News & Information for Your Farming Operation
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Safety First: 
Keep this Harvest 
from Being 
Your Last!

The Sun., Oct. 4, edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune featured a front page article with the headline, "Deadliest Workplace: The Small Family Farm." The article included sobering statistics about mostly avoidable farm accidents on Minnesota and other Midwest farms. Sadly, the statistics reported more fatal or near-fatal accidents in agriculture than many other "dangerous" industries, such as construction, mining, and in factories.
 
The article stated,
 
"Minnesota and other Midwestern states allow small farmers to rely on their own judgment and experience to decide what's safe and what isn't. State and federal budget cuts have slashed farm training and safety programs, even as farm machines have become more powerful and more dangerous.

"Deaths are on the rise. More than 210 work-related deaths occurred on Minnesota farms from 2003 to 2013 - an increase of more than 30 percent when compared with a decade earlier."

Federated Co-ops, Inc. consistently promotes safe farming practices, and we encourage our growers do the same. Independent family farmers are still the heart and soul of the Midwest agricultural economy, but without careful attention to safety at every level, accidents will claim the lives of even the most experienced farmers.

Be careful out there. Use good judgment. Take time to be safe. Federated wants you around for yet another harvest next year! 
October 13, 2015
tractor and combine
Time Keeps on Slippin'. . .
Soil Sampling Shouldn't

Just like your last visit to the doctor or dentist, your farm's last soil samples may have been taken further back than you recall. Time slips away between planting and harvest year after year, and it may be time for another check of the soil.
 
Check your records. Soil sampling should be done every two to four years, and with the good crops this year, according to Ron Paulson, Federated agronomist at the Isanti location, it's even more important because a good crop significantly depletes the nutrients in the soil.
 
The growers who sampled and adjusted fertilizer applications this past spring saw their crops make it to the end, Paulson observed. The ones who fertilized for a "normal" year -- with or without samples to go by -- saw nitrogen deficiencies and other fertility issues as the season progressed, thanks to consistent rainfall.
 
"You don't want to fertilize for a poor crop," said Paulson. Soil sampling gives growers the information they need to affect fertility and produce a good crop.
 
Fall is a good time to sample, and being consistent -- as opposed to switching between spring and fall sampling -- produces the best results, Paulson suggested.
 
Whether it's composite sampling or grid sampling (for variable rate application), knowing what's going on across a farm, and not just in the problem areas, makes it possible to restore or maintain nutrients with effective fertilizer application.
 
Contact your Federated Agronomist with any questions about soil sampling or soil fertility. And if you plan to use VRT this year, schedule grid sampling soon.
Key Nutrients Available in MicroEssentials®

combine unloading corn
As growers pull crops off the field and start to look at fall fertilizer application, it's time to reevaluate what products to put down this fall. "For many of our farmers, MicroEssentials® might be an excellent fit for their fall fertilizer programs," said Carter Ash, assistant manager at Federated's Ogilvie location .
 
MicroEssentials offers considerable advantages to growers who put down DAP in the fall.
  • It offers a much more even spread of micronutrients throughout the soil profile.
  • The chemical makeup of the granules causes a slight decrease in pH, which makes the phosphorous more readily available to the plants.
  • A comparable custom fertilizer blend that matches the nutrient levels of phosphorous, sulfur, and zinc available in MicroEssentials would cost 11% more, which, according to Ash, "is probably the best reason that MicroEssentials would be a good move for your fall fertilizer program."
Soil sampling will reveal your fields' actual nutrient needs (see article above), and if you know you are going to need sulfur and/or zinc on your fields for the 2016 growing season, Federated recommends MicroEssentials to help restore those nutrients in fall fertilizer applications. (Read this MicroEssentials fact sheet.)
 
Contact your Federated Agronomist for more information, or to schedule custom application.
Federated Co-ops | 763-389-2582 | federated@federatedcoops.com | http://federatedcoops.com
502 S 2nd St
Princeton, MN 55371-1941

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