From Seed to Harvest

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Shanon Griffith
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August 2018 Issue #9 From Seed to Harvest Technology Around the Corner By Kelsi Beam Farmers continue to face the challenge of increasing food production without increasing the amount of land used,

Focusing on soil health, eliminating tillage, reducing water use, rotating crops, incorporating cover crops, reducing chemical and fertilizer use, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and integrating

1 August 2018 Issue #9 From Seed to Harvest Technology Around the Corner By Kelsi Beam Farmers continue to face the challenge of increasing food production without increasing the amount of land used, while taking into consideration the environmental affects that farming practices might have. Focusing on soil health, eliminating tillage, reducing water use, rotating crops, incorporating cover crops, reducing chemical and fertilizer use, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and integrating livestock into grain farm systems are a few practices that come to mind when people talk about increasing sustainability in agriculture. There is no one-size- its-all solution to this problem, however, technology might play a major role. The technology to discuss in today s article is Satellite Imagery the ability to get high-resolution images of our ields from satellites during the growing season. The images are converted to a crop health map of the ield and are captured weekly in order to stay up-to-date with what s going on in the ield. These crop health maps can help farmers and agronomists identify numerous differences, including nutrient de iciencies, insect infestations, moisture stress during the growing season, pin-point pest issues, and prioritize scouting activities. Maps can be compared with the prior week or the prior year or with maps of other ields to compare crop health, which may help predict yield and prepare for harvest. They show soil and crop conditions which can help farmers reduce input costs so that insects, diseases, and weeds are only treated where necessary. For 2018, we entered into an agreement with a company who came to us with a proposal where they will provide weekly satellite imagery to all of our ields at no cost in exchange for us providing feedback on their software platform. We view this as another tool to aid in our crop scouting, allowing us to detect differences through-out the ield which we might not otherwise distinguish. The image to the right was taken June 3rd on one of our corn ields. The entire ield is planted to corn and it is easy to see the stress on the corn in the corners of the ield where the center pivot irrigation system can not apply water.

2 20 YEAR ACREAGE TRENDS FOR OUR MAJOR CROPS It s interesting to look back over the years and see the changes that have taken place in U.S. agriculture over the last two decades. These charts compare the planted acres, yield, and total production that occurred in 1997 vs for the three main crops we produce soybeans, corn, and wheat. You can see in the charts that for corn and soybeans, there is an increase in planted acres, yield, and production. However, even though wheat yield has increased, there has been a decrease in acres planted to wheat which has resulted in a lower production overall. Now let s take a look at the why for the increase/decrease of each crop. The majority of soybeans are grown in the United States and South America. China is the largest importer as they rely on this source of protein for their growing urban population. Soybeans are good for crop rotations because they supplement the soil with nitrogen which can then be used for other crops. Animal feed, vegetable oil, and biodiesel are the main products made from soybeans. Corn production has also been increasing because of the increasing demand for food, biofuel and animal feed. The middle-class population is growing throughout the world which results in an increasing demand for meat. This increase in meat consumption results in an increased demand for animal feed of which corn is a main ingredient. WHEAT COULD BE PLANTED ONCE AND THEN HARVESTED 5-8 YEARS IN A ROW WITHOUT BEING REPLANTED. Wheat is the wild-card crop here and world demand is still growing. However, competition from countries like the former Soviet Union, who used to be a major importing country for our wheat are now some of our biggest competitors for our export demand. Wheat is still the number one crop grown in Kansas, used in bread and a lot of other foods consumed. One possible change in technology that might be coming into play in future years is a switch to perennial wheat which would mean that the wheat could be planted once and then harvested 5-8 years in a row without being replanted. This could have a bene it to the soil because the root systems could grow deeper, organic matter would increase and this production system would also reduce the fossil fuel usage per acre because planting would not be required every year. Yield improvements for soybean and corn crops have come from the development of new farming technologies that include genetically modi ied seeds, synthetic fertilizers, hybrid corn, and improved farm machinery. It s important for new technologies to focus on improving yields without using more land or natural resources for agriculture. Cultivation and tillage to convert land into agricultural land results in an increase in our environmental footprint due to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere whenever soil is upturned.

