Advanced Ag Solutions' December Newsletter

• “Attack Your ‘L-Factor” by Daryl Starr
• A New Approach: Advanced Ag SOLUTIONS
• Featured Service: Ground Imaging Beats Aerial
• Team News: Thompson Farms Dealership
• New Developments - Daily Yield Text Alerts
• Event Planning: Innovator Round Tables

A Word from Daryl...

We broke more records this fall for total seasonal acres through our company. Thank you all for entrusting a portion of your farm to us! One client said to me, "You know, Daryl, yields are lower overall because of the lack of rain, but our variable rate seeding and nitrogen paid handsomely this year." The reason… more seed in higher moisture holding soils yielded 250+ bushels per acre, while the lighter ground balanced their costs and prevented throwing blank ears (which we saw in final scouting passes on several farms this year! Yikes!) In the end, they were yielding higher margin corn… more bushels, lower costs. I am excited to refine this further with more real time updates, including a weather tool that sends yield estimates daily via text message… or variable rate recommendations at the last minute given historic and forecast weather. Take that information and some crop sensors and GPS plant stands and we are poised to explode our client's yields with lower risks! Thanks again for your feedback, it spurs us onto greater and more applicable services. Please continue to contact us with your ideas!

Integrated Crop Management

“Attack your "L-Factor” by Daryl Starr, CCA

Every square inch of your farm has a limiting factor. This is the "L-Factor." This limitation restricts that little seed from achieving its fullest, record setting yield. We've all heard that the highest yield potential is while it is still in the bag, but when does that yield potential really start going down? And what causes it to go down? And finally, and most importantly, what can we do to protect that massive potential?!

In our experience, farmers are experts at machinery invention and operation. They can build and operate some of the most sophisticated equipment in the world to deliver a seed into a precision environment and cover that acre with the least overlap of herbicide or fungicide. Harvest losses will be minimized and acres per hour will be optimized. However, we have also noticed that farmers are predominantly business managers and lack time to diagnose and respond to the growing environment changes in their plant factory. If equipment optimization is their key passion then acres per hour is their proudest moment… NOT their bushels per dollar invested.

Of course you might say that weather yanks this from their control, but alas, if that were the case, why would timing equipment in the field versus soil conditions matter? Farmers address and respond to weather as it relates to running their equipment so why not adjust and respond to changes in yield potential? Probably because no one quantifies their yield expectation and actually projects their limiting factor for every square inch of the farm. It's just too much data and too dynamic and way too difficult to even consider. Or is it?

We believe that a yield prediction model that assigns a limiting factor to each inch of the farm does not have to be perfectly accurate to provide massive value. Imagine if you had a tool that told you the likelihood of nitrogen loss after a big rain? And that this nitrogen loss was adjusted for your actual application timing, form and soils for your actual fields, would that have value? Of course it would! Even if it were not perfect you could go to the field to assess the odds, or you could wait until it became obvious. You might not respond exactly according to the model every time but it would provide you with a baseline to spur further investigation and better management decisions.

A New Approach

Advanced Ag SOLUTIONS

After more than 5 years in business we have a few proven SOLUTIONS that we are very proud of. These are basically packages of various services that have proven to increase yields, lower risk and make farming easier and more fun for our clients. If you have not been on our web site recently, there are a number of changes we have made. We've dropped some slow to catch on services and dialed in better on our core competencies. These changes are really nothing more than a maturing of our strategic plan. While recharging our idea engine this past year we realized just how critical SOLUTIONS are to the intent of our business. To that end, we are rolling out popular and powerful service bundles for key management challenges, including Nitrogen, Seed, Fertility and Workflow. Each of these will be branded with the term SOLUTIONS. We are not doing this as a gimmic or something, we honestly believe in the combination of services in each and in the whole of each. Independently, the services are of value, together they provide real and tangible Advanced Ag SOLUTIONS. Stay tuned to learn how these components fit together for maximum returns.

Featured Service

Ground Imaging Beats Aerial

We now have a GreenSeeker sensor available for field mapping! While running Veris EC data this fall we mounted the sensor onto the rig and mapped some annual ryegrass cover crop. Amazingly, the tool picked up very fine detail in variability that coincided with the EC data and the heaviest soils that were mineralizing the most nitrogen this fall. However, it also picked up stronger annual ryegrass stands across particular clay soils that appear to be highly productive areas. We envision this service mapping anything and everything that grows on your farm. We can mount on an ATV and high speed capture observations and turn around a VR recommendation within 24 hours! This tool has proven to reduce costs and increase yields in wheat and corn. We make it so you don't have to own one or mess with the data.

Team News

AAS signs up Thompson Farms as Dealer

Bryan Thompson joined our Dealer network to help service the West Central Ohio marketplace with our services. His growing team will be trained in Lafayette, IN and data processing and job routing will dispatch from here while they provide in-field solutions to clients there.

New Developments

Daily Yield Text Alerts

Early Sign Up has begun for daily Yield Alerts via text message. You get projected yields and limiting factor for your county for free… or for your actual farm fields for a small monthly fee.

