CQ Perspectives Mar 2009

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OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CROP QUEST AGRONOMIC SERVICES, INC

C r o p Q u e s t P e r s p e c t i v e s

Volume 19 Issue 2 March 2009

In 2008 farmers saw all crop inputs associated with oil, from fertilizero pesticides, go up and down in price like a rollercoaster. Crop Questagronomists are helping growers make fact-based management decisions

hat are geared to making the 2009 ride considerably smoother.The rapid transition of varieties to gene stacking and now on to multiple

gene stacking has created some challenging pest management problemshat can overwhelm a grower who doesnt have competent, fact-basednput from an outside consultant.

Kent Davis, a long-time Crop Quest consultant on Front Range ofColorado says most of the cropping decisions in his area are based onwater availability. With a number of cropping options over several years,arryover, especially with herbicides, is a big issue.

Davis says, Our growers have to irrigate, and wedont always know how much water we will haveon any individual farm. Most growers have to plantsmall grains to take advantage of the peak watersupply in May and June. We dont have manyfarms that can put large acreage into one cropbecause we dont have the on-farm water

storage, Davis says.Herbicide management is particu-larly tough because so many of

todays popular herbicides havecarryover that affects productionof crops two or three years down

he road. A big part of our herbicide management program involveshelping growers plan two or three years out in order to make a wisehoice of herbicides this year.For example, outlines Davis, we grow a lot of sugar beets and a lot

of corn in our area. We have to help farmers understand the risks of puttingong residual herbicides on corn, because they will

be limited as to when they can come back and

plant sugar beets.Atrazine is a staple herbicide in

corn, and it plays a key role in reduc-

ing weed resistance in other crops, but it isa problem with sugar beets. The soils in Davissarea run from very heavy soils to very light soils and high in pH.Carryover predictions are difcult at best. We seldom use atrazine inour tank-mixes locally due to this lack of predictability; we constantly lofor other less persistent herbicides to tank-mix in corn, the veteran Crop

Quest consultant explains.Roundup Ready sugar beets were grown fothe rst time nation-wide in 2008. Growers wplant a second year of Roundup Ready sugbeets in 2009, which creates some concern adding another crop with a high dependencglyphosate for weed control, particularly w

limited tools for resistance management. Ccerns about weed resistance buildup are there

these concerns are minimal. The same multi-crorotations that make overall pest management so dif

also make weed resistance less likely, Davis notes.We grow a lot of barley and wheat within our rota-

tions, which require a different family of herbicides. Sthe growing problem of herbicide resistance is one tha

have to keep in mind when helping farmers plan pesticiprograms, Davis states.A big part of my job is to know which weeds glyphosate

wont kill, like velvetleaf and prickly lettuce, and come up wa combination of cost-effective herbicides that will help growers mage these weed pests, Davis stresses.

Pest management decisions are often tied to rotation problems, whichlikely be made worse in 2009 by declining commod

Continued on Page 2

Kent Davis

CROP QUEST AGRONOMISTSHELP GROWERS MAKE

MONEY-SAVING MANAGEMENTCHOICES $Bre

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ingDownInputCo

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Crop Quest Agronomists ... Continued from Page 1

Doug Moye

John Reh

Crop Quest Agronomists Share TipsFrom No-Till On The Plains Conference

prices and uncertainties as to the cost of pesticides.Doug Moyer, a Crop Quest consultant in Dumas, TX, says a

reduction in cotton acreage over the past couple of years has left

some growers with fewer planting options and thus fewer pestmanagement options. Rotation is by far the best option we havefor pest management, regardless of whether the problem is weeds,insects or disease.

Cotton disease problems are becoming a bigger issue, especially inelds with continuous cotton. So, one of our biggest challenges is tohelp growers determine which elds they should plant to cotton.

Gray leaf rust in corn is a frequent problem and determining whereto plant corn often conicts with cotton. If our growers have the landto rotate corn to avoid corn following corn, we can often avoid spray-ing for gray leaf rust which can be costly, Moyer stresses.

Each crop is different and each year is different, which makes it allthe more important to have an outside consultant involved in plan-

ning pest management.

