you know, we, uh, we run insecticide on every acre. We, we keep backing off the traits. 00:03:17 We keep using more of, uh, gale's products hero, for example. We keep using more 00:03:23 of Gale's products like heroes insecticide. And the, the less and less traits we run in the corn, 00:03:28 the better and better the yields get. Yeah, I I, I'll, I'll give you an example. I had a, a call couple of weeks ago 00:03:35 where they were harvesting and they say there was a lot of black coming out of the, of the side where they had applied, um, our, a fungicide. 00:03:45 Well, where they were at. They also had, um, a lot of aphids. Well, if you have better plant health later into the season 00:03:53 where you applied that, that plant's gonna stay greener longer. Guess what? It's gonna attract more of those aphids 00:03:59 because the rest of the area around there where that crop isn't healthy isn't gonna be conducive to that. So because of that, you're seeing more of 00:04:06 that honey do produced because you had more insects attracted to that at the end of the season because it's the only 00:04:11 thing that was alive yet. So it's one of those situations where they were thinking it was a negative, 00:04:16 but it was really a positive in the fact that they had plant health later in the season and they were extremely happy from the yields, 00:04:22 but just were trying to figure out why they had more of this black coming out of the corn as they were harvesting that late in the season. 00:04:28 So there's a lot of things that go into that. Um, and they probably could have, uh, you know, looked at at whether 00:04:34 or not, um, they needed an insecticide application. But it's really just understanding the dynamics and the whole system of, of what contributes 00:04:42 to plant health throughout the season. Whether that's nutritional, whether that's just relieving stress, fungicide helps 00:04:48 with the plant health. All those things interact with each other and can really help you, uh, you know, 00:04:53 put the most bushels in the bin at the end of the season to have the best crop standing throughout the, the, the, uh, 00:04:58 the fall season as well. My combine crew keeps talking about the neighbors and they're hearing the stuff at the elevator about the corn 00:05:05 coming in at 12%, 14%, 15%. We're still combining 24% corn. And I said, if I'm combining corn 15% on October 7th, 00:05:14 Mike Evans is getting fired. 'cause my plant health sucks. And that the idea that, that this dry corn is a benefit, 00:05:22 you know how many dollars I well, Gail can get. How much potential is left on the table? I I heard of corn coming in at 11%, 10%, 12%. 00:05:30 How many dollars are left on the table? Gale? How much potential, how early did that corn dye compared to when it should have, when the corn is that dry? 00:05:38 Yeah, if you're, if you're at 10, 10, 12, 15% moisture in early October, that corn, that corn was done producing any sort 00:05:48 of dry matter first week of September. Exactly. You know, I mean, it really, it really shut down early. 00:05:54 And, and, and if you had, you know, if you had a short season hybrid and you planted it really early, okay, that stands to, 00:06:00 That's if you just didn't, if you didn't get to it and it got mature, that's okay. But when you're combining today's October 14th, 00:06:06 you're combining 112 day corn and it's going into town at 13% or something like that, you left dollars on the table. 00:06:13 And, you know, going back to what you talked about, fungicide, there's a pioneer dealer here to the south of us. Uh, young man, they, you know, 00:06:19 they farm a couple thousand acres every year. There's one field he won't put in fungicide 'cause he wants to see what it is this year. 00:06:25 It's 30 bushel. The difference. Yep. It's a 30 bushel yield difference with lack of fungicide this year. Okay, 00:06:32 Well I think you can justify the fungicide treatment for even a four, even even a $4 corn. You can justify it. Yes. $120. Okay. I 00:06:41 Remember, uh, when we started, you know, we talked, my dad was worried about the corn being, uh, wet and things like that, you know. 00:06:47 Um, and so we would only put fungicide on the corn on corn. We wouldn't put fungicide on the rotated corn in one year. 00:06:54 You know, we added a farm. So we took out a fence and we farmed it all together, but we only fungicide the corn on corn. 00:06:59 And then when we were combining, I still remember, you could see where the plane had come out and made the turn to go back into the corn on corn into the, 00:07:07 versus the rotated corn. You know, so the pla the plane had come out and turned around on the rotated corn and it was 32 bushel. 