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8/4/2019 CQ Perspectives Mar 2008
1/4C r o p Q u e s t P e r s p e c t i v e s
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CROP QUEST AGRONOMIC SERVICES, INC
Volume 18 Issue 2 March 2008
Adding VALUETo The
GrowingVALUE
Of FarmsThe timeliness of their recommendations regarding soil nutrients,
d purchases, fertilizer application, irrigation and pesticide use isnerally recognized as one of the primary benets crop consultantsng to the planning process of a farm operation. Their expertisealculating fertilizer requirements at the outset of the planningcess, for example, or spotting an insect problem early is often
ed as the difference between a break-even or low-prot yield andumper crop.If you nd green bugs in wheat early enough, explains Jimason, Crop Quest Regional Vice President in St. John, KS, the
atment will be about $8 less than the price of a bushel at cur-t prices. If the treatment doesnt take place until the wheat turnswn, the price of the pesticide will still cost the same, Gleason adds,t the green bugs will have cost the farmer about 5% of the yield.f timing is everything, then the time couldnt be more crucial
n it is right now to utilize the knowledge and skills of cropnsultants, trained in agronomy and agricultural sciences as are allCrop Quests specialists. The value of farmland is at an all timeh with a record average price of $2,160 an acre, according to the
S. Department of Agriculture, and agribusiness analysts anticipatemland continuing to appreciate 6% to 12% annually over the nextee years.While the value of their land increases, crop producers also have anportunity to bolster their overall net worth as rising crop prices willvate average annual farm income about 4% to 5% a year through0. In addition to these two important prosperity markers, some
mers those who regularly engage the services of crop consultantse holding yet another trump card that adds to their wealth.
My estimate is that farmers who hire crop con-
sultants receive returns of 10% to 20% annuallyagainst their expenditures, says Terry Kastens,Ph.D., Extension Agricultural Economist, FarmManagement at Kansas State University.
Kevin Dhuyvetter, Ph.D., a colleague of Dr. Kastens at KSUagrees, but points out that the value or additional income from in-vesting in the services of crop consultants will vary drastically fromcrop-to-crop and year-to-year. But on average, he says, the returnis something greater than what is paid.
Farm manager, Paul Evans, has relied on Crop Quests Preci-sion Ag Services for more than a decade, rst to build a new farmin Kansas and currently in managing a 7,700-acre operation insouthwest Colorado near the Four Corners region. Evans managesan all-irrigated farm a tribal enterprise owned by the Ute Moun-
tain Tribe that produces alfalfa, corn, wheat and triticali (a crossbetween wheat and rye).
Were like any other farm raising crops for a prot, Evanspoints out. There are a lot of factors and components to runninga big farm that are certainly a lot harder without the expertise andtechnical knowledge that a crop consultant brings to the operation.Were convinced and our production records prove us right thathaving a consultant is a major advantage that denitely pays off.
Among the advantages farm managers reap from crop consultantsis the additional time they can allocate to other operational de-mands. One of the biggest benets of hiring a crop consultant, Dr.Dhuyvetter suggests, is the time it frees up so that producers canfocus their management efforts on other aspects of their businesses.
JIM GLEAS
Continued on Page
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Silver Lake, Kan.
By: Chris McInteerDivision Manager
Adding Value ... Continued from Page 1
Part of the business of farming is keeping up with trends and beingintroduced to new ideas. Another set of eyes is kind of a big deal,notes Evans, referring to tasks like insect and weed scouting thatis part of crop consulting, but they also help us keep up with newtechnology and ideas that we can examine and implement.
John Hecht, the Crop Quest regional agronomist in Colorado, haslent a hand and his expertise to Evans in a variety of areas soil test-ing and grid sampling among other services. As an example, Evans
points to Hechts analysis in applying variable rate technol-ogy to put fertilizer where it is needed. When it comes to
expensive fertilizer application, one size does not t all,Evans stresses, and we discuss with John what we wantto do. John always listens to our production goals andtogether we develop a plan. Its a total team effort.
Crop Quests Jim Gleason seconds the notionthat crop consultants rst priority is to observe
and note what crop producers have done andwhat they want to do. Consultants need tolisten to the farmers regarding their goals andperformance history, he states. He describesthe relationship as a joint venture, where thefarmer has a goal and the consultants goal is
to develop a plan that helps the farmer achieve it.If a farmer has a business plan in mind, Gleason reasons, the
crop consultant can lend his expertise along with the expertise of ourentire agronomic staff to develop a plan of attack. Where the cropconsultants experience comes in, however, is helping the farm man-ager plan for the unseen variables that may affect his plan. Issues likebad weather, insect pressures and market shifts often happen. Whilewe cant stop or often forecast these issues, we are certainly betteredprepared to help the farm manager adjust in the most efcient mannerpossible. Those types of on-the-spot decision can be the difference inan operations cash ow and success.