No longer is there a blanket remedy for pest prob-lemsa good over-all pest management farm planrequires putting lots of pieces of the puzzle together,Moyer adds. Like the problems growers face in

Colorado, Moyer says water is a constant factorin crop planning, which affects a farmers

ability to rotate crops. Many of his growerswill split a 120 acre pivot circle into a thirdcotton, a third corn and a third wheat.

He says keeping out glyphosate resistantPalmer Amaranth is a big challenge for

growers in his area. We have to avoid us-ing the same family of herbicides year after

year. We dont want to have to deal with

problems like glyphosate resistant pigweed, he stresses.South Central Kansas Crop Quest Consultant Ken Seiler says

knowing which pesticides are on the market is a big part of his jo

with growers in his area. Sometimes the generic version isnt exathe same as the original product. Knowing which ofthese materials will work and which are marginalis a big challenge, Seiler stresses.

Weed pests are denitely our biggest issue. Wehave relied heavily on glyphosate and now theseproducts dont always work as well as in the past.We are using more pre-plant herbicides, soil-incorporated herbicides. Knowing both thenew and the older herbicides is a constantchallenge, Seiler says.

The Crop Quest consultants agree thatthe price a farmer gets often plays a rolein what pesticide programs they use.

Fungicides, in particular became muchmore popular when grain prices spiked.Then, it was easy to get growers to spend an extra $20 per acre ofungicide that would provide a few more bushels or pounds per abecause the crop prices were high enough to support it.

Now that commodity prices have come down, its more critical growers make careful decision on what pesticides they use they more into crop protection mode than a crop enhancement mode.

The Crop Quest agronomists also agree that a comprehensive pemanagement plan is critical to bottom-line protability. Having CrQuest, with their team of crop consultants, help make those decisiois essential in making management decisions that help growers bainput risks with crop value.

The 16th annual No-Till on the Plains Conference was held inSalina, KS, on January 27 28, 2009. Producers from Kansas,Oklahoma and Nebraska joined together to network and learn from

the various seminars, speakers and exhibitors. Fertility and covercrops dominated the discussion during the two day conference.

Crop Quest agronomists not only exhibited during the show butwere also able to participate in the informative sessions.

The conference presentations conrmed what Imseeing in the eld about soil nutrients, stated John Reh,Crop Quest Agronomist and Division Manager in theSt. John Division. During the presentation by Dr. RayWard, Ward Labs in Nebraska, it was discussed that

research is now showing the nutrient release cycle inhigh-residue elds in much longer than initially

thought. We used to tell producers thenutrient release cycle was 3-5 years, butwe are nding it is really more like 5-9

years, Reh said. This makes a tremendousdifference in the fertility recommendationsprovided to the long term no-till producer.

With water still being a major factorfacing todays crop production, irrigation

is an important management decision for

no-till producers. Managing water differently during different tof the year may provide a competitive advantage for no-till farmDuring a presentation addressing this topic, research from west

Nebraska showed that high residue in the eld serves as a mulcthe soil surface which lowers evaporation noticeably. Early inseason, evaporation is less so no-till producers may be able to dearly season irrigation. That same mulch layer and reduced evation may also allow the producer to shut down more quickly asmaturity nears, says Reh.

Information was also shared for producers considering addintill practices within their farming operation. Residue managemtips from the combine to the planter were shared reafrming thcombine is the rst farming practice in no-till operations. Maning residue during harvest is vital to the success of no-till farmipractices, especially planting stated Reh. Crop Quest agronomcan assist producers new to no-till in nding the combine settinattachments that will be most benecial for the individual farm

Continuing education is a vital part of a Crop Quest agronomcareer. Conferences such as this provide an opportunity to netwand learn more about producers needs and concerns. Crop Quecommitted to providing our customers with the most current inmation available.

Ken Seiler


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Member, National Alliance

of Independent CropConsultants, CPCC-I

Certied

By: Ron OHanlonPresident

When temperatures are toocold and there may be snow on

the ground, it is an excellent time

for Crop Quest agronomists to at-tend educational trainings, meetingsor workshops. This profession requires

continued learning to keep up-to-date on newideas, research, pesticides and their performance, and overall cropproduction challenges.

