How To Grow Big Wheat Yields On $30/Acre Fertility Plan | Farming Podcast

00:00 Reducing the spend on fertility without sacrificing yield. It's an economic fertility challenge that we are doing 00:00:06 with our friends from Agro Liquid. We're gonna talk to you about how to do it with wheat in this special episode 00:00:11 of extreme Ag Cutting the curve. Welcome to extreme Ag Cutting the Curve podcast where real farmers share real insights 00:00:18 and real results to help you improve your farming operation. And now here's your host, Damien Mason. 00:00:26 Hey there. Welcome to another fantastic episode of extreme Ag Cutting the curve. It's me, Damien Mason, with my friends from Agro Liquid. 00:00:32 I've got Gabe Saxon, I've got Stephanie Linco, I've got Extreme Ag guys, Johnny Verell, temple Rhodes and Kelly Garrett. 00:00:38 Last year we did a corn challenge with our French from Agro liquid, and we found out that in fact, 00:00:44 Stephanie Linco produces really, really good corn in Arkansas, even though she's from Michigan. 00:00:48 She did that at Matt Miles farm and she actually, as I recall, won the, won the contest. But what we wanna do is not just say 00:00:55 how big of yield can we get? We've all been to those plots where they talk about how to get big yields, 00:01:00 but they don't talk about the money with the economy the way it is in farming right now, commodity prices where they are. 00:01:06 It's important to retain yield, but also look at the budget. That's why we're calling it the economic fertility 00:01:11 challenge we're doing with wheat. And so what we wanna do is explain to you how we're, our, our goal is 120 bushel wheat 00:01:18 with a $30 fertility budget. First off, Stephanie, is it really only 30 bucks that you're giving these people to spend, 00:01:25 or is that 30 bucks of post applied stuff like you sell? Yes, it is. It's only looking at a $30 budget 00:01:32 for a full year application, late season. So time that at flowering around, um, that fungicide timing that you would. 00:01:40 So $30 just for that pass across the field. Got it. And then my friend Johnny, let's go lead off with you. 00:01:46 You're doing a bunch of these things. This is actually at your property or it's at some other property? 00:01:50 No, that's actually at my property. Okay. Tell me what you're doing and what your methodology is. 00:01:56 Yeah, so it seems like wheat, we've always been just kinda getting stuck in that a hundred bushel range. 00:02:00 Sometimes we can make a little better and talking to Stephanie, different ones, the other guys are gonna do corn 00:02:04 and soybeans came up with the idea to do wheat on us to see if we could push wheat to get an extra 5, 10, 15 bushel. 00:02:11 And could we push that and get a better RI also, and that's where we were going for that is not to overspend, not to push a bunch of extra nitrogen. 00:02:18 What could we do foliar feeding certain nutrients that we thought the plant needed, you know, at that flower timing. 00:02:24 And I heard you say before we hit the record button, you're under budget. You saw, you sort us sort that like any bragging way, kind 00:02:30 of like the, the person that shows up at, you know, at summer break and it's like, oh yeah, I didn't tell you I've lost 20 pounds. 00:02:37 I'm trying to make you all look bad on the beach. That was kind of like, yeah, I'm under budget and these people aren't gonna be 00:02:41 there. How much do you spend? Uh, I can't remember the exact number, but we were the lowest of the whole group. 00:02:46 And idea behind it is I thought we was the hardest one to get a big yield bump. So I thought if I could go in 00:02:52 and just make, you know, within a bushel or two, the other guys that saved some money, that's how I was gonna try to win the competition. 00:02:58 Got it. All right. Moving on, Kelly, you liked the challenge, you liked the competition. Although the guy from Iowa that should have won the corn 00:03:06 thing, I think came in fourth out of four last year in Arkansas, just saying, I did not come with me in fourth out of four, 00:03:12 who came in fourth was Matt, The guy, the guy Whose farm, the guy whose farm we were actually conducting 00:03:18 the competition at. Lost Matt. Matt lost and Matt lost spending $50 more than I did. Yeah. All right. I appreciate you clarifying. 00:03:27 I see this is good challenge. It gets, it gets everybody's juices flowing. What are you doing on wheat? 00:03:32 On wheat? Uh, we really centered around a balanced, a minerally balanced approach like I do on all of my crops. Uh, we really see the quality come up. 00:03:41 Uh, the the need for fungicide to go down and things like that when we, when we can get close to achieving mineral balance, uh, 00:03:48 really worked well here on our own wheat this year where we're finishing up, uh, with the straw on things now. And, uh, we, we were just a few cents, 00:03:57 if I remember correctly, less than a dollar under the $30 budget. Uh, but on wheat, um, you know, and, 00:04:03 and then the yield is, the yields are all very close to each other. But on wheat, we also get paid on quality. 