Event Planning

Innovator Round Tables

We’re in the process of planning for the next Innovator Round Tables coming up in early February. We are considering changing the format slightly to include more “workshop” type exercises in order to learn more from each other.

Do you have any ideas you’d like to share on ways to improve our meetings? Would you like to be a part of the planning committee?

Advanced Ag Solutions' September Newsletter

• “Goss's Wilt Management” by Daryl Starr
• Event Recap: Summer Farm Tour
• Featured Service: Soil Sampling
• Team News: Nick Cruser Joins AAS
• New Developments: “What’s next for AAS”

A Word from Daryl...

We have had some interesting developments and exciting improvements this summer. Foremost, our crop scouting services went relatively smoothly with few technical glitches on our end thanks in big part to Sarah Smith, GIS Technician, our new in-house software, Workflow, and the dedication and hard work of our Crop Scout interns. Another exciting addition was the use of a Growing Degree Day calculator that projects growth stage by observed growth stage at an early scouting trip. It also backwards calculates planting date! I personally, have enjoyed seeing the fruit of some of these efficiency and thinking through how that can add value and sharpen services for our clients in the future.

As for the crop outlook, our yield estimates across our client's fields are down 30-40 bushels from last year. This does not necessarily mean that your farm will be down, but it means that the state of Indiana is generally lower than we'd like to see. The "tip back" is severe and a number of varieties have been hit exceptionally hard with disease and drought stress, even where fungicides were applied in good water holding soils. One condition to take into account though, is that last year our kernel counts were high but our seed depth and weight were below average on the whole. Finally, I have seen some kernel diseases of late and encourage you to think about volmotoxin management again before harvest.

Integrated Crop Management

“Goss's Wilt Management” by Daryl Starr, CCA

Now is a good time to visit your fields for late season disease pressure. You probably won't treat them at this point but you may learn something that can make you a lot of bushels in the future. One particular hot button this summer is Goss's Wilt. This problematic "disease" is actually a bacteria and is not directly treated by fungicides. It is most prevalent in no-till corn on corn fields this season and remains as a soil borne threat for future crops. The conditions were favorable this year and increased by later than usual planting. The best treatment is crop rotation AND variety selection. It might be worthwhile to note which fields and varieties were most effected on your farm and visit with your seedsman this winter about their rating for this. Perhaps, systematic management of these risks would benefit your farm in the long term yield and profit average?

Event Recap

Summer Farm Tour

The 2011 Summer Farm Tour provided participants with a range of topics to stimulate thinking and networking. Chism Craig and Clint Jayroe from Cresco Ag shared their perspective on confidential on-farm data sharing and evaluation of practices through the use of their web based “MesoFarm” process.

Moe Russell of Russell Consulting Group shared about the DNA of a Successful Farmer, including amongst many other items, the leader’s attitude.

Neil Mylet of LoadOut Technologies shared his perspective on the evolution of mobile phone and data connectedness on the farm.

We believe these speakers sparked some serious discussion and know that many of the business leaders present appreciated the time with one another as well.

Read more about our Summer Farm Tour.

Featured Service

Soil Sampling

Many farmers are nervous, if not downright fearful of fall and winter input prices. With corn hanging out around $7 per bushel and a short crop forecast the outlook for 2012 is ripe with potential but very high in uncertainty. One very practical way to manage your costs is to associate them with your production. In so doing, you make them a variable cost. As Moe Russell said at our 2011 Summer Farm Tours this is a sign of increasing sophistication by the best and most profitable farms. Many land leases have changed, why not more closely tie your fertilizer usage to your yields? And, if you are going to do that, look into using your yield data to steer those decisions. Last winter we introduced our yield based, modified grid soil type sampling and recommendation scheme that provides you better control through our Fertility Web Tool. Now, we can more robustly incorporate your actual yield data and steer those investments even more precisely. In addition, many of our clients are using more frequent tests and updates to the yield data to refine the precision and prevent making simple mistakes show up repeatedly for many years.

Read more about our Fertility Program.

Team News

Nick Cruser Joins AAS

Nick Cruser joined AAS as our newest Regional Agronomist. Nick will primarily work with our clients in the southern and eastern regions. Learn more about Nick on our team page.

New Developments

What’s next for AAS

We have several things cooking under the hood. A quick taste of things to come…

• Mobile apps for your smartphones with GPS capabilities,
• Yield projection tool that works to combine soils, weather, planting dates and actual observed data throughout the season,
• Web version of Optimizer,
• More business collaborations to best meet our clients needs,
• Expansion of Dealer training,
• And more!

Advanced Ag Solutions' June Newsletter

• “Improving Management with Workflow” by Daryl Starr
• New Developments: Sponsorships and Dealerships
• Featured Service: Scouting and Why Interns are Important
• Affiliation: Purdue Research Park
• Event Planning: Summer Farm Tour

A Word from Daryl...

