Each workshop begins at 10 a.m. and will conclude with a complimentary lunch at noon. Contact your Federated Agronomist to RSVP soon for the workshop near you.

January 26, 2016

Crop Input Budgeting:

More than Cutting Costs

To cut or not to cut - that is the 2016 question. With current grain prices, cost-cutting measures are likely and crop input budgeting for the upcoming growing season is anything but easy.

Ron Paulson, Federated agronomist at the Isanti location, pointed to one survey [see this link] of 1500 farmers that found their proposed cuts for 2016 as follows:

Machinery - 38%
None - 15%
Fertilizer - 9%
Seed - 6%
Crop chemicals - 2%

Paulson said, "Machinery cuts are the easiest. You don't want to cut the chemicals and fertilizer costs because that is going to affect yield."

"Everyone has a different cost per acre," he said. "Growers need to figure out their break-even point and work from there," adding that grain marketing is a significant factor in these difficult decisions.

Throughout Federated's service areas, many bins from 2015 (and in some cases, 2014) are still filled with grain that needs to be marketed. No one knows definitively where prices will go, but it's good business to set goals for marketing grain - before another harvest rolls around. "With some goals in place for marketing grain, growers will be prepared to sell when the price gets [to their break-even point]," said Paulson. Sometimes selling in the summer, well before harvest, is the best marketing choice.

When budgeting for input costs, a soil test is the most effective tool for determining fertilizer needs. "If the levels are high," said Paulson, "you might be able to cut back on fertilizer, but you need to do a soil test to see what you have in the ground." With high levels of nutrients, it's possible to cut back and get by. If the soil tests are low, cuts set the stage for yield loss.

"The big thing," when it comes to staying on top of input costs, said Paulson, "is to stay in contact with your Federated Agronomist for fertilizer, seed, and chemical pricing. Federated is committed to helping growers find the most effective ways to control costs and promote higher yields.

Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ Soybeans

One More Step Toward Effective

Weed Control in Soybeans

"Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybeans will provide tolerance

to dicamba and glyphosate herbicides, offering farmers

more consistent, flexible weed control, especially

tough-to-manage and glyphosate-resistant weeds."

- as stated in a recent Monsanto R & D pipeline report

"Roundup Ready 2 Xtend crop system for soybeans is still waiting for final commercialization for the 2016 crop planting season," said Kevin Carlson, Federated's senior agronomist, "and at Federated, we are waiting just like you [growers] are."

For those growers who are challenged with resistant weeds such as water hemp, and difficult to control weeds like giant ragweed, this new weed control technology is the next step in managing weeds in crop with no crop response.

Carlson said that once the official go ahead is given to start selling Xtend soybeans, Federated will be ready. "We have received limited allocations of Xtend soybeans that we can sell, from 0.9 to 2.0 maturities, to try on some area farm fields, he said, adding that because these are new products with limited production information, there are only trial quantities.

soybean field

As with any new weed control technology system introduced in the marketplace, everyone will need to get to know how to use it. The labeled chemical that will be sold for use on the Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans in crop is yet to be named but will be in the dicamba chemical family.

Weed control for today's soybeans -- including RR Xtend soybeans -- needs to include several important steps:

application of a good pre-emerge herbicide that has activity on the targeted problem weeds;
application timing that hits weeds when they are less than four inches tall; and
using the right adjuvants and the right nozzles.

"We will know a lot more about the application parameters when we see a final product label," said Carlson, "and it will include buffers on the label."

There is much more information coming in the months ahead on this new change in weed control technology. "Federated will keep you informed of the changes," said Carlson. And as always, contact your Federated Agronomist with any questions.

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