00:04:08 Um, here in Iowa this year with all of the rain we've had vomit toxin is a huge, uh, huge problem. 00:04:14 And we've sent samples of our wheat down there, for example, this is the minimally balanced approach. 00:04:19 We've sent samples of our wheat down, it's in the bin right now on air, and many, many samples are coming in over the 2%, uh, 00:04:27 threshold for vomitoxin and the elevator's. Very concerned. We were less than 0.4%. And I, I think that speaks 00:04:33 to the mineral balance that we try to get. So, you know, while Johnny and Temple and I we're all very similar on yield, uh, I am con and, 00:04:42 and I don't know this 'cause I haven't seen the sample of the wheat we raised at Johnny's, but I am confident of our approach with the quality 00:04:47 and wheat of gin. You get paid on quality. Yeah. So here's the thing. Uh, the 120 bushel goal 00:04:54 and then the, uh, the dollar amount of spend, your big, your big benefit here is you think you can actually have another crinkle that goes on this. 00:05:04 Yeah, I maybe didn't ring the bell on yield or somebody did a little bit better than me on spend maybe like Johnny, but I also was able to sell my wheat 00:05:11 because I didn't have the vomit toxin problem. Exactly. And you know, I don't have the results back yet, but we sent some of our wheat 00:05:17 and our straw to Utah state, pardon me, for, uh, nutrient density. And we will, we believe 00:05:23 that we will achieve nicely in that as well. And what, you know, if the wheat's going to make bread or human food or whatever it is, that that's also important. 00:05:32 It, there's more to this than just yield, especially when we're talking about wheat. All right, temple the third farmer on this wheat 00:05:38 fertility economic challenge. Kelly has an advantage because he's got Iowa soil. Uh, giant's got an advantage because he grows, uh, weed. 00:05:47 Kelly's actually, let's back up. Kelly's at a disadvantage because he's not a wheat grower, first of all. 00:05:52 So he's not going, he, there's no way he places in this thing. I mean, maybe the mineral balance thing, 00:05:58 maybe that'll help him out. I mean, he can boast that, that trap all he wants, but at the end of the day, he ain't no wheat guy. 00:06:05 I mean, he's just not. So let's try, let's, let's, let's just talk about what it is. He's a corn guy and he's not a bean guy 00:06:13 and he is not really a wheat guy. He grows the wheat because he wants the stroll so he can chop up and feed to his cows. 00:06:19 So let's not act like as long as he makes high quality stroll, he really doesn't care. But we can talk about it. 00:06:26 All right, so now that we've gotten in our jabs and our insults, and if you're watching this, the, the, the, the fertility knowledge is only the sideshow. 00:06:35 It's really about, it's really about the elbows out, uh, game here. What are you doing on your wheat temple? 00:06:42 And by the way, I don't know that we can go around calling Eastern Shore Maryland wheat country either. It's like none of you guys are in Kansas. 00:06:49 Can I quickly get in a Jack temple? I'd like to get in jab on Johnny. Okay. Did you conveniently notice 00:06:55 Johnny doesn't remember the yield, but they were very close. But he did say he spent the less money being 00:07:01 the betting man that I am. Johnny lost just like Matt did. I don't remember the yield, 00:07:06 but I spent the last at least amount of money. Well, the reason that he doesn't remember, 'cause he's got his, he's got his own data guy that's trying 00:07:13 to set this data up so it can kind of skew things in his favor. 'cause he doesn't wanna look bad on his own dirt. 00:07:18 Right. And then he made some, oh, I sent it off to Kinzie, but I really don't remember what happened. Yep. 00:07:22 Uhhuh, you know damn well Uhhuh and by the way, he's one of the guys that ran the combine. So you telling me that he doesn't remember. Okay. 00:07:29 But he does remember he spent the least amount of money. That's Right. Exactly. Exactly. 210 00:07:32.965 --> 00:07:33.405 Please continue. Alright, please continue. Temple, by the way, Gabe, you 00:07:39 and I are just spectators over here. We're just the calm. We don't ever like get competitive. I'm never one of those guys that's gonna sass somebody 00:07:46 to try and get a rise out of him. That's you and me. Well, I'm not, the only thing that you're competitive about Damien is 00:07:52 running your mouth the whole time. You wanna make sure that you talk the whole time. So we don't talk. But go ahead. 