As I write this, we are rolling into mid-May and the planters just got rolling for most of our clients. I believe we have again be reminded of just how different each year can be in our unique industry. In fact, last year, most of our clients were done by the time we got started this year! However, I'd like to remind everyone that not all hope is lost… only two short years ago, in 2009, the crop got off to a slower and later start that "optimal" and ended the season with tremendous yields, albeit, diseased and wet…

The yield curves that Universities and seed companies forward are an average guideline for making decisions over decades. We all know that our best odds are earliest planting, but the planting conditions and early stresses are highest earlier in the season. Plus, poor planting conditions will not be healed by the date of the calendar! Remember, corn likes to jump out of the ground and just grow… this year we have that chance! Don't mess it up! Besides, I hope you are safe and focused as you cover your fields this spring with several important passes. And, if you read this mid-June and we're still not planted, let's look at other crops or practices that offer benefit to your system that add long term value (Tile? Cover crops? Waterways?) We look forward to helping where we can. Thanks again for entrusting your farm to us!

Integrated Crop Management

“Improving Management with Workflow” by Daryl Starr, CCA

Advanced Ag Solutions ran through the first beta runs of a new software program this spring soil sampling season. As I write, our Crop Scout interns are out in the field using this proprietary software. So what is it?

Workflow is a job management app for our smartphones and desktop computers that allow job routing, job costing and time clock management just to name a few. Our employees clock in and out using this app in order to time and location stamp the work they do. From this we are able to back track who pulled a particular sample, on what date and time, and follow it’s trail all the way through the process. We can also route and dispatch our personnel from a central location with a simple interface. These apps also allow us to more quickly upload and download GIS data files, like shapefiles. We also send photos that are associated with a particular job and are able to make notes about specific things that might be helpful… like where is the best place to park, or "watch out for dog."

All of this data is synced throughout the day to a web server. With these improvements, we envision better services, greater accuracy and reconciliation, lower costs and extreme differentiation for our Dealers. As we began to share this with our clients and suppliers a common thread is emerging… how could this work for our clients? Perhaps our clients AND Dealers might find it useful to manage remote workers using this program as well? Give us some feedback and stay tuned as we sort that out!

New Developments

Next Level Project Sponsors

Our clients are some of the most progressive farmers in the country. An exciting development over the last 5 years is the core concept that we, along with our clients, must learn together. To this end we have officially packaged a series of steps, standard operating procedures and report formats that allow us to design, observe, gather, and report discoveries for on-farm research. We are excited to be opening this up for sponsors for late treatments in 2011 and preparation for 2012 crop. Please advise your product retailer/dealers of this opportunity to get more information from free products on your farm now!.

Dealership Program

Since people and creativity are the core and, our target clients so unique, we have come to realize the importantance of a Dealer network. We believe the more information we can share over a broader region, the more unique ideas we can foster. If you know of someone 200 to 1,000 miles away that would fit in with our mentality please let them know. We are beginning to actively seek independent retailers, locally managed retail outlets, independent crop consultants and others to join our Dealership program. We have training classes and a program that makes testing the waters easy and the passion and profit to grow a unique business outside of Indiana.

Featured Service

Scouting and Why Interns are Important

You are spraying, the tenders trucks are rolling, the old crop grain needs delivered and you have to prep the combine for wheat harvest. Do you have time to scout the far off 40? Not likely... your time is valuable and you need to take care of critical management decisions. In the same way, Regional Agronomists need to be visiting problem fields, investigating Next Level Projects and communicating with clients. So how do we get the data from the fields to know where the problems are? INTERNS! We hire eager college students to walk fields, take measurements and report interesting facts from the fields. They have a thirst for knowledge and want to learn as much as possible durning their interships. They are information sponges, so share your experiences with them!

Affiliation

Purdue Research Park

AAS is now a Purdue Research Park affiliate. Our precision agronomic consulting services along with passion for developing data management technologies logically led us to partnering with Purdue Research Park. We feel this collaboration will further increase our ability to provide the newest and best technologies as well as have access to top employee candidates. Contact us for more details.

Event Planning

Summer Farm Tour

It’s that time of the year again, planning for the AAS Summer Farm Tour. Last year’s meetings were a great success. We’ve been working on gathering interesting speakers to share some valuable information.

We hope to have these at the end of July or the beginning of August depending on schedules and locations. If you’d like to host this year, please email Erika and let her know.

Also, let us know what topics you’re interested in and what speakers you think would be valuable. As always, we’re attempting to provide a great networking and learning opportunity for our clients!

Advanced Ag Solutions' March 2011 Newsletter

• “Advances in Fertility Recommendations” by Daryl Starr
• Innovator Round Tables Recap
• Summer Farm Tours Planning
• New Community: AAS Forum
• Featured Service - Next Level Project

A Word from Daryl...

I started the last newsletter with the first snow, and hoping this one is the LAST snow! As the fields begin soaking up winter slush, let’s hope your equipment and meeting season has been productive and the tax man is squared away. We had a great winter here with a tremendous amount of progress in our systems and workflow. Amazingly, we celebrate 5 years in business this quarter! I hope you enjoy our newsletter and have a safe and rewarding spring.

