Does raising yields on your farm seem overwhelming? Is your new 21st century Farming technology helping with your process? YES…..but only if you let it! Changing times requiring changing perception, but with that change the many producers enter the world of information overload, unless you educate yourself on the basics!
Lets brake down this process in construction terms of a brick wall…First we make a plan, then we used GPS and levels to make sure the grade is correct, then we find the most cost efficient brick products, and then finally the phase of constructing. As in nature, people are visually drawing towards the end results of the finish brick building without noticing that the brick layers started with the foundation with “one brick at a time!” As famous actor Will Smith states
"You don't set out to build a wall. You don't say 'I'm going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that's ever been built.' You don't start there. You say, 'I'm going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid. You do that every single day. And soon you have a wall."
So now let’s translate this into the world of agriculture. We start with a plan 9-12 months prior to the next cropping season, use offensive an offensive approach to Top 5 factors that include (below) of producing a top crop, and finally execute the plan.
TOP 5 Factors that Produces TOP CROP
1) Soil conditions at planting time.
2) Seed Placement
3) Seed Quality
4) Matching the Right Varieties to the Right Field
5) Post Planting Management
The foundation of your yield is making sure that the crop is planted into a good foundation (planting conditions) with correct soil temperature. When the conditions our goal is to have all seed emerge within 24-36 hours on each other, thus creating uniform emergence. Steps 2 and 3 blend together; placing uniformly at the correct depths will develop the correct root systems (structure) for the upcoming season and achieve the “picket fence”, and also by having the best seed quality, producers know that they have the healthiest and most pure hybrid in their field.
Finally, the last top 5 factor on producing top crop Post Planting Management or as some people say In-Season Management. I think of this like this… “You do not have 30,000 seeds of corn per acre; you have 30,000 organisms that need to be healthy by one plant at a time!” So let’s break this complex cycle into basic terms.
Basic Questions
1) Did you give you plants a strong start?
2) Did you remove all the weed competition?
3) Did you give supplement any additional vitamins needs for healthy growth?
4) Did you take an offensive approach to protect you plant against any diseases?
5) Did you never give your crop a bad day?
Did you notice that I did not mention Auto Steer, Variable Rate, Grid Sampling, Row Clutches, and huge GPS monitors or any other 21st Century Technologies? Yes this technologies work, but they are only “TOOLS” that assist with the operation. Achieving high yields on your operation all starts by laying down your foundation “One Plant at a Time!”
Lets brake down this process in construction terms of a brick wall…First we make a plan, then we used GPS and levels to make sure the grade is correct, then we find the most cost efficient brick products, and then finally the phase of constructing. As in nature, people are visually drawing towards the end results of the finish brick building without noticing that the brick layers started with the foundation with “one brick at a time!” As famous actor Will Smith states
"You don't set out to build a wall. You don't say 'I'm going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that's ever been built.' You don't start there. You say, 'I'm going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid. You do that every single day. And soon you have a wall."
So now let’s translate this into the world of agriculture. We start with a plan 9-12 months prior to the next cropping season, use offensive an offensive approach to Top 5 factors that include (below) of producing a top crop, and finally execute the plan.
TOP 5 Factors that Produces TOP CROP
1) Soil conditions at planting time.
2) Seed Placement
3) Seed Quality
4) Matching the Right Varieties to the Right Field
5) Post Planting Management
The foundation of your yield is making sure that the crop is planted into a good foundation (planting conditions) with correct soil temperature. When the conditions our goal is to have all seed emerge within 24-36 hours on each other, thus creating uniform emergence. Steps 2 and 3 blend together; placing uniformly at the correct depths will develop the correct root systems (structure) for the upcoming season and achieve the “picket fence”, and also by having the best seed quality, producers know that they have the healthiest and most pure hybrid in their field.
Finally, the last top 5 factor on producing top crop Post Planting Management or as some people say In-Season Management. I think of this like this… “You do not have 30,000 seeds of corn per acre; you have 30,000 organisms that need to be healthy by one plant at a time!” So let’s break this complex cycle into basic terms.
Basic Questions
1) Did you give you plants a strong start?
2) Did you remove all the weed competition?
3) Did you give supplement any additional vitamins needs for healthy growth?
4) Did you take an offensive approach to protect you plant against any diseases?
5) Did you never give your crop a bad day?
Did you notice that I did not mention Auto Steer, Variable Rate, Grid Sampling, Row Clutches, and huge GPS monitors or any other 21st Century Technologies? Yes this technologies work, but they are only “TOOLS” that assist with the operation. Achieving high yields on your operation all starts by laying down your foundation “One Plant at a Time!”