00:07:57 I'm glad that, that you say that you're not competitive, Dave. Remember, there's 00:08:01 only one person out of this call with six people on it that's ever gotten paid to talk. And that's me. 00:08:08 I looked that up this morning. So Yeah, we're, we're good to go. All right. So anyway, 00:08:12 temple, what are you doing in your wheat? And, and first off, 120 bushels and $30 a spend. Do, do you just front load it? 00:08:18 Did, did you say, okay, I'll do the $30 spend, but I'm also gonna front load it with a bunch of dry, or I'm gonna put so much chicken litter out there 00:08:24 that it's going to, uh, you know, make it, make it so I don't have to worry about the spend afterwards. What'd you do? 00:08:30 Well, this is only a, this is only a kind of a eight on factor anyway, like with, you know, all of it got whatever Johnny's original program is. 00:08:38 We are only adding on to his original program for this, this whole $30 spend. So everything got treated the same. 00:08:45 And you'd have to ask Johnny what he does on his grower standard practice on that. So this is just a, a late season application. 00:08:52 So I looked at it like late season applications for us. We, we know what we've learned, um, in our past plots and and whatnot on corn and stuff. 00:09:02 And this is a grass crop just like corn. So I looked at the uptake chart on wheat. It's very similar to uptake chart on, uh, corn as well, 00:09:11 both grass crops. And I'm, I'm focusing on phosphorus and potassium sulfur. I look at like, um, when you look at those uptake charts, 00:09:22 you know, when you're getting into reproduction and this is put on during flowering, you know, your, your need for phosphorus is greater, 00:09:29 phosphorus is locked up in the soil. Um, and a lot of times it's hard to get the phosphorus needs outta there. 00:09:35 So I looked at phosphorus, I looked at potassium, potassium, I'm trying to add weight to the grain. 00:09:41 If we can get a bigger test weight equals higher yield. So I kind of went down that avenue. I know that it works really well. 00:09:48 I've done it in the past here and I've, I've shown significant differences on my ground. All ground is not equal obviously. 00:09:56 So I don't know what, you know, I'm, I've never played this on Johnny's ground, but I have played it on my own and I know that it pays. 00:10:03 Okay, what's the, so I know there's a, What's the most important thing? You just named a bunch of different nutrients. 00:10:08 What's the most important thing? Uh, again, I'm gonna go back to kind of what Kelly says. You know, nutrient balance is, is a big thing. 00:10:17 And, and when you play nutrient balance and mineral balance along with, um, the uptake of what that plant needs in the stage that it is, 00:10:26 I played all of them. So I kind of look at it like that. Gabe, if a person comes to you 00:10:30 and says, all right, I think this is really cool what these people are doing. I am a wheat grower. I don't grow a lot of wheat, you know, 00:10:35 'cause a lot of these people are, you know, wheat is one third, one fourth, whatever of their thing. It's not like we're, you know, in the prayer provinces 00:10:41 of Canada and you say, all right, you want to grow wheat and you wanna make sure that at $5 50 cent wheat, uh, you, 00:10:47 you know, get your 120 bushels. Here's the, here's the top three things you need to know. What's the top three things I need to know? 00:10:52 Top 1, 2, 3 things I need to know. Uh, when we're talking about wheat on fertilizer, I mean, I always go after a little bit 00:11:00 of nitrogen that late in the season. I think we need that again to honestly get everything back in gear. 00:11:06 We're starting to run low. Then we look at the micronutrients again. Uh, whether it's 00:11:11 'cause it's temple just mentioned it's a grass crop. I think we need to pay attention to manganese and boron. So those two things are gonna help continue 00:11:18 to move everything forward season. Nitrogen, boron, Manganese. Yep. Manganese. Okay. That's the three things you 00:11:25 tell people you gotta concern yourself. Stephanie, does that sound like good advice or are you gonna get competitive out here 00:11:29 and say, oh no, I think the most important thing and you are gonna just kind of sandbag? No, I think, you know, he's on the right track. 00:11:35 I will say every single one of these guys did put nitrogen into their program. So as, although none of 'em mentioned nitrogen, 00:11:42 they still did put a small amount of end response out there. So they were getting a little bit of nitrogen. 00:11:47 And we just know that helps for that protein development of the wheat. Um, and just helping fill that crop. 00:11:52 Um, I like manganese and iron for micros when I talk to a wee grower. All right. And then the late season, how, how, 00:11:58 how long are you talking about late season? Like when's the, when's the last application We're timing? Like 00:12:03 that flowering stage? It's when we're starting that grain fill. Um, and just finishing that crop off. 00:12:09 Johnny Verell mistake you made in the past that you learned from for this time or success you had in the past. 00:12:13 You're like, oh my goodness, I'm gonna make sure I do that. What's the one tip I would say used to, we put more 00:12:18 and more nitrogen thinking that was gonna push the yield. And we've learned down real, 00:12:22 we've learned really fast in the last few years that nitrogen is your enemy usually a lot of times you getting so far out of balance. So 00:12:27 Kelly, he just teed you up for your favorite subjects. Kelly kind of goes in these obsessive uh, things for a while. 