Integrated Crop Management

“Advances in Fertility Recommendations” by Daryl Starr, CCA

Last quarter we mentioned the revamp of the color coding of our soil mapping and how many hundreds of soils and test levels we have categorized. Hopefully you found value in comparing various fields with one another and the clarity has helped you better determine some management practices. To this end, we also fully accomplished our objective of integrating the yield component of the various soil types. That’s right, now you can use your yield monitor data OR the underlying soil’s yield coefficient to target replacement and application rates for fertilizer. This change inherently affects how much goes where. Thisbunique approach is a huge improvement over the industry standard.

Having accurate yield data across all of your fields takes the guess work and assumptions out of the equation. If averages weren’t available in the past, yield goal estimations were created for the whole farm and assigned to all fields. Now that we’re able to incorporate accurate yield data into our recommendations, inputs will be greatly affected (hopefully saving you money).

Related to these updates, we recently released a new web tool for customizing fertility and nutrient management. This web tool allows you to play around with various soil fertility levels, yield levels and critical test levels YOU determine for YOUR farm. This process should help you understand the implications of various criteria on your cost and fertility tolerances. We can pull samples in the spring, run recommendations, and help you prepare for another volatile fall input scenario.

Event Recap

Innovator Round Tables Recap

During the AAS Innovator Round Tables, two groups of growers from across Indiana met to discuss a variety of topics with the goal being to help farmers from a wide region gain clarity about farm business decisions through networking. Speakers and topics included Scott Fervida with ProfitShot, Brian Debord and Kess Berg with Monsanto, and Daniel Kline with Trimble.

For those Indiana farmers who attended, their main concern is maximizing their return and managing their risk. We believe data has to be at the foundation of these decisions, but every farmer is forced to make these decisions simply by being in the business. Networking groups like the AAS Innovator Round Tables, take social networking ideas to a serious and tangible benefit that are probably going to help keep farm profitability alive for the next generation of farmers.

More information about the speakers and the presentations is available on our Innovator Round Table page.

Event Planning

Advanced Ag Solutions Summer Farm Tour

It’s hard to believe that we’re planning our Summer Farm Tours already, but it’ll be here before we know it! We received some great feedback at our Innovator Round Tables and we’re attempting to implement them.

Our goal for the Summer Farm Tour is to create networking opportunities for our clients and neighbors. We bring together speakers with unique approaches in order to provide creative thinking opportunities. We hope to foster relationships and help influence new ways of doing things.

New Community

AAS Forum

Chime in on hot topics, give us your suggestions, and network with other progressive thinkers.

Our goal is to continue the conversations that were started at the Innovator Round Tables and Summer Farm Tours in order to build a progressive community of unique thinkers.

Featured Service

Next Level Project

Next Level Projects collect data about how variables affect your farm. We’ll …

1) help you identify the type of project you want to explore,
2) prepare a plan and variable rate prescriptions,
3) record observations and yield data,
4) report the results.

Use this information to make management decisions on your farm to improve profitability.

Advanced Ag Solutions' December 2010 Newsletter

• “It’s not magic, it’s systematic!” by Daryl Starr
• Hawclif Farms Case Study 2010 Harvest Update
• AAS QGN Breakout Session Recap
• AAS Round Table Event Planning
• Featured Product - ProfitShot Software

A Word from Daryl...

As I write this the first snow of this winter has fallen around Lafayette, IN and for most, harvest has been done for more than a month now. We had record setting soil sampling progress this fall despite the drier than normal conditions. Results came back in line with what we expected and we were able to take on some new analysis projects. Now that we’re transitioning over to seed planning and 2011 scouting there is much to be excited about. I hope you found time also to work on some fall projects and spend some extra time with your families.

Integrated Crop Management

“It’s not magic, it’s systematic!” by Daryl Starr, CCA

As you might have noticed we have increased our focus on the QGN this year. We hosted 4 winter Round Table meetings and 2 Farm Tours, along with 1 Breakout Session at our new office. This is not just more meetings… I too despise wasteful meetings. Instead, this is a regularly scheduled check-in and check-out of what is up and coming, along with analysis of on-farm trials and general experience sharing between growers.

Based on feedback from our clients we have revamped our color scheme for all soil fertility management maps. Now, instead of a default color code picked by the computer, you can read the map and understand “good”, “bad”, “caution” and “great” in regards to pH, phosphorus and potassium. We also have been working diligently over the past year to color code the various soil types we encounter, with heavier, darker dirt being a brown color. Similarly, the highly erodible slopes are oranges and reds and the outwash soils are blue with some grays and other earth tones mixed in. In this way, clients and us can see quickly where the best dirt is, know something about the slope visually, and make an assessment of pattern changes in fertility and applications.

On top of all of these changes, we just recently began to revamp the background equations we run. As you know, we are very flexible in the type of sampling, be it soil type, grid or some other management zone… the key being the smallest and most effective management unit for your particular goals. Look for changes to varying yield goals across the field given the various soil types to follow next year and then more systematic input from you on strategy related to “critical” levels and maintenance targets. As always, we don’t claim to know everything but believe we have the best system for learning together. It’s not magic, it’s systematic!