00:07:14 And after that we have fungicide everything every year since then. And now what we've done besides that 00:07:20 is added the fer fertility, you know, the SAP testing, really trying to dial it in. But back then, those are the things that we started with, 00:07:27 you know, and then paying attention to the traded corn and the rootworm and things like that. You know, here about 2020 or even 2021, Evans 00:07:37 and I started running, uh, hero and, and Gail's other products that can't capture things like that. 00:07:43 Gail's other products. We started backing off the traits and we, uh, we documented a few times, uh, 00:07:51 in this, in a corn and corn situation, a triple stack rootworm corn versus, uh, a conventional corn or a double stack corn 00:07:58 with hero is 18 bushel yield difference. The insecticide is 18 bushel better and it was $10 an acre cheaper to put in, you know, 00:08:06 a $5 market. That's a hundred dollars return right there. Those are things that we pay attention to. 00:08:11 I don't even test that a lot anymore because it's just a grower standard practice though. Right. So enough years, by the way, 00:08:18 how did Gene handle it when you told him that, um, you know, uh, you were wrong about fungicide? 00:08:23 How'd he handle it? The combine? The combine passed proved it Right. He, you know, he 00:08:27 talked about that. We, and, and we went, so then what we did, the management difference we made, 00:08:31 we started planting earlier corn, you know, because when you, when you can keep the corn alive and keep it healthy Yep. 00:08:37 The earlier corn will, you can take a step back and everything from a maturity standpoint because you're still gonna get the yield yield. 00:08:44 And so now, you know, back then there would be times when I was a young farmer, you'd have a good number of corn 00:08:49 and you'd plant 75% of your acres to that number. Now I couldn't even guess how many different numbers of corn we plant. 00:08:56 We're trying to manage that moisture. We're gonna start with a hundred day corn, which most people won't plant. 00:09:01 We're gonna go all the way to 118 day corn, which most people won't plant. But I want to combine everything at 22%. 00:09:07 I wanna combine everything at 19%. And so we're trying to manage that moisture. Yeah. That those are the, those are the 00:09:13 management changes we've made. Got it. So management notes from the combine, do you agree with all those, Mr. 00:09:17 Agel? Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's, there's things you have to take from, from every season 00:09:25 and try to, um, you know, make, make sure they make sure it's in your operation. I think back to when I was a young farmer dad, 00:09:32 dad used to plant everything. It was 115 to 118 day corn. Didn't matter if it was the first he planted 00:09:37 or the end end stuff he planted because he was just trying to, you know, plant the best hybrid. 00:09:42 But you dealt with these moisture issues, you know, throughout the season. And so, you know, I I, I wish there was times there 00:09:48 where it's like, okay, we need to just change things up a little bit. And, and that's what growers need to do, is they just need 00:09:54 to think, stop and think a little bit about what their goals are in their operation and how they can make their life, um, a little bit easier. 00:10:02 And then also, you know, how, where are they getting the most return on investment from those inputs? 00:10:07 Um, you know, so we're certainly gonna need weed control next year. That's probably not someplace 00:10:11 where you're gonna try to cut back. Um, but, you know, understanding in those good years, how do you get your nutritional balance where it needs to be 00:10:19 so that you're not, uh, having to, in, in the down years, maybe you can save a little bit there. 00:10:23 So those, those are the kind of things that you just gotta think about because we're all in this farming thing for the long term. 00:10:29 Yeah. You hear a lot of people, well, I might not be farming next year. I don't think you ever go into farming thinking this is just 00:10:35 a one year venture and then you're never gonna do it again. Not with that kind of investment. 00:10:39 So, um, it's thinking about, uh, thinking about this thing in the long term and how am I setting myself up for success in the next three 00:10:46 to five to 10 years versus just for this year, for next year. Kelly, what do you think most people 00:10:51 or too many people overlook, uh, or don't see, aren't paying attention to, uh, the, as the combine's role 00:10:57 and that maybe you were guilty of, uh, at one point in your career, not paying attention to when the combine's rolling, 00:11:04 The trials and the education, you know, knowing that a double stacked corn or conventional corn with hero is 18 bushel better. 00:11:12 You know, things like that because you always get such a hurry, you always feel like you're behind. 