CQ Perspectives Sep 2008

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OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CROP QUEST AGRONOMIC SERVICES, INC

®

Volume 18 • Issue 5 • September 2008

By Saturday afternoon most people around the country had seen the photos

nd aerial video of what had been a thriving farm community in south central

Kansas just 12 hours earlier. As the sun rose over Greensburg, KS, on themorning of May 5, 2007, there wasn’t a shadow to be cast anywhere. That’s

ecause a massive EF5 tornado ripped through the town Friday evening, liter-

lly vaporizing a two-mile swatch of anything – trees, buildings, homes, poles,

igns – that might have blocked the rays. What the nation saw wasn’t the

ubble of collapsed buildings but total annihilation.

After the 24/7 coverage of Katrina and the routine reporting of natural

isasters, Americans can seem blasé about the footage they see on television.

his time, however, the devastation was unspeakable and reporters at times

ppeared speechless. Generally, hurricanes, oods, res and lesser tornadoes

eave some vestige of the structures so residents can at least have a reference

oint to measure the destruction or to determine their location.

“But the damage here was so complete there were no familiar landmarks,”

ays Farrell Allison, a Crop Quest agronomist and Greensburg resident. The

own was evacuated Friday night after the tornado, and folks were not allowedack in until Monday morning. “Upon their return, the rst thing people said

was where is everything?” Allison who has lived in Greensburg for 31 years

ecalls his family asking each other, “Where do we live?”

Nature had pulled off the perfect identify theft. Like just about everyone else

n Greensburg, Allison and his family lost everything. When the sky ominously

arkened and the wind whipped up that evening, Allison felt a knot form in his

tomach. Like many who make their living from the land, he considered himself 

storm watcher and would have gone out to take a look. But something told him

his was different. Then with 20 minutes to spare, the National Weather Service

onrmed an impending disaster and warned citizens to take cover.

“Still, as we headed to the basement,” says Allison, noting this was the rst

me he and his family had ever retreated to the cellar, “I thought this really

ooks dire; we could lose a tree.”

That would have been getting off easy. Instead, he lost his two story housend his ‘dream’ shop where he stored an antique tractor and a vintage 1936

GMC ton-and-a-half farm truck he had restored. Sadly, the elderly gentleman

rom whom he bought the truck and who had been sentimentally attached to it

ven after the sale died in the tornado. “I guess it was tting and appropriate

hat the truck went with him,” Allison rationalizes.

Amazingly, only 11 people were killed and, thankfully, Allison’s family was

afe. “My parents had come up that day from Texas for a visit,” Allison says,

and afterwards my step-father, no stranger to danger who experienced front

ne combat in Korea, said he had never been so scared.”

FAST FORWARDAlthough getting back to normal might take some time, the people of Greens-

urg have gotten back into something of a routine. When the rst anniversary

of the tornado rolled around, farmers in the area had already replanted so

this season’s crops. While it wouldn’t be difcult – and would be comple

 justied – to dwell on last year’s tragedy, Greensburg is moving on. Alli

who has been with Crop Quest since it was formed 16 years ago, focuse

the current weather that has battered the area with hail, rain and strong w

Despite the trauma caused by the tornado and the added burden of tryi

to forge ahead while still in a recovery mode, Greensburg farmers plante

their corn, soybeans, grain sorghum and wheat crops on schedule. “We h

a pretty good start this season,” Allison mentions until the weather took

bad turn. “Half our annual rainfall came in May alone, and pounding hai

been a major destructive force.” Now after an early August heat wave w

temperatures topped 100 degrees, he is concerned with the strong winds

have been kicking up this season. “It’ll whip the plants around and set th

back,” he says. But it is all part of the scheme of nature, and it is his job

agronomist to anticipate and gure into the plans he provides for Crop Q

clients in his territory.

REBUILDINGThe inconvenience and cost of replanting much of this year’s crops pal

comparison to the overall expense and effort facing the Greensburg com

nity as it rebuilds its town. Greenburg is an agricultural area, Allison str

and rolling with nature’s punches is simply part of the process of rural li

“This is what it’s all about,” he concludes. “Farmers realize that weatherisn’t necessarily their friend, but they have this attitude that it can’t get th

down.”

Greensburg farmers, however, are confronting their two-pronged challe

with true grit and gumption. Rebuilding, according to Allison, has been a

nancial struggle. The high cost of building materials has either prohibit

number of rebuilding starts or cut them off before completion. Many hou

holds, farms and business were underinsured. The catastrophic absence o

administration infrastructure and services has been an impediment, as w

Despite these shortcomings, the community did manage to erect a new

water tower that is up and running – a feat by most municipal standards

generally takes more than two years. About 700 of the 1,400 families liv

Greensburg before the tornado are back in town. Additionally, with the h

Continued on Pag

GREENSBURGCreating ANew Future

Greensburg native, Farrell Allison stands in front of a new rebuilding proj

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Not Just Rebuilding ... Continued from Page 1

the USDA a business incubator facility is being constructed which

will allow 50 different companies to provide services and products to

the community.