Hawclif Farms Case Study 2010 Harvest Update

Yields came back strong for Nathan and Paul this fall despite a very wet June followed by record low rainfall in Aug, Sept and Oct. “Our corn was more even than I remember for this type of year,” said Nathan. “The corn didn’t burn up until you got right to the peak of the hill top and in years past it would have started falling apart further down the hill,” he said. Nathan attributes this yield stability to the better N management and variable rate seeding. Nathan also makes a point to note how stable the seed rate was using the prescription. “When we were not using the prescriptions the rates seemed to jump around some. On the prescriptions it just didn’t.”

Event Recap

Advanced Ag Solutions QGN Breakout Session

This fall we offered clients an opportunity for a taste of our newest service package… known as Next Level Projects. For those that sent us yield data and had hired us for soil sampling, we were able to analyze the relationship between their soil test values and the yield of the crops at the sampling site. A few clients joined us at our office to explore and discuss the relationship of these results and how other projects could be explored on their farms.

One key finding, as you can see in thischart, is that soil test levels are often not the most notable predictor of yield. Just because fertility is high does not mean yields will be high. This is important because we don’t often do well attributing yield and profit to our fertility decisions! A very valuable suggestion came up at the meeting… why not separate soil test value by soil type and then check yield by soil test by soil type? This is a project we are working on now as well as allocating average yields to soil types for each zone within the field.

Event Planning

Advanced Ag Solutions Round Tables

It’s that time of the year again! We’re in the planning stages of our next Innovator Round Tables session. Our goal for the Innovator Round Tables is to create networking opportunities for our clients and neighbors. We believe that learning from each other is more valuable than being spoon-fed information. We bring together speakers with unique approaches in order to provide creative thinking opportunities.

Do you have any ideas or speakers you’d like to see this year? Also, who would you like to network with that we should invite? Please email your ideas to Erika at Erika@AdvancedAgSolutions.com. We look forward to another great networking opportunity!

Featured Product

ProfitShot Software

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• SIMPLE. Not bogged down with GIS mapping tools or cluttering of your accounting.
• FAST. Only enter the data you want to track. Not limited by accounting rules.
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Download a FREE trial on www.profitshotsoftware.com

Advanced Ag Solutions' September 2010 Newsletter

• Hawclif Farms Case Study 2010
• “A Rare Opportunity” by Dave Swaim
• AAS Summer Farm Tour Recap

A Word from Daryl...

I believe Sept 1 is a pivotal moment in the farmer’s mind. Before that point, it’s summertime and expectations are high for the season. After that point, there is a short window of looking forward to fall before the post Labor Day nerves get cranked up and ready to roll. I trust you got enough rain and not too much heat and will have a bountiful and safe fall. We’ve got a number of changes around here to wrap our hands around… besides substantially more acres we’ll be establishing some new data processing and facilities for central handling that will bring more company-wide results/research to the forefront of our clients’ portfolios. Stay tuned for some winter progress updates!

Integrated Crop Management

Hawclif Farms Case Study 2010

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!”

Case study continued...

“A Rare Opportunity” by Dave Swaim

With soybeans already being harvested, we have an opportunity to get cover crops seeded before October and have a chance for significant fall growth, especially root development. It is the exudates or secretions of the roots and the microbes in the root zone that cement soil aggregates and improve soil tilth. This also provides an opportunity for folks in the early stages of no-till farming to solve some lingering problems. If lime, phosphate or potash are very low this is an excellent time to do fall surface tillage immediately ahead of seeding a fall cover crop.

Apply the lime and P&K or manure and work it into the root zone and level out old ruts and tillage ridges. If the field has only been no-tilled for a couple of years, the amount of soil structure lost is probably not as significant as the benefits of distributing nutrients throughout the top few inches and leveling the field to improve surface drainage. Oats that will winterkill or cereal rye or annual ryegrass that root extensively in the fall and can be killed prior to 6 inches height the next spring can provide a good no-till seed bed for planting and will protect against winter and spring erosion. The cover crop will also catch carryover or mineralized nitrogen and keep it in the system and out of the tiles and ultimately out of the Gulf of Mexico.

Also incorporated crop residue feeds the “red wiggler” type of earthworms while surface residue feeds the big night-crawlers. A mix of both species gives the best combination of large vertical channels and small horizontal ones needed for rapid rainfall infiltration and soil moisture percolation. Using a highway analogy, it is like a good set of interstates feeding into a well maintained network of state and county roads.

Also fall surface tilling of wheat stubble with lime before a cover crop increases the potential for formation of calcium humates which are the premiere “flocculant” or clay particle clumping agent in our soils. The incorporation of wheat stubble, manure, and lime ahead of an early planted cover crop is one of the best ways to prepare for years of continuous no-till. It’s been compared to a soil “physic” for it can quickly enhance the physical function of your soils.

This early-harvest-related September “window” also provides opportunity to try the new winter-hardy “AU Robin” crimson clover for N-fixation, and the more winter hardy varieties of annual ryegrass or nutrient cycling and even the new “groundhog” types of radish for penetrating hardpans. Once September is past, cereal rye is still the most reliable option. While we encourage the use of cover crops to improve the tilth on problem fields, we realize the management requirements, additional fall costs and the risks involved with trying to fall seed a high percentage of your fields while getting familiar with the demands of this type of production system.

