Remember when I said I don’t farm for a living; rather, I work with farmers? Well, this is one of those blogs where it will be easy to say, “if you think you know so damn much, why don’t you farm for a living rather than sit around and tell us what to do?” That’s a fair retort. But I will ignore it for now.
Risk. Risk management. Crop rotation, tillage system, hybrid selection, planting date – these are the major components of your crop production plan that the agronomist knows and worries more about than other important facets of successful farming. Each has it’s own degree of risk and, depending where on the earth you are farming, that risk might be more or less.
Monoculture (producing the same crop specie on the same land for consecutive years) is known to reduce yield potential. For example, in the south, continues cotton can lead to establishment of root rot that can be difficult to manage in future crops. Continuous corn is almost always less productive than corn in rotation and can lead to establishment of corn rootworm populations – another problem that can be difficult to control. In trying to maximize profit it’s easy to see that future income potential could be jeopardized with the decision to plant continuous crops.
Within a crop, agronomists also recommend spreading out maturity and genetic diversity. NEVER plant all your acres to one hybrid or variety. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER. I get it that you might do that if you’re a smaller farmer with few acres; but for larger operators – NEVER. You know the land – some acres are more productive than others; some drought prone, some flood prone, etc. Plant the right hybrid on the right acre. Seed company personnel have knowledge and wisdom and usually know their products like they know their kids. Lean on them for help!
Dr. Matt Montgomery, Pioneer Hi-Bred agronomist up in Illinois, posted this image in a tweet that makes a key point. One of my recommendations every year in Texas is to spread out maturities. This can spread out harvest but more importantly it spreads out the timing of when the crop is flowering and filling seed. Regardless of crop, this is an important strategy to mitigate production risk that can be caused by excessive heat or drought – both very prevalent throughout central and south Texas. However, when the latter part of the growing season is favorable, fuller maturity hybrids almost always out-yield the earlier maturities, sometimes significantly. Balance expectations while also controlling risk!
We are in a very wet cycle right now throughout the eastern half of Texas and it’s likely going to push our planting dates later than desired. (For corn, crop insurance deadlines are usually much later than the ideal window for maximizing yield potential.) Also, with the wet winter, very few acres have been worked and when it does dry out there won’t be much time to do anything other than plant. Remember, the highest yield potential for the year almost always coincides with the first planting – SO DON’T MESS THAT UP. Take the time to get the seedbed right and hopefully you won’t spend the rest of the summer looking at an ugly crop and hating yourself.
Risk management is often associated with financial risk. That’s important but managing stress in our lives is also important. Think about how the factors I talked about affect your life – can we mitigate “personal risk” associated with stress by managing things differently, for the better. I believe so.
I want y’all to do well. God bless my farmers!
The Refined Woodworking Agronomist 