John Deere is rebuilding its sales and service center, and a biodiesel plant

is slated for development and construction. Not to be overshadowed by

the town’s agricultural and business roots, the arts will be served by the

rebuilding of the Twilight Theatre which will be used as the high schools

auditorium, too.

GREENING OF GREENSBURGIf there are prevailing sentiments binding the community together, it has to

do with opportunity and adventure – and a little glamour and celebrity. “Actu-ally, it is exciting to be part of something new,” Allison offers, “espe-

cially in rural America.”

At the moment it could be argued that Greensburg’s notoriety is

being fed not so by the tragic visitation of nature’s most powerful

climatologic force and the morbid fascination with the destruction

it left behind, but by the appearance of President Bush for the

high school’s commencement, by celebrities, the media and by

environmentalists who view the little town as a petri dish for

creating sustainable living experiments.

When the dust had settled in the aftermath of the tor-

nado, Kansas governor Kathleen Sebe-

lius issued a challenge to the town on

one of her visits. Why not put some

green into Greensburg, she suggestedas the recovery got underway. The

high school kids embraced the idea,

as did a young city administrator who

asked what else the town could do to

draw people.

The tornado initially took care of 

that, as the major networks and cable news descended on the town to re

on the situation. But as the news value of the event itself diminished, ot

media outlets followed up on the recovery efforts. Hollywood actor Leon

DiCaprio got wind of Greensburg’s intentions to “go green” and jumped

opportunity to produce a 13-week documentary for the Discovery Chann

July, Planet Green, part of the Discovery network, decided to create six m

episodes.

As one of Hollywood’s leading advocates for sustainable living, DiCapr

ated more publicity for the town, not only highlighting its spot on the map

also ensuring it a place in the galaxy of rising environmental stars. Capita

on its green fame, the Greensburg City Council recently approved a resol

that all city building projects will be built to LEED (Leadership in Energy

Environmental Design Green Building Rating System™) Platinum level s

dards. LEED encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable g

building and development practices through the creation and implementat

universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.

“This makes us the rst city in the U.S. to do this, and it shows the worl

green we are,” boasts a Greensburg’s city council member.

For his part Crop Quest’s Farrell Allison is keeping pace with the city fa

“I was going green anyway,” he says. He doesn’t like paying utilities bills

constructing his new home with insulated concrete and using only elect

 – no gas. Not long ago, a Discovery Planet Green video team happened

property and was intrigued by the sustainable design. As a result, Alliso

family and their home have had a part in the series. Over the last year, A

says he has met numerous people from New York, Hollywood and plac

never would have expected. “There have been so many truly nice, conc

people that I might never have met,” he adds. “ Folks are bringing in tre

desperately needed, and people are always coming in and feeding the w

town.”

Farrell Allison explains that this entire hubbub doesn’t mean Greens

farmers are environmental extremists. “We love plants; as farmers we

all conservationists.”

The 2008 corn crop looks like a big one—USDA estimates 12.3 billion

bushels, the second highest yield on record and up 600 million bushels from

early estimates.

Likewise prices have stabilized from early season highs of $7-8.00 per bushel

to around $5 per bushel.

All looks good for the 2008 crop, but what comes next? How can growers in-

sure a second top production year to take advantage of high grain prices and help

offset the astronomically high cost of crop inputs?

SPRING VERSUS FALL BURNDOWNRod Summerville, a Crop Quest agronomist in Hutchinson, KS, says fall

burndown in his area is more common than split spring and fall or spring burn-

down because it’s a lot easier to get the herbicide on in the fall. “On corn, if vol-

unteer wheat or cheat grass is a problem, we’d use atrazine and 2,4-D or atrazine

plus a sulfonylurea herbicide,” he says.

“If the grower

knows what will

be planted in the

spring, and he is

going to have to

put a burndown

herbicide on, it’s usually better to go with the full rate in the fall.

Usually, growers have more time in the fall and winter annuals are

a lot easier to kill in the fall than

in the spring,” Summerville contends.

TO CHOP OR NOT TO CHOPIf growers are ridge tilling, they have to chop corn-

stalks. If they are on at land, Summerville says

he usually advises farmers not to chop cornstalks.

Chopping and/or shredding, he says, leaves debris on

the ground that can be a problem when it’s moved around by the wind

Less than a hundred miles away, in the sandy soils around Pratt, KS

Quest Agronomist Vernon Flowers says many of his growers leave the

to help catch the snow in the winter time to help capture moisture. “In

spring, probably a third or so of our growers will go in and chop the st

he adds.