We are working with growers experimenting with “strip kill” on legume cover crops and alternate narrow-row cover crop seeding patterns as well as “winter-kill” combinations. We are also learning how to make the best use of cover crops under irrigation which significantly reduces the risks related to loss of seedbed moisture both in the fall at cover crop seeding and at crop planting time in the spring. We are also seeing fellows practice with various cover crops on their sweet corn patches which can be seeded early as well as harvested wheat fields that don’t have good double crop soybeans.

Event Recap

Advanced Ag Solutions Summer Farm Tour

The first Advanced Ag Solutions Summer Farm Tour was a huge success. Hosted by David Miers of Greensburg and Dan DeSutter of Attica, we were able to gather a great group of ag innovators to share their best management practices with each other. By bringing such creative thinkers together, we demonstrated how great businessmen and women can learn from each other in order to improve their farm profitability and streamline their farming operation. Many attendees were able to gain a unique perspective and network with neighboring farmers.

Event recap continued...

Advanced Ag Solutions' June 2010 Newsletter

• "Fungicides?”
• "New RTK- Trimble VRS”
• "Preserving Profit"
• AAS Client, Kelly Cheesewright, Indiana Farmer
• Featured Service: How We Scout Early Corn
• Your Opinion: Summer Farm Tour

A Word from Daryl...

Just a few weeks ago I remember telling a client that we’ve just seen one of the best planting conditions… early, warm and dry. Then we had two and a half weeks of cool and rain I’m wondering about the accuracy of that comment! Well, I suppose planting was good, but the early growing season has been tougher than expected. A number of fields are losing the strong stand they started with… whether from seedling blight or poor emergence. With that said, early planting generally makes big yields so I’m excited for what the year holds. Hopefully this newsletter finds you well and offers some tidbits that add value to your decision making.

Integrated Crop Management

“Fungicides?” by Michelle Sweeten, CCA, Regional Agronomist

Choosing to spray or not to spray fungicides can be a daunting task. Some things to keep in mind as you consider the 2010 crops.

• Do you have susceptible hybrids or varieties?
• Is it hot/dry or cool/wet?
• Are scouts finding early signs of disease in your fields?
• Does field history show a past problem with disease?
• Are the diseases you’re dealing with treatable by fungicides?

While fungicide applications have shown to improve overall plant health, there are still a lot of questions for both corn and beans as to whether or not that benefit is economical. We’ve had an interesting spring, complete with an overall early planting season, and re-plant decisions to be made. In order to gain the most from your crop carefully consider all your spraying options and if you feel you will gain from fungicide we strongly encourage you to leave some test strips and make sure to check yields this fall. If diseases are present, it is important to have the disease identified by a certified lab.

"New RTK- Trimble VRS” by Craig Angle, Regional Agronomist

One question that always comes up when deciding whether to upgrade to RTK Trimble Auto Pilot is, “Is there RTK radio signal coverage in my area?” With recent developments Trimble is hoping to almost instantly extend coverage to all areas thanks to cell phones. The “VRS network” allows the farmer to install a cell phone modem in the cab instead of a radio receiver. You pay a data plan to a cell phone company instead of a subscription to a company that put up towers.

The new VRS network delivers the same sub-inch corrections that have always made Trimble RTK popular. It is not any better, and Trimble has even said that if you are in a good radio coverage area to stay with your current provider. This is because of the bandwidth of the cell phone towers. This means that during peak times such as morning and evening rush hour when everyone is using their phones there may not be “room” for your modem in the mix. Ohio currently has a solid network in place that the DOT manages. It will take some time but hopefully this network will take off locally and make mobile base stations a thing of the past.

Farm Risk Management

"Preserving Profit”" by Daryl Starr, CCA, President

Preserving profit with less apparent cost of production changes is critical. Since 2006, we’ve seen inputs rise and fall along with grain prices. Assuming you weathered or conquered the swing and spreads available we’re now advising clients to take a tighter focus on the non-apparent costs. I’ve seen a number of accounts have an equity shift to fixed assets. That is, the upgrade of machinery, grain handling, trucks, shops, etc. All this is fine, but from perspectives in other sectors of ag (like livestock) these investments can slow asset turnover if not properly managed.

Besides assuring the highest level of asset turnover and accelerated income, have you stress tested your books for a depressed market value in row crops? What if machinery market value turned along with land? Would your lender still be on your side? If you’re leaning on profitability to secure loans and the market says profit isn’t there, do you have the equity and free cashflow to ride the wave until they rejoin you? You don’t have to show your banker these stress tests, but you need to think about them regarding your in-house management. I encourage you to visit with some industrial contacts that have been through the economic downturn while row crop farming was so good. They might help you preserve the legacy you strive for.

Learn more about Farm Risk Management.

Featured Client

Kelly Cheesewright, Indiana Farmer

Scouting has only just begun and has already “paid big dividends” on Kelly’s farm. AAS Agronomists & Crop Scouts walked fields during emergence and recorded good stands (34k+). Soon thereafter, dead plants were discovered (10-15k) and seedling blight diagnosed on a few fields. The discovery allowed him to prepare for replant within a more timely window. Imagine discovery just 3 weeks later! We continue to walk all his fields weekly and will report additional findings.

