HOUSTON — For most farmers it looks to be an early start to the field preparation and planting process in 2024. Drought conditions were the story going into the winter. And aside from a week of snow that hit in January in the Midwest, little has happened to alleviate the dryness.
Almost all of Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri are under some designation on the U.S Drought Monitor as of March 14, with northern Illinois the only region that's reported as having adequate moisture. That area in Illinois shares a border with northeast Iowa where the worst conditions are being reported, with portions of 23 Iowa counties reported as having Extreme Drought.
Combined with reduced crop prices to start the growing season, growers attended the Commodity Classic in Houston to look at what they can do agronomically to give their crop the best shot in 2024.
“People are looking for good advice to get them through a reset,” said Galynn Beer, strategy lead with Agroliquid. “It’s a tightrope walk, to be quite honest. With commodity prices you want to make sure people don’t cut in the wrong areas.”
Beer said his conversations with farmers have largely been about in-season applications. Having a starter fertilizer is good, but not everything needs to be applied right away. It may be more beneficial to add nutrients as needed throughout the season. That ensures the plants that need help are getting it, but farmers aren’t fertilizing places that don’t need it.
“They have an opportunity to let some time pass and accumulate information,” Beer said. “Then you know if your crop is worthy of continuing to invest in and you can delay some of that investment. In today’s interest-rate environment that carries weight.”
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Andrew Penney, DEKALB Asgrow technical agronomist from southwest Iowa, said subsoil moisture is going to be the biggest early-season challenge farmers face.
“That moisture we count on is going down,” he said. “When you have these dry summers, the subsoil moisture we count on is going to run out. It’s a definite concern across Iowa and the Corn Belt.”
He said those dry conditions reinforce certain practices and products, pointing to drought-tolerant seeds. While many seed decisions are in place, being flexible can be important. He said farmers are optimistic by nature but they are also realistic and know to prepare for whatever Mother Nature throws at them.
“We hope for the best and plan for the worst,” Penney said. “We have products that are safe, drought-tolerant but also have high yield potential. Overall a lot of growers I talk to are still optimistic.”
Corey Ritter, Midwest regional manager with Huma, said his company’s liquid products utilize micro-carbon technology, which allows for fast absorption rate whatever a producer is targeting to solve. That can make fertilizer or any application more efficient in a time when cutting costs.
“I want you to get your money’s worth,” he said. “That’s the key. A farmer right now is making decisions on where he’s going to spend that dollar, and you have to look closely at if you are getting an (return on investment) on that.”
No matter what inputs look like, Ritter said start with the basics and don’t forget where one is putting the crop.
“Be loyal to the soil,” Ritter said. “The soil is where we are going to start. Whether you have sandier soil or not, the right product allows for soil to have better structure.”