The soils across our farm vary considerably from lush sandy loams to silty clays to gravel. This presents quite a challenge when it comes to fertility and soil management. Whether our own land or a neighbor’s, we strive to be both good stewards of the land and efficient in our crop production practices.
Standard practice is to soil sample each field every three years on a 1/2 acre grid. That means we have a soil sample for every 150’ by 150’ area within each field. All of our planting and fertilizing equipment utilize variable rate technology which allows us to apply the correct amount of product by each ½ acre.
We have the ability to match specific hybrids not only at the field level but down to the soil type within each field. This is achieved with a dual hybrid planter which allows us to significantly reduce chemical and pesticide applications while increasing yields. We select different forms of nitrogen and incorporate stabilizers to ensure the nitrogen is utilized by the plant and not left to escape into the groundwater or the atmosphere.
All harvest equipment is fitted with yield and moisture recording and calibrated to ensure accuracy. This data is then used to help develop new seeding and fertility recommendations for the next year.
Countless hours are spent every year conducting our own in-house field test plots and analyzing planting, application and harvest data to provide direction on hybrid selection,seeding rate, populations and fertility for the following year.
Over the years we have seen the standard for field tillage shift from moldboard plow to the chisel and now to strip-till and no-till. Each of these practices has a place and we are working to best utilize reduced tillage practices to minimize our impact on the land. We currently no-till our small grains crops and have a new project underway to dramatically increase our strip-till acres in corn.