Micronutrients are essential elements that are required by plants in very small quantities for optimal growth and development. While macronutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK), are required in larger amounts, micronutrients, such as zinc, iron, manganese, and boron, play a crucial role in ensuring optimal plant health and productivity.
In corn and soybean production, the use of micronutrients can have a significant impact on crop yields and quality. Here are some ways micronutrient use can benefit corn and soybean production:
Overall, the use of micronutrients in corn and soybean production can have a significant impact on crop yields, quality, and profitability. It’s best to consult with a trusted agronomist to determine the right micronutrient fertilizers and application rates for your specific crop and soil conditions.
Weed management is critical for successful corn and soybean production, as it affects crop yield, quality, and overall profitability. Timely scouting for weeds and implementing appropriate control measures are essential for both crops.
Scouting for weeds should be done at least three times during the growing season for both corn and soybeans:
Proper weed identification is crucial for effective weed control. Learn to recognize common weeds in corn and soybean fields, including:
When scouting for weeds, walk through the field in a systematic pattern, such as a W or X pattern, to cover different areas of the field. Use the following techniques for effective scouting:
Herbicide resistance is a growing concern in corn and soybean production. To detect and manage resistant weed populations:
Scouting for weeds in corn and soybean fields is a crucial component of integrated weed management. By following the best practices outlined above, growers can identify, and control weed problems early in the growing season, minimizing yield losses and maximizing profitability. Remember to scout regularly, identify weeds accurately, monitor herbicide resistance, and implement targeted control measures to achieve a successful harvest.
Make sure you are going the proper speed for your planter. Most think that this only means not to go too fast, but you should also avoid going too slow. Most planters require the seed meter to be turning at least at a minimum , 3-4 mph, to keep the seed flowing and the meter filled to the proper level to help create consistent . Too fast is not good either, as your seed could miss its mark, roll off-target, or alter the field population.
There are a plethora of attachments that can be put on a planter. Fertilizer, both in-furrow and side dress, row cleaners, no-till coulters, insecticide, seed firmers, and so on, all can be necessary attachments in many cases. But don’t get so caught up in your planter’s attachments that when it comes to getting your seed at the correct depth and spacing, you struggle to work around all the attachments. Every attachment you add is another point of failure that can shut you down and prevent planting until repaired.
Planters are complicated pieces of equipment, weighing several tons and spanning up to 120-feet wide, they lay tiny seeds into the ground with sub inch accuracy over hundreds of acres. It’s easy to overlook how large of an impact planter settings can have, even when off by the smallest margins. Constant monitoring of these settings is vital throughout the season for consistent yields and ROI. For more on planter settings, see our article, “Four times you should check your planter settings.”
Verify the seed is at the correct depth and spacing at different places and times. Commonly, checks are not done often enough to get consistently accurate and precise placement. Others rely too heavily on their monitor as a guarantee that the seed is planting right, but the only real way to know is to dig your seed up and verify with your own eyes.
With today’s seed treatments, treatment buildup can easily cause issues in any planter. These treatments are often sticky enough to clog hoses, cause seed clumps, or prevent seed singulation. Adding the proper amount of talc, graphite, or a combination of both, will dry your seed treatment and help keep the meter clean, along with help lubricate the moving parts. Be sure to check with your agronomist or planter manufacturer’s recommendations for your specific planter, seed treatment, and talc/graphite combination and be careful to add the proper amounts.
Fertilizer, mud, and trash can buildup in every nook and cranny of your equipment. This isn’t just messy; it can hide issues with the planter or even cause you harm. These dirty spots may not be “just dirt,” but insecticide, fertilizer, and other chemicals, which can affect the way your equipment places seed. Don’t neglect normal equipment cleanings, and always wash fertilizer off as it can cause corrosion and electrical issues.
A planter is a complicated piece of equipment – any number of things could have worn out enough to become slightly off between seasons. “Set it and forget it” doesn’t apply here. Do routine maintenance checks on your planter before every planting season. Get these things sorted well ahead of time or they could come back to bite you during a tight planting window.
While you might think to yourself, “The planter worked last year,” it’s always better to take the extra few minutes to confirm your settings are correct. Even if the planter is still in great shape and everything is working right, that field is not the same field it was last year. Small changes in soil moisture, temperature, and residue need to be accounted for each year with changes to your planter settings.
Not only can conditions for your planter shift between seasons, but during the season it is even easier to overlook improper settings as you move from field to field. Every field is a little bit different; soil type, moisture, residue, and crop variations all need to be factored in when preparing your planter settings. Don’t move too fast from field to field because any time you make up in planting speed will be overshadowed by money lost from seed planted at the wrong depth or spacing for its exact needs in the soil.