Featured Service

How We Scout Early Corn

Measure 17 ft 5 in (for 30 in corn), count one row of live growing plants, then count back on the next row, average the two. Review the rows for insect, disease and emergence and planter performance. Make notes in per acre terms, averaging both rows again. Observe weeds and other issues between the rectangle created in the rows and make notes about weeds and other issues that may be present. We then observe the field as we walk point to point and make general comments about entire field or note worthy areas (low ground, the knob, etc). Finally, we make notes about blow holes and other objects of spatial interest along our path. We sometimes take pictures and can send those. At the end of the field we can often make generalized comments about the whole field or group of fields, sharing opinions and possible next steps.

Meet the 2010 Crop Scouts

Learn more about our 2010 AAS crop scouts. Their bios are now posted.

Your Opinion

Summer Farm Tour

As you know, AAS hosted a few roundtable discussions this winter. We had such positive feedback that we are considering a summer meeting. We’re already receiving great input from clients, and have set plans in motion.

We’re looking at the last week of July with one East and one West group meeting. The consenses so far is for a “Farm Tour” where we are able to get out and see what others are doing on their farms.

What do you think? Would you attend? Would you like it to take place on your farm? Who would you like to see as presenters? Send us your ideas.

Advanced Ag Solutions' March 2010 Newsletter

• "Population Goals”
• "Trimble, Ag Leader Split”
• "Opportunity Cost"
• "Opportunity in Delegation"
• Featured Guest, Dave Swaim

A Word from Daryl...

It seems to me that snow and cold have been the norm here of late. I’m sure spring is just around the corner because the farm shows are wrapping up and everyone is talking about planters. We had a great winter with four Innovator Roundtables, the addition of David Swaim to our brain trust and an alliance with technology provider, Precision Partners, a Trimble and Precision Planting dealer, just to name a few hot items. Optimizer seed placement and rate recommendations are churning out now and we’re getting our bearings on spring soil sampling. Grain MarketMAX took a nice step forward and many farmers are discovering GrainBridge. This should be an exciting spring and a rewarding summer. Hopefully all is well around your farm and you enjoy another edition of our newsletter!

Integrated Crop Management

“Population Goals” by Michelle Sweeten, CCA, Regional Agronomist

When growers purchase their seed there is always the question of what the target population should be. As standability has increased, so have populations, but how much is too much. Some of the questions that arise when considering how high to go:

• Does the hybrid in question have a flex or non-flex ear?
• How are we planting (twins, 30's, or 20's)?
• Type of corn: dent, flint, harvested for silage
• Cost of seed (what is the target population for the most return?)
• Soil types?
• Field productivity (pH, fertility, drainage)
• Are crops rotated (corn on corn, soybeans, wheat)?

More important than the above is what is the weather going to be? Of course we can only make best guesses on that. However, when you are planting using traditional methods, we have found that concentrating on uniform emergence and having a harvest (not planting) population goal of 30,000 plants per acre will enable growers to most likely meet their yield goals. Increasing populations in tough planting conditions will help you meet these goals. VRT can also help you to change populations on the go to help maximize profits.

"Trimble, Ag Leader Split” by Craig Angle, Regional Agronomist

Trimble and Ag Leader have had a long standing relationship in the past where both companies brought their strong suits to the table. Ag Leader with its yield monitoring and variable rate technologies paired with Trimble's worldwide known GPS guidance. This relationship has worked well with products such as the Insight™ for many years now. Recently Ag Leader has announced that they are now pairing all of their technologies with AutoFarm. AutoFarm is another precision guidance company that uses their ParaDyme™ system for pass to pass repeatability with their AutoSteer™ system.

On the other side Trimble has announced that there FmX™ display system will soon feature yield monitoring capabilities along with still being able to run their AutoPilot™ guidance system. Trimble has also recently acquired True Count planter clutches and Rawson controllers. These will run in conjunction with the FmX monitor. All of Trimble's other products such as the EZ-Guide 250 and 500 and the EZ-Steer are all still available. With this split the farming community should see some new innovations from both sides as they compete for more of the market share in the area of the agriculture business.

Farm Risk Management

"Opportunity Cost”" by Daryl Starr, CCA, President

Do you understand opportunity cost? This is a fairly difficult concept for a farmer to grasp in economic terms but something very real in the activity of running a business. My guess is that each of you have a fine understanding of it but do not consider it a true COST. Let's start with a definition.

Opportunity Cost: The cost of a resource, measured by the value of the next-best, alternative use of that resource. In other words, the cost is the amount of income foregone by not using it for an alterative activity. Here is the complicated part. You have one, highest returning endeavor in your business or businesses. Every activity that is not the highest must be compared to the highest. So let's say that you grow corn and this enterprise earns you 18% on your investment. Then, you grow soybeans and earn yourself 15% on your investment. If these two enterprises were not related and you could simply chose which one to do you should incur a cost of foregoing raising corn when you raise the soybeans (which in most cases your soybeans change yield and machinery use and so forth…but hang in there with me…).