00:12:32 He gets obsessive about this and then it was nitrogen. So when you were obsessing him on nitrogen, Johnny just teed you up, uh, 00:12:39 take the ni nitrogen ball and run with it. Well, e exactly. You know, Stephanie hit the nail on the head. 00:12:44 She said, these guys are all putting out nitrogen 'cause they want the protein development without the micros present. 00:12:49 How do you expect to convert that nitrogen to protein? That's why we can't just put out nitrogen and get out of balance and not have enough micros there 00:12:57 to cause the reaction, you know, to, to con to convert it to protein. And that's why I try to go with the balanced approach. 00:13:03 And I, you know, temp always talks about my soil. The last thing I need here is more nitrogen. The soil's producing too much 00:13:10 and it's hard for me to keep up. I know it's not that way in every part of the country, but as a grower, you need to understand 00:13:16 what is your soil providing and then what do you need to supplement to be in tune with Mother Nature 00:13:20 Temple? Who's gonna win this competition? And who's, and, and also I think everybody, that's A dumb question. It's me. 00:13:27 Okay. And why? Because I, oh, they can't beat me. That's why. No, I, I I don't know. 00:13:37 I mean, in, in reality, if I have to put money on it, I'm gonna bet on Johnny. I've, I I've seen his wheat. I know what he grows. 00:13:45 I can't, I can't deny that it's hard to groove things on somebody else's dirt. And, and you make a, I mean, 00:13:53 I can't even make an educated decision. I only know what works on my ground. 'cause what works on my ground doesn't work on Kelly's 00:13:59 ground and what works on Kelly's ground not necessarily is gonna work on, um, Johnny's ground. 00:14:04 So I I, my money's on Johnny in, in reality. Um, I think Johnny has probably got the, the easiest, simplest way, you know, kind of keep it simple, stupid, 00:14:15 um, uh, methodology. And so I, my money's on him. I don't disagree with anything that Kelly has to say. I went down a different approach. 00:14:24 But, you know, you take this back to, you know, what Kelly's trying to do with the SAP samples, you know, with Kelly's done a lot of talking about SAP samples, um, 00:14:33 with what he's trying to accomplish. And, and he's right. You know, when you talk about nitrogen and you talk about nitrogen reduction, you know, 00:14:41 we've been doing that stuff out here for a long time 'cause we didn't have any choice. But when we're learning things 00:14:47 and you put science involved in it and you start to realize that it takes a lot of, of micros out there 00:14:52 and a balanced micro, um, package to assimilate the nitrogen into the plant to get utilization outta the nitrogen. 00:14:59 That's where that's really, that's a key. And that's going, that's gonna take us to the next level out here. Really. 00:15:05 I'm go to the two people from Agro Liquid Gabe. Most people, when they think I gotta get big yield, they don't usually think about, okay, uh, 00:15:11 how can I do this on a budget? There's usually some overspend. Where is, where is most money? 00:15:15 Is nitrogen where people overspend? Is that, that's the easy one. A hundred percent I think we probably need to focus on, 00:15:20 like we've been talking about some more of the different nutrients, especially the micronutrients. So yeah, nitrogen's probably the biggest spend. 00:15:26 Okay. The products that I need from you, Stephanie, to help me on my micros, tell me the stuff that you used that I forget past nitrogen. 00:15:33 The stuff that you think is a big like, uh, the old, uh, you know, exponential return. 00:15:39 So I think if we're talking Micros Micro five hundreds, the easiest go-to, um, from micro liquid just 'cause it has all those micronutrients in there. 00:15:47 If I'm thinking wheat specifically, I'm gonna focus on manganese and iron. Um, but again, it goes back to that grower on that farm. 00:15:53 Um, if he's low in something like zinc, um, that will be beneficial. So I think it's best to look at that whole system of what 00:15:59 that soil needs, um, and then focus on the crop, um, and what micronutrients it likes. Awesome. All right. 00:16:06 We're talking about the economic fertility challenge. We're gonna be doing this, we're gonna be doing a series of these recordings throughout the season to let you know, 00:16:12 uh, you know, how you can, uh, bring the budget and not sacrifice, yield on your farming operations. The Economic Fertility Challenge 00:16:19 with our friends over at Agri Liquid, talking to Gabe Saxon, Stephanie Delinko, and our Farmers Temple Rhodes, 00:16:24 Kelly Garrett, Johnny Verell. We're gonna be doing this for soybeans, corn and wheat, and we're going to be bringing all the information to you 00:16:30 to help you produce on a budget. Till next time, thanks for being here for this very special episode 00:16:35 of Extreme Ag Cutting the Curve. That's a wrap for this episode of Cutting the Curve. Make sure to check out Extreme ag.farm 00:16:41 for more great content to help you squeeze more profit out 00:16:45.275 --> 00:16:46.555