Newsletter Header
4th Qtr NewsletterDecember 2014

E4 Crop Intelligence

 

Revolutionizing Agriculture Through Information and Technology 

Join Our Mailing List
Quick Links...
  

Call Us

712-647-2666

Welcome Warren Booton to the E4 Team!

 

Warren Booton

E4 Precision Ag Sales & Service

 

Warren grew up in Greenfield, Iowa, where he got his start in agriculture working for the local Case IH dealership and Coop. After high school, Warren attended DeVry University in Kansas City earning his degree in Electronics and Computer Technology. After graduating, he was hired by Outback Guidance in Hiawatha, Kansas where worked on the precision side of agriculture for 5� years. In 2006 Warren accepted a position with John Deere that moved him closer to his home area. He worked as a technology specialist at John Deere for 7� years. E4 was very excited to welcome Warren to the team in November, 2014. He will be covering Precision Ag Sales and Service in the Winterset, Iowa area, where he lives with his wife Jessica and two sons. Please welcome Warren Booton to the E4 Team!  


Crop Insurance Update

 

Lance Ploeger

Crop Insurance Consultant

Cell Phone# 712-490-7224

 

 

As we wrap up another crop year, I wanted to thank each of you for working with me and E4 this year. I hope I met all of your risk management needs and we can go into next spring knowing you had your risk managed in a way that will keep you thriving on the farm! There are a few things to keep in mind as we enter the last month of 2014.

 

Claims: Unfortunately, many of you had hail on your crops this summer but most were indemnified for those losses. With the price drop on corn and soybeans, most of you will again get a loss check, even with above average yields. Many of you want to wait until 2015 to receive those checks. With the high volume of claims nationwide, I ask for your patience in getting your claim checks. I will do everything I can on my end to make sure your checks are delivered timely. I appreciate your patience with this matter. If you haven't talked to me about turning in a claim, please do so immediately as the deadline to turn in a claim is December 12th. Anything after that is considered a "late claim" and we will have to jump through a few more hoops to get you indemnified.

 

The biggest question a lot of you have is concerning the implementation of the new Farm Bill. Some of you have been to meetings held by FSA in regards to the Farm Bill. As a reminder, February 27th is the deadline for reallocating your base acres. This is the first firm deadline as far as crops are concerned. You will need to make your decision on ARC or PLC by the end of March.

 

I have spent many hours learning about the Farm Bill to better educate growers and I am available to go over this decision with you. If you know a grower who doesn't write crop insurance with us, but would like to sit down and talk about options for next year, please have them call me and set up a meeting. It isn't a decision to be taken lightly. The decision you will make in March (or before if you choose) will impact your operation for the next five years. Once you choose a program, you are locked in until the end of the current Farm Bill.

 

I recommend each of you update your yields at FSA as you never know what the USDA will allow you to do at the conclusion of the current Farm Bill. If you don't choose a program, you will automatically be enrolled in PLC. I firmly believe there will be a payment for your base corn acres in 2015, for the 2014 crop. These checks are anticipated for October 2015. It depends on how the numbers shake out for soybeans, but it looks less promising for a payment on base soybean acres for 2014. There are still a lot of unanswered questions concerning the Farm Bill, but new answers are becoming available each week. Again, I will do everything I can to give you the answers you need to maximize profits on your farm.

 

Have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. Thanks again for working with us.

 

Lance Ploeger

Crop Insurance Consultant

712-490-7224



Preparing Your Precision Equipment for the Winter Season

 

Ben Michael

Precision Equipment & Logistics Manager

 

Hopefully by now, harvest is getting wrapped up in your area, and you are beginning to plan for the 2015 growing season. Yield maps are complete and bushels are counted, combines and wagons are tucked away in the shed for the year, but what about your precision equipment?

 

Precision equipment is often overlooked when getting things cleaned up for the year, but it shouldn't be. Protect your investment and make sure that it ready to roll and in good shape for the next year.

 

Take all monitors and GPS receivers out of your equipment and store them in a climate controlled area, such as in your house. Also, be sure to copy all data from your monitor onto a storage device and save it. By doing this, you will be starting with a clean memory in your monitor for next season.

 

Precision equipment is a vital part of most farming operations, and without it some machines would not function. With that being said, caring for it should not be overlooked and will help you have a more efficient 2015 growing season!       


Looking Back at the 2014 Crop Season

 

Nick Warner

Sales & Operations Manager

 

With all the obstacles we had to overcome, it has been quite a year for raising crops in western Iowa!

 

We started the season off with good soil conditions, planting conditions and on time. As the planters rolled we did realize trash was an issue, especially in those corn-on-corn acres. Early on, we got a beautiful shot of rain that lead to a light crust. The crops started to germinate and push through the soil and at the same time the weather decided to cool down and bring a spring frost to town. This in turn made seedlings give it all they had to push through the soils, and the stands were represented nicely. Just as the crop was starting to look really good, Mother Nature brought a major hail/wind storm to our local area.

 

As summer moved in, rains persisted, and we were glad that the ditches and terraces continued to hold water. The crops matured at a normal pace. As we scouted fields, disease pressure was noticeable in some areas. Northern Leaf Blight and other leaf diseases can quickly impact crop health. To remedy this situation, aerial applications were ordered to help maintain and secure yields. As the rain continued, growers began to wonder how this crop would ever get harvested. With no break in the wet-weather pattern, some growers decided to make the commitment and bought tracks for equipment, thereby reducing compaction as well as their chances of getting stuck.

 

Fall arrived and the rains still continued, but harvest had to start. Tracks had been installed on equipment and log chains were thrown in the combine too, as a precaution. Soon, yield results started funneling in with good corn yields and stronger than expected yields on soybeans. As with any year, many factors contribute to yield results, BUT what doesn't change is the time you put into your operations; the value of your efforts and dedication year after year also greatly contribute to the yield results!  