In this issue of the newsletter, you will read articles from otherswho have attended some very important and educational meetingsand how this is improving the agronomists knowledge to betterprepare them for handling the tough economic and agronomicchallenges that farmers face today.

I have also had the opportunity to attend some very importantmeetings that most of our agronomists were unable to attend due totime commitments, cost of travel and overall meeting expense, andthe limited attendance capacity at these meetings.

Each year, I always try to attend the National Alliance of Indepen-dent Crop Consultants conference which is held at various locationsthroughout the U.S. This is an opportunity to visit with other cropconsultants from across America, Canada, and the United Kingdomand share ideas and possible solutions for the various challenges thatfarmers are facing within the High Plains area. I am always inter-ested in hearing how the UK agronomists work with farmers in theintensive wheat and barley management areas and the disease issuesthey have to ght. Due to our climate differences, it has not worked

as well for us to adopt all of their intensive practices, but some oftheir solutions have given us ideas how to try to solve our wheat anbarley issues.

Another area of learning is the amount of technology that may onday replace some of the intensive labor that consultants currently despecially in regards to soil moisture monitoring. The electronicequipment is getting better to where one day the consultant andfarmer can monitor these moisture levels in real time as they arehappening within a matter of minutes or hours. The same may alshold true to nutrient level monitoring. We are already experimenting with the Greenseeker, which is a nitrogen monitoring instrument for real time measurements. In combination with an applicator, the required nitrogen can be applied as the nitrogen readingsare acquired.

I also had the opportunity to attend the Monsanto SustainabilityManagement 2009 Conference. It was an excellent meeting attended by consultants, retail eldmen, and invited farmers. Monsantodid make a couple of presentations in how they hope to achievetheir goal of doubling the average U.S. corn and soybean productioby 2030 through the use of biotechnology, traditional breeding andsustainability management. The take-away message for the entiremeeting was that we all need to do a better job with the resources whave and to look for technology to help feed the predicted increase billions of people around the world.

At Crop Quest, further education and learning is an importantaspect of the overall success for our agronomists in working withtheir clients.

With the agriculture sector being just about theonly bright spot in the nations economy, CropQuest continues to recruit and train the best andthe brightest agronomists to ensure Crop Questsclients continue to have productive and protableoperations.

Joel Baskett brings an engineering interest andaptitude to his position as a Ag Systems Spe-cialist. He started out as an engineering majorat Iowa State University but graduated with hisdegree in Agriculture Systems Technology. Hedidnt want to be an engineer, he notes, but wasinterested in the agri-tech courses offered in the

same building.Baskett, who grew up in Payette, Idaho, rais-ing onions with his grandfather, will be workingwithin the Idabel, Oklahoma area in Crop QuestsSoutheast Oklahoma territory. He is currentlyinvolved in Precision Ag activities measuringsoil electro conductivity and mapping elevations.He, his wife and seven-month old daughter aresettling into their new surroundings close to theOklahoma-Arkansas border, where the bountifultimber and pine trees remind him of Idaho.

Chris Hill joins Crop Quest as a crop consul-tant in the Dumas, Texas territory. Hill graduated

from West Texas A&M last year with a degreein Agriculture Business Economics. He will befocusing on wheat, alfalfa, corn and cotton. ButI like them all, he says of these and the othercrops he expects to be working with, and Imlooking forward to being part of the Crop Questteam. Hill was raised on a small farm operationin West Texas and worked for several years withNC+Hybrid.

While Trevor Witt is now ofcially a mem-ber of the Crop Quest staff of agronomists, heis not new to its operations. For three summershe interned for Crop Quest while studying at

Kansas State University and graduating this pastDecember with a degree in agronomy and a minorin agriculture economics. Witt will be providingconsulting services in the Garden City territorynot too far from where he grew up helping on hisgranduncles farm, producing mostly corn andsoybeans. With Crop Quest he expects to workpretty much on all the summer crops alfalfa,corn, soybean, milo, sunowers. He is lookingforward to starting his full-time career at CropQuest.

Were excited to welcome them all to theteam!