WINTER COVER CROPSFlowers says many growers in his area drill 40 lbs. to 50 lbs. of whe

cover crop or for grazing. Planting wheat at low rates in the fall gives

Continued on Pag

op Quest agronomist Farrell Allison.

Rod Summ

After  CORN Is Combined,

What Comes Next?

Crop Quest agronomists conclude that growers should address

several post harvest issues to get ready for next year:

• Whether to burn down corn stalks … and if so, when and how?

• Chop cornstalks or not?• Plant a cover crop or not?• Consider rotation changes?• Evaluate hybrid performance in 2008 and decide which to keep

for 2009.

• Buy seed, chemicals and fertilizer now or wait to see if price drops?• Evaluate herbicide program to determine whether to make crop or

herbicide changes.

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Member, National Alliance

of Independent CropConsultants, CPCC-I

Certied

By: Ron O’HanlonPresident

Crop Quest Recognized

On August 26, 2008, Crop Quest

was recognized as the 2009 ESOPCompany of the Year during the

annual fall conference for the Heart of America (HOA) Chapter of the ESOP Asso-

ation. This comes after receiving the 2008 Semi-nalist honoror the same recognition a year ago. In addition, Crop Quest willow be representing the HOA Chapter at the national level forational ESOP Company of the Year which will be determined

his coming May in Washington, DC.For those who don’t already know, an ESOP company is one

n which employees of the company have some degree of owner-hip within the company. Shortly after Crop Quest was founded6 years ago, it was converted to a 100 percent employee ownedompany within an “Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)”

ecognized by FIFRA and the IRS. Unlike ownership of stock inther companies, the ESOP plan is treated as a dened benetsetirement plan with ownership of stock in the company in whichperson works. It was determined early-on that ownership in

he company would improve an employee’s desire and dedicationo serve the clients and customers of the company.

Our motto is “Employee Owned and Customer Driven” and

as long as we are fullling the needs of our customers to their

satisfaction or above, most of us have never really felt the needfor further accolades. But, as a company that must compete inthe marketplace for new employees to continue the growth of oservice territory and to further meet the needs of our clients, itis important to these new recruits that the company they are comitting a portion of their lives be recognized as a leader in theindustry. It is also important to our customers that the compathey have chosen for providing their professional agronomicservices be recognized as an outstanding company in which theemployee/owners have a stake in the success of their company.

In addition to the above recognition, a group of Crop Questowners will be attending the 2008 Winning Workplaces Conferencin Chicago during October as one of the top 35 nalists in the Winning Workplaces & Wall Street Journal best small companies acro

America to work for. The award recognition will be given duringa dinner ceremony at which time the nalist for this award will beannounced.

This recognition is only possible with the dedicated employee/owers who have chosen to commit their lives to serving the needs of tgreatest group of people in America. For this, we thank you all.

TopAs Company

Our producers in far western Kansas, along with much of theklahoma and Texas Panhandle, are grateful to have the 2008heat crop behind them. Producers east of these locations reapede benet of a very solid wheat crop, complimented by higher

ommodity prices. As many of our producers in Central Kansasere hoping for drier conditions just to get crops in and out thisast spring, producers in the western High Plains would haveettled for at least a little humidity to ease the burden of incrediblyry conditions. All producers are now anticipating what the 2009op will bring.Farmers are known to be eternal optimists, so with great hope,e will begin to sow the 2009 wheat crop. In this environmentf good commodity prices and high input costs, many questionsome to mind as we make decisions relating to spending money

n high-priced fertilizer, fuel, seed and pesticides. One thing tomember is that just because fertilizer prices are quite high, itoesn’t mean that we can meet our yield goals without applyinge proper nutrients. Just because seed costs are high, it doesn’tean that we can expect good stands and plant health from poor

uality seed or seed too far out of certication. Just because it isore expensive to treat weeds, it doesn’t mean that weeds won’t

row in your elds this year.What all this amounts to is nothing has really changed. Weust constantly make good decisions as to whether we can justify

pending a dollar to make more than a dollar return. I encourageou to use your expense budget wisely. This starts with a solidoil testing and fertilizer program. This will help you pinpointhat nutrients need to be supplemented, and which ones do not.

One area to concentrate on is phos-phorus. If you have a limited fertilizerbudget, I encourage you to considerthose elds that need phosphorus andapply an adequate amount. Even if you need to substitute a few nitrogendollars to get your phosphorus amountwhere it needs to be, it may be worthdoing. Phosphorus is very expensivenow, but at today’s commodity prices,fertilizer is still one input that has a solid return on investment.This past year, even in the toughest weather conditions, wheatelds with adequate phosphorus levels out-performed elds withlow phosphorus levels. Plants had healthier crowns, generated

more tillers, and withstood the drought much better than eldswith low phosphorus levels, and it paid off in yield. It is impor-tant that you give your crop the best chance to reward you with aprot.

