Agronomy Articles

 

 

Plan, Plan, Plan

By Cody Plamp, Agronomist, Dimock

With spring right around the corner, having an in-depth plan with your crop inputs will be critical this year. The one thing that I believe is more important this year than ever is soil sampling. With the higher fertilizer prices soil sampling will be critical to help you maximize your efficiency of tons purchased on the correct acres they need to be applied to.

Another key piece regarding fertilizer, what I would call a “no brainer” this year, is nitrogen stabilizers. CFC offers a couple different nitrogen stabilizers and with high fertilizer prices and dryer/warmer conditions it is more important than ever to protect your investment when spreading dry urea this spring. Ask your agronomist about the different nitrogen stabilizers we offer and don’t forget to talk about our variable rate fertilizer program.

Our CMT program will also be a valuable way for you to maximize your fertilizer tons by placing the fertilizer in the correct parts of the field and building your soil per 2.5-acre grids or 5-acre grids to give you the maximum ROI possible on every acre. We seem to be in a dry weather pattern, so I firmly believe split applying nitrogen is a key component to having a successful crop this year.

I’ve talked a lot about fertilizer tools for being successful, but we need to get fields clean and stay clean this year. With the dry weather weeds are going to be harder to kill than ever so we must act fast and have a good multi chemistry residual program put in place to make sure we ensure the crop is getting all the moisture that is available and not weeds. Talk to your local agronomist about the many different chemical plans we offer.

Our farmer success is what strives us to wake up and do what we do every day so communication with your agronomist is the most important tool you can have this spring. Spring is always a crazy time of year but with communication anything can be resolved. We look forward to serving our committed customers in the coming spring weeks and throughout the growing season and hope everybody has a successful but more importantly a safe planting and 2024 growing season. Get a hold of your local agronomist with any questions or concerns.

3/15/2024

 

 

Spring Season

By Adam Christ, Location Supervisor, Irene

As the temps continue to rise, the sun stays with us longer each day now, and the clocks spring ahead this weekend, it’s very hard not to have spring fever considering it’s only the first full week of March. Some have started to dust off the farm equipment and make sure things are working properly. Most of the locations have done the winter work and have the machines ready to roll. We have now focused attention to filling chemical orders and tying up loose ends so we can hit the ground running when the time comes.

Now is the time if you haven’t already to make a call to your agronomist and make sure all your farm needs are met before the spring season begins. Time is running out and we will all be very busy before you know it. Most everyone has their seed ordered. For those that haven’t ordered, the seed of your choice might not be available. Since this winter the prices of fertilizer and chemicals have started to rise. Get into the office and get your products booked now to ensure we have them when you need them. As always, we wish you the very best and hope everyone has a good and safe spring.

3/8/2024

 

 

Alfalfa Program

By Matt Pechholt, Agronomist, Lyons

To all our alfalfa farmers out there, here are some ways to improve alfalfa tons. We’re seeing a ton more alfalfa an acre early spring. Talk to your local agronomist for more information and yield data. I sell the “good” program in my area and have seen really good results early spring for first cutting.

3/1/2024


Agronomy Staff

Jeff Schmiesing
Agronomy Dept. Manager
Cell: 605-940-7665
Allen Johansen
Seed Lead
Cell: 605-661-4882

Andy Stapleton
Precision Ag Manager
Cell: 605-201-3130
Greg Bartmann
Marion Agronomist
Cell: 605-661-6993
 
Jeff Schaefer
Marion Agronomist
Cell: 605-661-3010
 
Leo Hoiten
Marion Agronomist
Cell: 605-771-9881
 
 
Clay Hespe
Tyndall Agronomist
Cell: 605-421-1636
 
Cody Plamp
Dimock Agronomist
Cell: 605-999-2281
 
Chris Rutledge
Irene Agronomist
Cell: 605-660-4146
 
 
Mathieu Pechholt
Lyons Agronomist
Cell: 605-350-1948
 
   
Brian Nelson
Salem Agronomist
Cell: 605-941-8852
Damien Fuerst
Scotland Agronomist
Cell: 605-660-6878