Despite their listening skills, crop consultants, however, are notexpected to be passive observers. Many farms contract consultantsbecause they are encountering serious problems for which they haveneither the manpower nor the technical background to handle. Toavoid having to hire fulltime agronomists, Dr. Kastens adds, farm
managers hire crop consultants to ease labor situations during par-
ticularly critical growing periods. He also suggests that consultoften ll a gap where farmers concede they have little experienclack the technical skills. Dr. Dhuyvetter likens the use of agronoconsultants to having an accountant or hiring a tax consultant orbringing in a veterinarian.
Crop consultants are valuable not only for what they know bualso for what they have seen. Consultants can provide more ac-curate recommendations, Dr. Kastens explains, because they aseeing many more agronomic situations on a regular basis, and ttend to have a broad network of specialists they can call on for o
ions and assessments.The Crop Quest staff of precision agriculture experts does no
limit its consulting activity strictly to row crops on irrigated farmHal Palenske runs a feedlot in eastern Kansas and depends on CQuests Grant Havel to help with his USDA-mandated NutrientManagement Plan (NMP) for the displacement and distribution manure.
A big benet he brings, says Palenske, is the soil testing socan apply the feedlot manure in accordance with NMP guidelineHavel also samples water from the lagoons and provides Palenswith routine soil/water phosphorus level reports. Another key vaadded contribution to the feedlot operation, Palen-ske emphasizes, is the record keeping programsCrop Quest has developed for his business.
The feedlot business is not the only thingkeeping Palenske busy. For the last eight years,his business also includes a 1,000-acre farmingoperation. We haul a lot of manure fromthe feedlot to the farm, Palenske notes.We rely on Grants recommendationsto stay within NMP compliance as werecycle the manure from the feedlot.The way we look at it, Palenskeconcludes, is when you take yourcrop consultants advice and dont have to purchase fertilizer to bumper crops, you know youre getting good advice. Thats whlook at Grant as more than a trained crop consultant hes a valmember of our team and we take his advice seriously.
OHN HECHT
GRANT HAVE
LINES OF COMMUNICATION:
All of us have relationships we deal with every-
day which require various levels of communication.
Whether it be a husband and wife, parent and
child, supervisor and employee, or agronomist
and producer. In all instances, if lines of com-munication are not kept open these relation-
ships can become strained and sometimes
even broken down completely.
As a Crop Quest agronomist, our main focus
needs to be in developing and maintaining good
clear lines of communication with our producers to
make sure both parties have a mutual understanding of the goals and
direction intended. Just as all the members of a good football team
follow the same playbook, so goes the relationship with an agrono-
mist and producer. They must both be on the same page when it
comes to making the key decisions during a growing season.
An agronomist must also be able to foster and maintain mult
lines of communication within his/her trade area to ultimate
lead to success. Agronomists need to have working relation
with local fertilizer and seed dealers, implement dealers, ch
representatives, and others with direct ties to agriculture. Tare sources of information that can help an agronomist be m
cient and better able to provide timely and benecial exper
By maintaining these various lines of communication an a
mist has the ability to help a producer nd a specic variety
seed that may be in short supply, locate a certain type of till
equipment, or know of some information that may help in th
formance of a planter or grain drill. All these different reso
of knowledge can be very benecial when utilized. Keeping
resources accessible is very important. The old adage its n
what you know but who you know can be a very important ke
success.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
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Communication is extremely im-portant as Chris McInteer discussesin his article within this newsletter.But another area of communication
that he didnt discuss is with others in-volved in agriculture outside our normal
trade area.I recently attended the National Alliance of
Independent Crop Consultants Annual Meeting in Seattle, Wash-ington where more than 450 professional consultants from acrossthe United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom gathered tolisten to presentations by researchers, government ofcials, indus-try representatives, and from peers within the consulting business.All these presentations were informative and educational regardingnew or present regulations, new pesticide products, performanceissues, global fertilizer outlook, future soil testing methods, nitro-
gen sensor technology, and updates on precision ag technology,bio-fuels and what this means for crop consultants and their clientsin addition to several other topics.
However, the best part of any of these conferences or conven-tions is the one-on-one sharing of ideas about issues or concernsthat each of us may have and sometimes nding that person whohas already been through a similar situation and found a solution.
Who knows, that samesolution may work forothers and their clients.
I also had thewonderful opportunityto moderate a sessionon wheat during a cropspecic roundtablediscussion. This wasreally an international mix ofconsultants, as one was fromScotland, two from England, two fromCanada, and the rest were scattered across the U.S. It was re-warding to hear from consultants who have been involved in higproduction wheat management programs and the issues involvingfungicide resistance due to the high usage of these products for
many years. We were able to form an ongoing email discussiongroup in order to maintain this expert resource dialogue for otherissues that may come up regarding wheat production.
No man is an island holds true when is comes to being at thetop of your game in whatever business or venture you may be inand open communication and sharing of ideas is essential to maitaining those important relationships.