00:11:16 Yep. Things like that. You know, being able to manage and take the time to learn everything that, that education, uh, the, the data from those trials is 00:11:24 very, very beneficial. Mm-Hmm. Yeah, Gail. And then understand un understanding the why piece of that. 00:11:30 I mean, a lot of people just get really enamored with the yield at the end, but understanding why the yield, um, you know, 00:11:38 and what, what what you did throughout the season that maybe influenced the outcome of those trials. Mm-Hmm. That, that's really the one that becomes, um, 00:11:46 you know, important to understand and really hits home on, on why you do the things you do. And, and, and why you do the trials is, 00:11:53 is not just look at the results, but understand what the results are telling you, uh, about what managed practice you actually made. 00:12:00 Yeah. Why, why did, why did this happen? Yeah. Looking past the excitement of the yield or whatever. Say what things did I do? And obviously then that goes 00:12:06 to record keeping, which goes to all the things like your data and your technology 00:12:09 that harnesses all that and all that. All right. Anything else that we didn't cover on the management notes from the combine seat? 00:12:15 Kelly, you've been making adjustments after every fall. Uh, do you, do you, I assume you start implementing these changes immediately. 00:12:22 'cause I was there in fall of three years ago and you said it's all gonna be about stress reduction. 'cause apparently you went out and saw some fields 00:12:28 and it was about stress reduction. So what's your big one that you're gonna do? You got, you like to have themes 00:12:33 and fall going into next year? I like it. It's like, okay, the season's about a wrap. Here's what we're gonna look at next year. What is it? 00:12:41 Uh, soluble calcium, the balance of the soil. We saw a lot of stuff from, you know, and we talked about in the previous episode with Gail, uh, 00:12:48 soluble calcium from a yield benefit soluble calcium from a weed control benefit will be a big one next year. 00:12:54 We don't know that we'll have a two by two program. We are considering very strongly that we won't run a two by two program and we will put, uh, we'll, 00:13:02 we'll do more things with fungicide. We'll do more things with the airplane and, uh, reallocate those dollars there. We, we, 00:13:09 Is it to save, is it to save money or is it just a reallocation at different timing? Reallocation, we we're spending about $42 in that two 00:13:17 by two program and in some areas we're getting back 72, you know, so there's a $30 ROI that's not even a two to one. Yeah, a two to one is not enough. 00:13:27 There's other areas where it's, where it's, uh, a break even, you know, 250 bushel applied versus 200, you know, so there you're losing $40 we'll know at the end 00:13:36 of the season, but I would tell you right now, if I had to guess, we won't run a two by two program and we'll re reallocate that money to more soluble calcium 00:13:45 and we'll reallocate that money to more things with the, uh, with the airplane at that time. 00:13:50 You know, be it a fungicide pass or added fungicide pass or added fertility pass, uh, 00:13:55 depending on the disease pressure. Interesting. And so in that, if you would take that money out of the two by two, you come back later, 00:14:01 you're still, you're, you're start starter fertilizer and all that still in the trench, but you're just the two by two is not Yeah, 00:14:07 We won't, we will not change the Inferral program, but we, we feel that we might change or eliminate the two by two program. 00:14:14 Got it. Well, when you make that decision, I want you to then come on and we'll do another recording about that Gail Management notes from the combine seat. 00:14:20 Well, you should be looking at now for better results next year. You like it? 00:14:24 Yeah, I mean, uh, like I said, just, just pay attention to how that crop looks coming in and, 00:14:29 and maybe things that you need to adjust going into next year, whether that's fertility as and, and, uh, and soil health, whether that's wheat control, 00:14:37 whether that's, uh, disease, whether that's insect, so that when you run into this, again, you're not in that same situation, you can make those timely adjustments 00:14:47 and, uh, and learn as you go. Got it. Dale Stratman with FMMC, you can find out more. Go to, you can go to, uh, what is it, 00:14:53 what's the website if I wanna find out more about all this stuff from you? Ag.fmc.com, 00:14:59 Ag.fmc.com. He's Gail Stratman, joined by Kelly Garrett. I'm Damien Mason. Been doing this for a long time. 00:15:05 As I always tell you, when you get one of these recordings done, there's hundreds of recordings, b podcasts just like this at Extreme Mag Farm, hundreds 00:15:11 of videos with guys like Kelly and Gail that we've done at field days, at events, at Commodity Classic, all over the place to help you. 00:15:17 It's all free. It's a library of free information and formative content to help you up your farming game. If you wanna take it to the next level, 00:15:23 become an Extreme Mag member. We have a special going for 18 months at the price of 12 between now and December 13th. 00:15:29 So next time. Thanks for being here. I'm Damien Mason. That's a wrap for this episode of Cutting the Curve. Make sure to check out Extreme ag.farm 00:15:37 for more great content to help you squeeze more profit out of your farming operation. 00:15:41 Cutting the curve is brought to you by Simon Innovations. 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