Many of the same areas that were stricken with drought lastyear remain in a critically dry state. Other areas are blessed withadequate soil moisture and can anticipate getting the 2009 cropoff to a good start. Regardless of your situation, I encourage youto work with your Crop Quest agronomist to help make the bestinput decisions possible. Good decisions are required when condi-tions are ideal and are even more critical when conditions are verytough. Farmers don’t like to give up, and we all know that condi-tions can turn on a dime. We need to constantly be prepared totake advantage of whatever hand is dealt, and make the best of it.

Ulysses, Kan.

By: Dwight KoopsRegional Vice President

Wheat Product ion in 2009

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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 Driven” Crop 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 O’Hanlon

Director: Jim Gleason

Director: Dwight Koops

Director: Cort Minor

Director: Chris McInteer

Director: Rob Benyshek

After Corn Is Combined ... Continued from Page 2

grower some options. If wheat prices are good, they can go to grain

with the crop.

Summerville says cover crops have not been an option for his

growers. “Some are considering the benets, but no one has

gured out quite how they can incorporate it into their opera-

tion and make it work,” he says. It’s a combination of cost,

labor, and something that most farmers just don’t want to

do, he adds.

CHANGING ROTATIONSDeciding whether to change crop rotations is a tricky

question that has been made even more difcult becauseof radical changes, both up and down, of grain prices.

Summerville says some of his growers will make a

late decision on changing crops, based primarily on

commodity prices. However, most will stay close to a

50-50 corn and soybean rotation to help keep nitrogen

prices down.

With corn and soybeans both selling for good

prices, either a 50-50 corn/soybean or two-year corn

and one-year soybean is a good option. Flowers says,

“We are seeing corn yields gradually coming down

in elds that have been planted to corn year after

year, and it’s clear these elds need a break.

“Weed pressure also is a big factor in changing

crop rotations. Going to double crop or full-season

soybeans is a good option because it allows a grower

to come in with a different herbicide to clean up

problem areas,” Flowers adds.

Fertilizer prices being so high – over $1,000 per

ton for anhydrous in western Kansas – is a factor in

crop rotations. Corn requires more N and some grow-

ers are looking at beans as a way to reduce fertilizer

costs, both Crop Quest agronomists agree.

Double crop corn and beans behind wheat has

drawn more interest recently because of the high

price of wheat. It is something that more growers are

interested in, but timing and other factors make it a

decision that should be looked at closely, according to

Summerville.

HYBRID SELECTIONChoosing the right variety is the rst step in making a

good crop. Fortunately, corn growers have a multitude of 

good hybrid varieties that come with various genetically transferred trai

giving growers an opportunity to custom t a variety to their particul

production conditions.

“I like to look at the consistency of a variety, not just its one-year

yield,” Summerville states. “I think some growers get too carried aw

with how many bushels per acre a variety produces under one set of 

criteria. I would rather look at varieties over a few years

and at multiple locations and try to t the best variet-

ies—not necessarily the top-yielding varieties – with my

growers.

“With the high cost of fuel for drying and for trans-portation, we are looking closely at hybrids that

mature well in the eld and hold up under a va-

riety of weather conditions. I want my growers

to have varieties that are drought tolerant and

stress tolerant. Those issues are tied into yield

but are more important than sporadic high

yields,” Summerville stresses.

Flowers says, “I look at variety testing, but I take those results wit

a grain of salt. Most farmers are not going to try something new that

hasn’t proven to be successful in on-farm situations. Mostly, I’m goi

to go with my experience and what I’ve seen on the farm and try to

help the grower pick the ones best suited for their conditions.”

CLEANING UP TROUBLE SPOTSTaking time after the crop is harvested to identify areas in particul

elds that did not efciently use fertilizer is important to overall yiel

efciency. “We can identify those areas and come back the next year

with a plan that will usually make those spotty areas go away,” Sum-

merville adds.

AVOID HERBICIDE RESISTENCEHerbicide resistant weeds are a concern worldwide these days and

both Crop Quest agronomists stress the importance of rotating mode

of action. With so many acres in the Midwest planted to Roundup® 

Ready corn and soybeans, it is particularly important to keep close ta

on glyphosate use. Breaking the monoculture of glyphosate with 2,4-

atrazine and other modes of action are critical to maintaining both ef

cient and economic weed control.

Planning is a major strategy for Crop Quest agronomists and determining what to do after the crop is sometimes as critical as addressin

problems that come up during the crop year. Staying on top of produ

tion and marketing issues is a good way to insure both productivity a

protability in the next cropping season.

Vernon Flow