I believe that if we looked at our farms more often through the lense of "what opportunity am I forgoing?" we would become better managers. I once heard someone say that the decision NOT to do something was as important as the decision TO DO something. Hopefully you have good systems in place to identify your most profitable elements and ways to shift least profitable dollars toward higher profit enterprises. Finally, look for ways that your systems can compliment one another, making each more profitable as a whole. I believe some would call that wholistic management. Best wishes this season!

Learn more about Farm Risk Management.

Word on the Street

"Opportunity in Delegation" by Matt Stine, Associate

Technology options have stirred many conversations recently, but most have chosen not to decipher the new and dynamic seed tech code. Seed is just one area. Most areas of our lives are getting more complicated in the name of accuracy, efficiency, or advancement.

How did you decide not to or to use Agrisure 3000GT? How are you using the data gathered in the field for better efficiency, what data do you wish you had? What motivates your employees and how does that change your management? What is your bottleneck and why is it still there? Do you enjoy your work? Are you sick of me asking questions? You are not a superhero and therefore you don't have to know everything. Breathe easy. The best producers I know see their job not as a list of tasks but relationships to manage.

Are you willing to accept the risk of another person to depend on for the opportunity of higher returns or more freedom? Then the obvious question becomes - how to choose that person… Spend your time doing what you are best at and hire the rest.

Featured Guest

"The Development of Recommended Soil Sampling Patterns" by Dave Swaim

Over the years differing soil sampling protocols have developed from state to state, often reflecting different field scenarios and particular university and industry interests. Although the grid point sampling method has been heralded by farm magazines and now the NRCS as the latest and greatest of techniques, it was popularized by University of Illinois agronomists over 60 years ago. At that time the points were stepped off by the sampler and he took four probes encircling his feet and bagged them as one composite sample. In the 80’s, this system was adapted to GPS possibly first in Minnesota but soon after in Illinois and other prairie states. Then the ag electronics developers and the Potash Phosphate Institute promoted it across the industry as a basic element of “site-specific” or “precision farming” concept.

This technology based system was appealing because it was standardized, required few judgment calls on the part of the sampler, and was relatively easy to mechanize. It greatly increased the perception of increasing precision, but did not significantly increase field time compared to other methods requiring the same number of probes. Incidentally this approach also increased lab revenues with the large number of samples per field.

Farther east, another approach had been in use since before WWII. With Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and others each adding their modifications, sampling was based on dividing the fields into topographically distinct areas within historic field boundaries, not exactly by soil type but correlated with changes in surface characteristics.

The western approach on flat or consistently rolling prairie farms with large fields, few fences, tree lines, or distinguishing surface characteristics was to use the 2.5 A grid method. In the east, with the increasing awareness of the dramatic differences in cation exchange capacity within some fields, samplers started dividing the typical 20 A fenced field into high ground and low ground samples. As the decades passed, the sample densities increased and probes per sample decreased from 20-30 probes/20 A to 15-20 probes/10 A to 10-12 probes/5 A to 5-6 probes/3.3 A. This compares to the 4-5 probes per 2.5 A square centered on a single sampling point typically used on prairie soils. More recently individuals have compared the 3.3 A and 2.5 A sampling grids to a 1A grid but typically found to be cost prohibitive for row crops.

Sampling boundaries were originally determined by visual approximation and then began to conform more to the hand-drawn published boundaries of soil types. Thus the grid sampling method was popularized in the west on the prairie and the soil type sampling method was developed for cleared woodland soils, both the glaciated swale-swell topography to the north and the unglaciated hill country to the south. Recently there’s been an effort to combine the two approaches into smart grids taking soil boundaries into account or defining crop zones based on cumulative yield data or Veris readings.

Back in the sixties, the plant food industry typically recommended a sample every twenty acres. Taking more than one sample per field was considered too expensive and time consuming to be offered as a free service. For several years soil testing was offered by dealers for free and was viewed as a primary sales tool. With the Potash-Phosphate Institutes’ promotion of “precision farming” and the “CCA certification” training programs, dealers began to charge for agronomic services and went into direct competition with the independent crop consultants scattered around the country.

Prior to the sixties most fields in the Midwest were in a livestock based four or five year rotation. This was before anhydrous ammonia was readily available and cattle feeding had yet to move west. The rotation would often start with a crop of corn, followed by soybeans or spring oats, then fall-planted wheat often over-seeded with red clover and then a year or two of clover or alfalfa. The legume stand could be harvested as hay or utilized as pasture before the last cutting was plowed under as a green manure crop or used as a site for spreading manure. Soil samples were typically taken on hay fields prior to plowing for corn. At times the government subsidized liming. The farmer would side-band a couple of hundred pounds of dry bagged fertilizer with his two or four row corn planter.

The concept of sampling every four years still influences most sampling programs, although some consultants prefer to sample fields every other year just after soybean planting or soybean harvest. The goal is to have data ready prior to preparation for the next year’s corn crop that will receive the fertilizer it needs plus enough for subsequent soybeans.