2018 Wheat Harvest By Neal Beam Dry winter and spring conditions along with two late freezes made for some low expectations prior to our wheat harvest.

WITH THE LACK OF DISEASE AND LONG COOL FILL PERIOD FOLLOWING SOME TIMELY LATE RAINS, SOME FIELDS EXCEEDED OUR PRE-HARVEST EXPECTATIONS.

4 2018 Wheat Harvest By Neal Beam Dry winter and spring conditions along with two late freezes made for some low expectations prior to our wheat harvest. In some cases, yields were off bushels from average. But with the lack of disease and long cool ill period following some timely late rains, some ields exceeded our pre-harvest expectations. WITH THE LACK OF DISEASE AND LONG COOL FILL PERIOD FOLLOWING SOME TIMELY LATE RAINS, SOME FIELDS EXCEEDED OUR PRE-HARVEST EXPECTATIONS. The total wheat harvest was successfully completed in about 8 days this year. The ground conditions were dry, equipment ran very well and it was a safe harvest for all involved. We very much appreciate all those who helped with harvest. We have a great team of experienced full and part time employees which make things run very smoothly. A special thanks goes to Andrew Smith who comes in early and stays late in order to have all the equipment ready for the rest of our team. He does a great job performing all the daily maintenance. Thank you to all the landowners for putting your trust in us. Without your support, we could not be successful in what we do!

Dicamba Herbicide Use In Soybeans By Dale Schmidt With the recent controversy and press coverage over the application of Dicamba and the potential damage to offsite plants and susceptible crops, I

5 Dicamba Herbicide Use In Soybeans By Dale Schmidt With the recent controversy and press coverage over the application of Dicamba and the potential damage to offsite plants and susceptible crops, I feel like it is a good idea to communicate and educate all of our stakeholders as to where we at Beam Farms are choosing to utilize this technology. I want to start with the history and facts of Dicamba and its known uses. Dicamba herbicide, better known as Banvel, has been in use since 1942 when it was irst discovered through research. Banvel herbicide has been and is still used to this day to control primarily broadleaf weed species and some woody plants. The function of Banvel, when applied at suf icient concentrations, is to increase the growth rate of the target weed species to rapidly outgrow nutrient supplies and die. This form of control has been very ef icient for tough-to-control weeds in agriculture for many years but has been used with much caution due to its known issue with volatility. Soybeans are a broadleaf plant that are very susceptible to Banvel and debatably more susceptible than garden vegetables and trees. Recent seed genetic technology has advanced to the point where soybeans have been genetically enhanced to be resistant to Banvel was the irst year that this technology was available for commercial use in agriculture. Due to the breakout of Roundup resistant pigweeds several years ago, the Ag sector was in great need of a pesticide that would aid in controlling pigweeds which were causing yield losses and doubling the cost of weed control for ag producers. The use of Banvel resistant soybeans is the best current option for the control of these resistant weeds. It APPROXIMATELY 90-95% OF THE SOYBEAN ACRES ADAPTING TO THIS TECHNOLOGY OF SEED. became widely accepted in its irst year of use and will continue to be a growing primary tool for weed control for 2018 with approximately 90-95% of the soybean acres adapting to this technology of seed. The main reasons for this rapid adaptation to Dicamba resistant soybeans are twofold. First, Ag producers were in desperate need of a pesticide that would control the ever increasing problems with herbicide resistant weeds in soybeans. Second, Ag producers needed to protect their crops from potential misapplication and the unintended off-site volatility issues that surround Banvel. We at Beam Farms have chosen to plant Dicamba resistant soybeans on every soybean acre in We are primarily doing this to protect the investment that you as a landowner have growing on your property from unintended off-site herbicide damage. We have also chosen to move this direction due to increased yields in the new genetics and by using the Banvel product we can more economically control resistant weeds. With that being said, we are also very environmentally conscious to the use of Banvel and the many risks associated with the improper application of the product. Due to many of the new label and regulatory changes pertaining to the application of Banvel to soybeans, we will continue to rely on the timely and professional custom application by MKC.