 

By this time, the stockings are hung, tree is up, lights are on and you are making plans for the 2015 season. From our family to yours, thank you for being a dedicated farmer, and for all you have put into this 2014 crop. THANK YOU!



2015 Prepay Cash Discounts

 

Harvest has pretty much wrapped up and soon it will be time to sign up for E4 services for the 2015 crop season. We will once again be offering customers an excellent opportunity to save money, by prepaying early for services.

  • Services paid in full by December 31, 2014 will receive a 5% discount

 Not interested in prepaying? Our regular terms are still available.

  • 50% due on December 31, 2014 and 50% due on June 30, 2015

Additionally, E4 services qualify for your John Deere Credit Plans (Farm Plan). For more information contact your E4 Sales Representative at (712) 647-2666. Thank you for your business!


E4 System Training and Certification

 

Nora Losh

Marketing & Project Manager

 

We have been very busy developing a process for training and certification for users of the E4 Crop Intelligence system. In 2014, we offered a couple of different classroom-type training sessions and the feedback we received from both was similar: users would prefer separate training sessions based on skill level. As a result, we will be offering free training webinars for beginning users, and classroom training for advanced users that is fee based.

 

Monthly training webinars will cover some of the more basic modules. Webinars will last about one hour, and will be set up on a 3 month rotation. Testing and certification of these modules will be offered to each user participating in the webinars. Users who feel they have a comprehensive knowledge of a module can request to test-out. Once a user passes the certification tests, they will then be eligible to attend any classroom training we offer.

 

The classroom training is designed for advanced users and the cost will be $250 per attendee.  It will incorporate in-depth information about the more advanced modules, as well as agronomics, precision ag, hardware and monitors. Our expectation for the classroom training would be that attendees will have mastered and be certified in the fundamentals from the webinar trainings, and therefore users attending the classroom trainings should all be at a similar skill level. Certification for the classroom trainings will also be offered.

 

Certifications earned in previous training sessions will be honored. So if you have already tested and certified in a module at one of our earlier training sessions there is no need to re-certify in that module.

 

Beginning in 2015, webinars will be offered on the third Thursday of each month at 7:30am (CST).  Feel free to contact your E4 representative for more information.


Crop Enterprise Budgeting

 

Greg Townsend

Agronomy/Business Development

 

As the 2014 growing season comes to a close, once again you are to be congratulated for your accomplishments and the sound decisions you made to optimize yields. As with most years, challenges were seen, but overall, the growing conditions were pretty favorable and yields expressed that.   With bumper yields and flat demand, prices are declining and are creating a different financial environment than what has been experienced in a while.   Adjustments are in order and producers must answer several economic questions to help decide the business feasibility of their farming operation.

 

As a producer, you make choices every day; some decisions are more crucial than others. As an example, purchasing capital equipment occurs infrequently, while choosing when to sell crops or livestock happens more often. Consequently, some decisions have a more immediate impact on the business, while others may take much longer to have an effect.

 

The ability to analyze options and alternatives in a consistent fashion can greatly impact the decision-making process, especially where finances are concerned. So, taking the time to evaluate all the potential effects of a decision is very important. To do this, producers can look to various decision tools to analyze the tradeoffs and determine the viability of their farming operation. E4 Crop Intelligence software contains such a tool. Its Crop Planning module can really be considered as an "enterprise budget" decision-aid.

 

An enterprise budget represents the expected costs and returns associated with a particular farm situation. A corn enterprise budget might be developed based on 500 acres of rotated corn in a certain area using 120 pounds of N per acre, side-dressed. This enterprise budget will be quite different than one where there is 1,200 acres of continuous corn in a different area using 180 pounds of N per acre. This means that an enterprise budget developed for one area may not be entirely correct for another area, yet it could be used for the baseline data, or for comparison purposes.

 

Enterprise budgets represent estimates of receipts (income), costs, and profits associated with the production of agricultural products. These budgets are used to:

  • Itemize the receipts (income) received for an enterprise
  • List the inputs and production practices required by an enterprise
  • Evaluate the efficiency of farm enterprises
  • Estimate benefits and costs for major changes in production practices
  • Provide the basis for a total farm plan

 If you are interested in creating a budget using our Crop Planning module but need some help getting started, give us a call to schedule a consulting session. We can walk you through the process and develop a 2015 budget plan that captures your current ideas on what it will take to produce a crop on a per acre basis. In addition to being extremely helpful for you, other agribusiness professionals often find enterprise budgets to be valuable information sources. These include lenders, assessors, appraisers, consultants, and lawyers.

 

We greatly appreciate your business in 2014 and look forward to working together with you in 2015.


Yield Analytics

 

Kyle Andersen

Precision Sales Agronomist

 

As we bring another year to a close it is important to decipher the data and discover what we have learned from the data collected throughout the season. This is the point when we appreciate timely and clean data to make a good decision. Analyzing this data helps drive our decisions for next year and review what choices we made this year.

 

With advances in technology we are now able to access different aspects of every operation. This stresses the importance of good data and labeling things in the field, or ,after the fact, in the office. The more data that we can collect strengthens our ability to make a good decision for things such as variable rate seed and nutrients. Testing different seed, nutrients, chemicals and equipment is an important part of deciding what direction to take in years to come. It is important to plan these special cases before we get to the field to ensure good data and therefore good results.

 

As we compile all of this information we are able to make better recommendations due to the vast amount of data that we process. With the advances in technology that we are utilizing we have more of a need to communicate with each other. Even in the age of cell phones and emails, meeting face to face is still the most important part of our business. Feel free to contact E4 with any questions regarding your data or agronomics.

 


 
 
Wishing you and your families a safe and happy holiday season!