FALL HARVEST
C2
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2020
Technology bridges years for producers
By GEORGE HAWS For The North Platte Telegraph From the seat of the com- bine, a story unfolds. Instantaneous yield data is displayed on a monitor, grain pours into the machine’s hop- per, and farmers watch, while making mental note of what they will do the same, or dif- ferently, next year. Planning for the 2021 season is underway. Farmer Jeff Huffman said his operation uses two mon- itors: a John Deere that came with the combine and a YieldSense, by Precision Planting. While machinery rolls, he said, they are “com- paring those two back and forth.” Huffman farms with his fa- ther-in-law, Dale Wahlgren, operating as Island Farms LLC, in the Maxwell area and to the southwest of the village. Their major crops are corn and soybeans. “We’re pretty sure yields are going to be good” overall, this year, Huffman said. There was plenty of warm weather to keep the crop growing and fill- ing out ears and pods, and they were able to irrigate to make up for shortages in precipita- tion. “Over the winter ... we’re re- ally (going to be) diving into” the data. For example, “That whole field averaged ‘X’ bush- els and we thought it was going to average such and such. Was it water, fertility, hybrid,” or something else? Producers should base de- cisions for next year on three year’s worth of yield, input and other data, said Joe Luck, associate professor of biolog- ical systems engineering at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. Island Farms LLC has re- cords from 10 years back. Every year is different. In contrast to this year, “Last year there wasn’t enough sunlight” for optimal yields, Huffman said. “However, trends are often apparent. If the same problem areas show up from year to year, it’s proba- Yield production maximized by modern equipment
Photo courtesy of Jeff Huffman
Stewart Carsten, employee at Island Farms LLC, watches monitors in a combine as he harvests a field of soybeans.
Local fertilizer dealers use modern technology to offer precision application services, too. That includes coupling grid soil sampling — sampling small areas in a pattern across a field — with variable rate fer- tilizer application. All of that has made it possi- ble for farmers to really get a handle on the crop at a smaller level than ever before since the days of walking behind a horse — even while their farm oper- ations have become larger and larger. In the process, yield map- ping, going on now, is creating a bridge between this year and next, in a continuous cycle of crop production.
make notations about partic- ular areas of the field, while “on the go” in the seat of a combine. That is not always easy to do, but at least make some written notes as soon as possible when the combine is parked. Global positioning system technology is available on all kinds of farm machinery and sometimes people aren’t aware of the capabilities of their own equipment, Luck said. “We did a study with a guy in Kentucky,” with a spray ap- plicator, Luck said of a prior operation of his. “The guy had two years of pesticide data” saved on his equipment, “and he didn’t even know it.”
on some very sandy areas — planting corn at 22,000 seeds per acre instead of 30,000, and applying 100 pounds of nitro- gen instead of 180. That saves a lot of money on acres that do not have the yield potential anyway. Having continuously record- ed yield information is critical to fine tuning production, said Luck, and the data should be protected. He referred to one situa- tion where a “combine needed service” and in the process of doing the maintenance, they “wiped the monitor clean.” Luck recommends taking advantage of features such as the ability to “drop a pin” and
bly a soil fertility issue.” He and Wahlgren take a number of approaches, mak- ing selective applications of manure, compost, different starter fertilizer treatments, etc. They will use this and prior years’ yield data, cost comparisons and other observations to determine ap- propriate changes for 2021. Luck said the important considerations are efficien- cy and maximizing profits. Sometimes that means boost- ing yields, and other times it means adjusting where the in- put dollar is spent. Huffman said they re- sponded to their own data by deciding to limit inputs
Local corn and soybeans headed around the globe
Area producers will sell to feedlots, ethanol plants, and Mexico, China
all demand for ethanol in Nebraska, he said, is “still not where it needs to be.” Speaking of plants that had not resumed normal operation, Christensen said, “If you kick them on [suddenly], there could be a glut” of ethanol on the market. That could reduce prices that ethanol producers can get for their prod- uct and are willing to pay for corn. “It’s a diffi- cult situation” and “I’m scared,” he said. “We need to get more Nebraska people to use more E15” gasoline, Christensen said. E15 is also called “unlead- ed 88,” due to its octane rating. Gasoline con- taining 10% ethanol has an octane rating of 87. “Nebraska hasn’t bought into E15 like they should.” That by itself could pro- vide a boost to the local economy, Christensen said.
were “abnormally dry” and the rest of the state was in moderate to ex- ceptional (worse than “extreme”) drought. Local feedlot demand for corn is similar to other years, said Steve Scholz, owner and oper- ator of Lincoln County Feed Yard LLC, be- tween North Platte and Stapleton. The ethanol market, which took a big hit ear- ly this year, is coming back but remains ques- tionable. The pandemic had drastically reduced fuel consumption and de- mand for ethanol in the United States and else- where. “We’re basically (back to) running at capac- ity,” now, said Mark Christensen, a grain buy- er for Nebraska Corn Processing LLC, an eth- anol plant in Cambridge. Other plants are expect- ed to resume normal operation soon. However, the over-
livery. They also take a large portion of the crop to area grain elevators either for storage or im- mediate sales. Before this year’s har- vest began, Ag Valley Coop had already ne- gotiated contracts for trainloads of corn bound for domestic and final in- ternational destinations. They were also trucking what remained in their bins from last year’s har- vest to ethanol plants and feed yards in Nebraska and Colorado. Thooft said he expect- ed the Colorado demand for Nebraska corn to con- tinue, even with that state’s own harvest un- derway. That is because the Colorado crop is down substantially due to drought. This has been a dry year in Nebraska, but es- pecially dry in Colorado. According to the United States Drought Monitor, two small pockets of northeast Colorado
“Brazil feeds China until we have our crop available,” but “in February they’ll have a new crop” so will again present strong compe- tition for the U.S., said Thooft. According to statis- ta.com, China is typically the largest in- ternational purchaser of U.S. soybeans, followed by Mexico. The larg- est buyer of U.S. corn is Mexico, followed by Japan. Mexico is a very im- portant trading partner for U.S. crop products, Thooft said, and that has not changed this year. Area farmers sell and deliver grain directly to feedlots and ethanol plants, and store grain on the farm for later de-
pork producers need the grain as they rebuild herds that were deci- mated by African swine fever, especially last year. That bodes well for Nebraska producers. Hopefully there will not be a major rebound of the incurable, fatal disease, which would set things back again. However, the window of greatest op- portunity for sales to China is small, Thooft said. Brazil is a major competitor for U.S. crop producers, but because they are in the Southern Hemisphere, their sea- sons alternate with ours.
By GEORGE HAWS For The North Platte Telegraph
Destinations for this year’s corn and soy- bean harvest are similar to recent years with a couple of notable excep- tions. While the market for grain at area feed- lots is near normal, the demand for corn at eth- anol plants remains unpredictable. On the plus side, China is in the market for more soy- beans and corn than the last couple of years. Fran Thooft, grain originator for Ag Valley Cooperative based in Edison, said Chinese
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