Case StudiesHawclif Farms Case Study
At a recent Advanced Ag Solutions Summer Farm Tour, AAS client Nathan Lykins of Hawclif Farms shared with us his corn crop experience this year. “We applied at least 30 pounds more nitrogen than we ever had in the past with Daryl’s VR nitrogen recommendations,” Nathan said, “but you know, our corn right now is still looking green while our neighbor’s is starting to get that funny lime green tint to it.” Daryl quickly retorted, “that’s great, now we’ll look for it to show up in the grain bin, too!”
Scouting for Weeds
A farmer hired Advanced Ag Solutions to provide an ICM service including weekly crop scouting. This particular farmer recouped his investment easily when burcucumber was found infesting 30 acres of a 100 acre field. Because the discovery was timely and the Advanced Ag Solutions Agronomist was knowledgable, he was provided with a chemical recommendation and was able to spray the weed and salvage the booming potential corn crop.
In-season Insect Pressure
This farmer plants seed corn with Poncho 250 but because the weather threw a curve ball and left cool and wet conditions for so long he ended up with more than 50% of the plants with severe feeding from Armyworm. Advanced Ag Solutions crop scouts located, measured and reported the location and degree of the larvae. Our Agronomist recommended treatment and Warrior was sprayed over the top. The plants were saved and the corn looks outstanding!
High-tech VR Strategy
With years of yield data in hand, this farmer hired Advanced Ag Solutions to map EC & pH using the Veris MSP. By combining the years of yield data and soil texture properties from the Veris we built variable rate nitrogen recommendations for his corn. These recommendations accounted for the increased demands of high yielding zones and the underlying nitrogen supplying properties of darker soils. For low yielding areas in dark soils, a different strategy was implemented. When we had light soils and average yields, we chose to increase N. Last year a large block trial boosted corn yields with this system by 8 bushels per acre while averaging the same amount of total N. We continue to expect good results on the entire field and much better management of the variability for this season.
Information Reduces Input Expense
Manure applications were made on various fields throughout the fall and into the spring on this farmer’s fields. He had previously been sidedressing the full recommended rate on his corn. However, this year he hired Advanced Ag Solutions to pull nitrate samples in hopes of reducing his expense. We sampled on 5 acre grids, tested that day and provided recommendations the next. The timeliness of the process enabled him to confidently reduce his expense by $21 per acre.
Measurements Determine CRW Treatment
After numerous years of success with low rate insecticide seed treatments this farmer was confident that the corn rootworm variant was further north than his farm operation. Almost no neighbors treated for rootworm following soybeans and he was comfortable with the condition of the crop. Advanced Ag Solutions dug root masses and counted 2-3 larvae per plant in one field. Damage was increasing and the life cycle was still early enough to warrant a treatment. Lorsban was banded and incorporated over the row.
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