This week many Indiana farmers, and corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum producers from around the country, will head for the Big Easy and Commodity Classic in New Orleans. A good time awaits but they’ll be looking for good answers too, ways to trim just a little more input cost out of the operation or squeeze an extra bushel out of every acre this year.
It will be the largest Commodity Classic trade show ever, and Indiana based Beck’s Hybrids will be there to share their newest Practical Farm Research. Ryan White says specialists will be on hand to talk about nitrogen rates and seeding rates.
“We’ve always been pushing for yield and we’ve always got to balance yield with economics and find that right balance,” he told HAT. “Matching that to the soils, there’s some really good research around that. Nitrogen rates and timing, we’ve done a lot of not only research in Indiana but multiple locations, so multiple environments. And longer term there is a lot of work that we’re looking at. How do you get the most out of genetics through multi-genetic planting, multi-hybrid planting in your farms into the future.”
Beck’s will feature daily PFR presentations on their water management study and the future of narrow row corn planting.
White is Regional Business Manager for Beck’s Precision Farming where they deal with all the precision equipment farmers have and the data they’re collecting.
“We’re working with farmers to bring that together and find ways to enhance and improve management practices. A lot of what we do with that technology is incremental gain over time, so it’s really about combing through the data, finding those agronomic tidbits and putting them to work on the farm. So Beck’s started investing in this and it’s an area we want to continue to help farmers with as we move forward.”
He said those farmers who have invested in the equipment recently who might not have used the technology in their combine or planter or sprayer, are starting to want to learn more.
“It has been ‘well I’ve had it here but I haven’t quite figured out that first step and what to do,’ so Beck’s has got field advisors out there. They know the monitors, they know the equipment, and putting that together with our Practical Farm Research we’re able to start helping them put that equipment to work with the management and agronomy research that we’ve got.”