Harvest results yield new data and analysis for XtremeAg farmers

Trial data begins to shape the 2024 crop management strategies for XtremeAg farmers.

Kelly Garrett - Arion, Iowa

Kelly Garrett is a fifth-generation farmer in western Iowa. Garrett farms 4,000 acres of corn, over 1,800 acres of soybeans, and 170 acres of winter wheat.

The hay market is booming with prices soaring to around $200/ton. This surge has led to a burgeoning market for silage, with figures hovering around $70/ton. Considering a yield of 28 to 30 tons, that translates to a profit of approximately $2,000/acre. When you compare this to the $1200 to $1500 per acre for just the grain, it's clear why silage, which utilizes the entire plant, is so appealing. However, using the entire plant means we need to replenish the soil's nutrients. Luckily, we can do this with cow manure. With the scarcity of alfalfa in my area, it's more cost-effective to produce silage as cattle feed.

We've been exploring nitrogen trials, testing various anhydrous application rates. Our trials with 0, 60, 120, 180, and 240 pounds of anhydrous per acre revealed that the 60- and 120-pound applications were the most profitable. This insight suggests that we might be over-applying anhydrous in our region. By recognizing the potential of our soil biology and the organic matter it produces, it seems we're making our crops imbalanced with excessive applications. A more balanced approach might involve reducing anhydrous and incorporating more carbon, sulfur, and micronutrients. This can harmonize our synthetic or organic nitrogen application, leading to better yields.

Chad Henderson - Madison, Alabama

Chad Henderson is a fifth-generation farmer in Madison, Alabama. Henderson Farms includes over 8,000 acres of dryland and irrigated corn, dryland soybeans, wheat, and dryland and irrigated double-crop soybeans. When not farming, Chad can be found carrying on another proud family tradition as a drag racer for Henderson Racing.

We enjoyed an exceptional corn harvest this season. While I don't have the exact figures on hand, I'm certain of its success and we're immensely grateful. With all the corn harvested, we've begun compiling our trial data. These trials are multifaceted. It's not just about high or low yields. Factors like efficiency, alternative methods, and reduced trips play crucial roles. Evaluating these aspects often leads to increased yields in the long run, once other variables are stabilized.

We're in the process of analyzing our early soybeans data and expect to consolidate the results within a week. Our double crop soybeans harvest has begun, and with around 2,000 acres to cover, we anticipate this task will span a few weeks. Once done, we'll review this data with our other findings.

Wheat planting hasn't begun. That's scheduled for late October. We're currently analyzing soil samples to optimize our planting strategy. As part of our prep, we've sourced multiple lime loads, which we'll spread before planting the wheat. This, along with the remaining soybean harvest, will be our focus in the coming weeks.

Matt Miles - McGehee, Arkansas

Matt Miles is a fourth-generation farmer in southeast Arkansas. Miles farms 3,500 acres of corn, 3,500 acres of soybeans, 1,500 acres of cotton, and 1,500 acres of rice.

This will be a long winter! All our land is prepared for the 2024 crop. We harvested our last double crop soybeans last week and now I can begin to clear my mind and start on yield results.

We had mild temperatures during the pollination on corn and R1 and R3 stages on soybeans, which gave us our highest farm averages to date. In the later growth stages, we had our normal extreme heat which took some yield off, but we still came out with excellent yields. I always wonder what it would have been, but nothing is ever perfect.

What did we learn from this? When I say it will be a long winter, that’s because we will go back to the drawing board on a lot of the applications we made. Some things worked that were done early when it was cool and some things did not when it got really hot. We have never had a year with those two extremes, so this was a first for us. We pushed some soybeans so hard the yield went backwards. Most of the guys have had great success with late applied fertility. I’m beginning to think our heat negates that somewhat. More to come in the next few weeks.

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