Member, National Allianceof Independent CropConsultants, CPCC-I
Certied
By: Ron OHanlonPresident
World View
As we head toward spring, our thoughtsturn toward growing a protable wheat crop.
Record prices are causing producers to look at
maximizing input costs on a potentially very
valuable crop. By now, most of the wheat in
the country has already been fertilized hope-
fully to gain a higher yield. Along with the
fertilizer, most of the herbicide applications are
already applied as well. Now it is time to con-
centrate on managing insect and disease pres-
sure. It is hard to predict outbreaks of aphid
and mite populations this spring, but if they
occur, it will be important to control any yield
robbing infestation. Having a consultant moni-toring your wheat crop is a very valuable asset.
In order for yield potential to be preserved, it
requires proper timing of treatments. We dont
want to treat a problem after the damage has
been done.
Disease pressure can be slightly more pre-
dictable. Certain levels of diseases seem to
infest most elds each year. Sometimes, we
never reach treatable levels or levels that dont
reach a break even point. But, break even
becomes less of an issue at these high com-
modity prices. It is hard for us as consultants
to blanket recommenda fungicide treatment
strictly as a preventa-
tive or growth enhanc-
er. We believe that it
is very important to
monitor levels of pest
infestations and treat
accordingly.
This year will be no different, but threshol
levels will be much lower based on the value
the crop. We always have and will continue
take the position of protecting your asset. An
right now, that asset is more valuable than ithas ever been.
Ultimately, Mother Nature will have the bi
gest say in how this wheat crop turns out. Yo
Crop Quest Agronomist will be there to make
sure we do all we can to give this crop the be
opportunity possible to meet its maximum
yield potential. If you have any questions or
concerns about your wheat crop, or any of
your other agronomic needs, I encourage you
to visit with your Agronomist. We are there t
help you make good decisions on all your cro
production needs.
Ulysses, Kan.
By: Dwight KoRegional Vice Pres
CaringFor A Valuable Wheat Crop
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Mission StatementCrop Quest is an employee-owned company dedicated to providing the highest quality agricultural services for each customer. The quest of our network
professionals is to practice integrity and innovation to ensure our services are economically and environmentally sound.
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
PAID
DODGE CITY K
PERMIT NO. 43
Employee-Owned & Customer DrivenCrop Quest Agronomic Services, Inc.
Main Ofce: Phone 620.225.2233
Fax 620.225.3199
Internet: www.cropquest.com
Crop Quest Board of Directors President: Ron OHanlon
Director: Jim Gleason
Director: Dwight Koops
Director: Cort Minor
Director: Chris McInteer
Director: Rob Benyshek
Cultivates The Besand The BrightestAgronomistsCROP QUEST:
As one of the largest independent crop consulting rms in the
country a top priority for Crop Quest is to maintain a staff of
highly procient and technically qualied agronomists. To attract
and train the best talent in the industry, Crop Quest conducts year
round recruiting and summer internship programs. Interns learn
the ropes working alongside Crop Quests seasoned professional
crop consultants. But coming from the nations best agricult
schools, they also bring important insights and perspective b
on the latest research and technology they have picked up at
institutions.
Early this year, Crop Quest brought on three agronomists
help our clients get the most out of their crops and business.
Brad Harding will denitely have a unique perspective to offer the farmers as he works out of the DodgeCity headquarters ofce. Harding, who grew up in Northeast Oklahoma and worked with a small herd of
cattle, received his degree in Wildlife Studies at Oklahoma State University, graduating in December. The
program included a heavy syllabus of crop science, and he draws some similarities in how farmers have to be
adaptable to changing conditions just as wildlife reacts to its changing habitat. The language might be a little
different, he points out, but in the end its about creating better habitat for crops and wildlife. Wildlife, he
says, is constantly forced to be adaptable in different situations, to adapt different strategies to overcome the
obstacles. That is the attitude he expects to apply to his work as a crop consultant.
Nicolas Martin recently graduated from Fort Hays State University with a degree in General Agricul-tural Studies and will be working in Crop Quests Ulysses Division in Southwest Kansas. His territory covers
the Oklahoma Panhandle north to Deereld, KS and into some parts of Colorado. Martin will be based out of
Hugoton, KS, where he grew up working with cattle and spending some time in the feedlots. He emphasizes his
academic major involved general agriculture, and he says, I am looking forward to helping farmers improve
their corn, wheat, milo, alfalfa and soybean production. Martin is eager to meet new clients this spring and get
out in the elds.
Justin Stoerner also joined Crop Quest in January after graduating from Tarleton State Universityin Stephenville, TX, with an Agricultural Business degree. His alma mater is part of the Texas A&M sys-
tem and is known for its interdisciplinary research center developing solutions to environmental problems
in agriculture. Stoerner was raised in the Texas Panhandle and will be responsible for further developingCrop Quests activity there as well as in Central Texas and New Mexico. I grew up on a cotton farm and
raised Angus cattle, he says, so I have a special interest in cotton, but Ill be dealing with solids like
corn, alfalfa, hay and silage.
