Comments & Concerns on Crops

This has been a year filled with tremendous opportunity to raise a very good crop of corn, but also a year that will yield disappointing results in many fields or parts of fields.   As I walk through fields and predict dramatically different potential results in adjacent areas, I am seeing the need to improve drainage, control compaction, apply (reapply if needed), adequate N, control foliar disease, and choose hybrids with a good balance of yield stability and adequate agronomics.  We are again seeing problems with either a single application of deep applied N (such as injected manure) or surface applied N. These differences are magnified on corn-on-corn ground that could use better drainage. Our cold winter did not always breakup the compaction which occurred during fall harvest, fall manure application, or tilling wet soil, because the ground was often insulated by a blanket of snow during the coldest periods.  Now is a good time to create a plan to address compaction, drainage or fertility concerns, so 2020 is even more productive.  

Bob Miller

President & Owner