CONTINUING EDUCATION IS

Crop Quest Staffs UpFor The New Season

ESSENTIAL TO PROFESSIONALISM

JoelBask

ett

TrevorWitt

ChrisHill


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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

[email protected]

Crop Quest Board of Directors President: Ron OHanlon

Director: Jim Gleason

Director: Dwight Koops

Director: Cort Minor

Director: Chris McInteer

Director: Rob Benyshek

At the recent Western Region Professional Devel-opment meeting, topics focused on non-traditionalproducts. It is important that our Agronomists keep

up-to-date on products that are being advertised to ourcustomers that are outside the norm. Many of theseproducts advertise yield response without a clear

understanding of the science behind them. Insome instances, these products are sold solely ontestimonials. Others are sold based on side by sidecomparisons, but when it comes to explainingexactly why a product performs, there is usuallyminimal information given. As a company, we will

be evaluating some of these products in the eld

under conditions that we can control. We would like tosee for ourselves whether a product brings value to our

customers before we recommend a product on a larger scale.The group was also updated on some of the newer GMO technology that is

up and coming. We received a good understanding of the new drought toler-ant gene technology. This gene technology is being designed to allow plantso hang on a little longer under stress conditions. It is not designed to generate

high yields without any water at all. This technology will see the most benet

under low gallon wells. In the arid areas of the High Plains, it will bring somebenet to dryland corn, but it should not be assumed that protable yield

goals will be reached under severe drought or heat conditions.In the Eastern Region, two professional development trainings were held. Uti-

izing the expertise of our own people, the following information was shared:John Reh, Crop Quest St. John Division Manager, explained the various

species of nematodes that affect the agronomic crops grown in the area. Someof these nematodes are a problem only in a specic crop like the Soybean Cyst

Nematode on soybeans. Some have a broad adaptation to a number of crops,both grass and broadleaf. Crop rotation is a way to manage the nematode

population for a lot of situations, but with some of the nematodes adapting toother crops, rotation is not as effective as it used to be, stated Reh.

Reh also shared his experience with a nematacide, AVICTA, that was justegistered for use on corn this winter. This product has been used for a couple

of years in cotton with very good results. This compound will be available asa seed treatment next year.

A discussion on the management prac-tices of growing high yield wheat was ledby John Hecht, Crop Quest Special Projects

Manager. Paying attention to the fundamen-tal agronomic practices of growing the cropand not cutting corners is key to producinghigh yielding wheat. Another importantpoint is to identify what is limiting the yield,and then developing a plan to overcomethose limiting factors. These are essential to reaching high productionin any crop. There is no miracle cure that can be purchased. It takes hawork, a high level of timely management and some help from Mother Nto produce high yields of wheat.

Farrell Allison, Crop Quest Greensburg Division Manager, shared his e

riences with various highly rened fertilizers that are being offered to prod

ers. He encouraged the group to continue to stay informed about the strenand weaknesses of these products. By staying abreast of this information,

are better able to assist our clients in making informed decisions.Other experts in the eld also contributed information during these mee

Dr. John Bradley with FBSciences, discussed the science and technolog

behind their product, CARBON POWER, which has been used in the tu

market and in golf course management to keep the fertilizer nutrients fr

being tied up in the soil in addition to aiding the plants to more readily a

the fertilizer. They are looking at moving this product into the ag marke

Dr. Larry Murphy spoke on the science behind AVAIL which is a produ

applied with phosphate fertilizer to keep it from being tied up in the soil

Bob Germer, with Wineld Solutions, provided tips on the additive com

tions to put with glyphosate to aid in controlling some of the tough wee

like yellow nutsedge and wooly cupgrass, in eco-fallow and no-till syst

In addition to the regional Professional Development meetings, ouragronomists have also been busy meeting with numerous chemical comrepresentatives. With this wealth of knowledge, Crop Quest agronomistsready to provide our customer growers with the best options and recommdations for each individual producer. For information on any of the aboproducts or technology, contact your local Crop Quest Agronomist.

Ulysses, Kan.

By: Dwight KoopsRegional Vice President

Professional Development RegionalMeetings Provide Information On NewProducts And Research

St. John, Kan.

By: Jim GleasoRegional Vice Presi

CQ Perspectives Mar 2009

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