Since those acres are scheduled to be planted to a spring crop the following year, we choose to go ahead and plant double-crop soybeans rather than let the land sit and require weed control without

6 DOUBLE-CROP SOYBEANS Planting a crop of soybeans into wheat stubble right after wheat harvest is part of our planned rotation. Following the 3rd consecutive year of wheat on any dryland acre, our plan is always to follow that crop by planting soybeans. Since those acres are scheduled to be planted to a spring crop the following year, we choose to go ahead and plant double-crop soybeans rather than let the land sit and require weed control without any bene it. We view this as a cover crop with the inancial bene it of potentially raising additional bushels with a second harvest on that same acre. Our yield goal isn t as high on the double-crop soybeans as we would expect on the full-season soybeans, but with the right conditions they can produce a reasonable yield. Other bene its of the second crop include an improvement in soil structure, soil organic matter and the addition of nitrogen. The picture below shows a large pile of lime in one of our ields. Depending on the time of year and availability, we are able to get lime products from various sources. The product in this pile is coming from a water treatment plant near Salina. It has a guaranteed CCE (Calcium Carbonate Equivalent) of 75% as compared to dry Ag Lime from a quarry which is around 55% CCE. The higher the value, the more effective it is of raising the ph in the soil. Keeping every acre we farm at a ph level of 6.0 to 6.5 is the standard we set. With the high investment in land, machinery, labor and other inputs, making sure fertilizer ef iciency and yields are not affected by low ph soils is critical to pro itability.

7 U.S. FARMLAND DISAPPEARING AT AN ALARMING RATE Almost anywhere in America, one can ind land that was once rich, fertile farmland being replaced by housing or commercial businesses. This might be a well-deserved retirement fund for famers and landowners, but once the land is covered with houses and businesses it will never produce grain or hay again. The American Farmland Trust (AFT) released an assessment of the loss of U.S. farmland and ranchland. The loss is serious and will likely increase in the rate of disappearance. Here are some of the key indings from their report: Between , almost 31 million acres of farmland were lost. 11 million of those acres were among the best farmland in the nation. Development disproportionately occurred on agricultural lands, with 62% of all development occurring on farmland. Expanding urban areas accounted for 59% of the loss. Low-density residential development from the building of houses accounted for the other 41% of the loss. We need farmland to feed us and sustain our economy. Agriculture accounts for one trillion dollars of the U. S. Gross Domestic Production. It also provides habitat for wildlife and helps reduce air and water pollution. Continued large-scale loss of farmland has the potential to jeopardize our ability to feed the world s growing population. This loss isn t as big of issue in Central Kansas as it is around the more metropolitan areas, but it is still happening at a lessor rate. IF THE TRENDS OF THE LAST 2 DECADES CONTINUE, AMERICANS WILL BE FACED WITH LESS PRODUCTIVE AGRICULTURAL LAND. Farmers are aging as are the land owners, and the land they own will be passed on to the next generation. However, if the trends of the last 2 decades continue, Americans will be faced with less productive agricultural land. This expected disappearance will be supportive to the appreciation of land values moving forward.

8 838 15th Avenue McPherson, KS To date, we have received excellent summer growing conditions for many of our crop ields. Irrigated corn potential looks very promising.

2010 State FFA Crops Contest Written Exam

2010 State FFA Crops Contest Written Exam 1. The Economic Optimum N rate for corn is: a) The rate where the corn yield is at the maximum level b) The rate where the last unit of N returns a grain yield high enough to pay for the N c) The rate