When you get a warning alert in your planter, it’s easy to assume the technology is just acting up. However, these are very precise machines, and often the system will know if something is wrong before you will. If you are questioning whether the alert is correct, take the time to check it. Make it a priority to understand the ins and outs of all the technology that is on your planter and believe it when it is warning you of failure or misadjustment. Planting too deep or shallow, with the wrong spacing, wrong population, with skips and doubles, or with the wrong fertilizer distribution, could cause your crop yield to vary dramatically.
Welcome back to ALCIVIA Roundtable, a series covering logistics, market access, and market fundamentals, with the end goal of helping our members make informed decisions for their operations. This week, merchandiser Dylan Beaver explains the difference between an inverse market and a carry market, and what we are in today.
Next week, Aly Pascuzzi will explain bearish and bullish markets. Thanks for joining this week’s episode of ALCIVIA Roundtable!
ALCIVIA Roundtable – Inverted vs. Carry Markets
Hello, Dylan Beaver grain merchandiser here at ALCIVIA this week on ALCIVIA Roundtable we are going to discuss carry market and inverse markets. On the screen you’ll find the CME website and the price of corn for futures months of May forward. In this graph we’re going to talk about difference between some of these last trades. Specifically, we’re going to talk about the term inverse market and what does that mean, why is it important to our producers. As you can see here, we have the May contract for corn of 2023 and then we have the July contract of 2023 and the September contract of 2023. Those are considered old crop marketing months and, in those months, as we progress forward into the year the price becomes less and that’s what we call an inverse market. Where corn today is worth more than it is in the future so with that being said in the current marketing year of 2023 for old crop grains we are in an inverse market where today corn will be worth $6.47 at the Chicago Board of Trade and by the end of the year or the end of this this crop it will converge to be $5.50. So, we do have an opportunity to sell above six-dollar corn as of today and as we progress into the future those days will start to limit as we move to the new crop year.
Below you can see the crop year for new crop grains December of 2023 to March 2024 and then into May 2024. This is what we call a carry market, this is where the market is structured for grains to be worth more later in the defers than they are in the nearby. So, you can see that corn for new crop is worth $5.46 and as we progress throughout the year it gains 10 cents into the next marketing month of March at $5.56 and then it covers us to $5.62 being worth six cents more later. So, the difference between these two markets is understanding when to sell your grains and when is it most important to move it. In this market it’s saying sell it now and move it before we get to the point of where it’s worth less into the new crop markets. December forward store your bushels if you can store them and sell them later. Now the things to remember is cost of carry is not free, so putting your grains in your grain bins at home has a cost to it.
What you put your value onto that cost is what determines how much money you think you need to have to carry those grains. So those are the two differences between an inverse and a carry market you can see that for old crop marketing cycle or currently in the inverse market and for new crop we’ll be in a carry Market to star. We do have the opportunities to change these markets or turn around if the world demand does change these structures of these markets can always flip back and forth as fast as the inverse can go out it can come back to kind of carry as well but always do remember that when you’re in these types of markets market structures space that risk is always something to be paying attention to so with that please take the time to look at the market structures that we’re currently in and how those terms reflect on onto the current structures and then how does that relate to what’s happening in your local markets of demand as well. Because this is this is a national scale when we’re looking at this so it’s very important to bring that back to your local markets as well and then relate that to your cash market, there’s a lot of moving puzzle pieces here to this structure and it’s important that you understand what your value of your grade is in the world economics space versus just looking at what’s happening regionally.
Thanks for joining us on this week’s episode of ALCIVIA round table join ALCIVIA round table next week to discuss the terms bearish and bullish.
ALCIVIA has awarded more than 900 scholarships totaling more than $465,850 to students since 1989 in support of building a strong future for its members, its communities, and the world.
“For many years, ALCIVIA has demonstrated a commitment to investing in the future of agriculture and the communities it serves through the Giving Back program. Getting to know the scholarship recipients and hear about their aspirations is inspiring,” said Jim Lange, ALCIVIA’s board chairman. Recipients were selected from a pool of applicants based on cumulative grade point average, leadership, scholastic achievement, extracurricular activities, personal motivation, and academic and career goals. All members and employees of ALCIVIA and their children attending four-year universities, two-year technical programs or short courses and high school seniors planning for post-secondary education were eligible to apply for the awards.
ALCIVIA is a leading, member-owned agricultural and energy cooperative driven by our passion for excellence and a future without boundaries. Located in Wisconsin and serving farm, business and retail customers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa, our engaged employees provide innovative, responsible solutions to help drive the immediate and long-term success of our customers, including low-interest operating loans and input financing, as well as best-in-class products and services for the agronomy, animal nutrition, energy, and grain needs of our customers.
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