In This Issue: Mike Curtis, Director of Operations Mark White, Grain Division Manager Charles Smith, Agronomy Operations Manager Jason Jensen, Northwest Agronomy Sales Derrick Hoodjer, Agronomy Program
Director Taylor Banks, Southern Agronomy Sales Mike King, Southern Feed Sales Scott Goetz, Northern Feed Sales
Know Safety, No Accidents Mike Curtis Director of Operations
we are in this together. SFG wants to listen and help with your decisions, ultimately making your farms more productive and profitable. SFG has many programs and solutions to protect your investments. Even though it is “go time” for many of us, it is also important to take the proper time to allow for safety on the farm to ensure a successful planting season. Have a great Spring, and most of all stay safe and take care!
First and foremost, I’d like to thank you, farmers, for providing the fuel, feed, and fiber that is needed in this world today and in future. Smith Fertilizer & Grain appreciates the commitment it takes to do this task. You’ve set a high standard for us all! We’re waiting on warmer soil temps, and warm soils mean one thing — time to get the planters rolling. We all need to keep in mind the fact of doing it right the first time, especially with the cost of inputs in today’s market. With Mother Nature controlling our actions and reactions, we must communicate with each other better each day. Please let SFG know ahead of time any changes that you may be considering, from feed to seed and everything in between. Our locations and agronomists have the knowledge to help lower the stress level of some of these decisions, so please don’t hesitate to ask. Planting season also brings increased risk of physical injury and mental stress in the agronomy industry and on family farms. Many spring accidents result from stress or lack of sleep. Equipment breakdowns, untimely rains, and long hours can cause fatigue that reduce reaction times. Conditions can also tempt us to take shortcuts that may lead to accidents. Please make sure you and your team are getting quality sleep daily. Stress is a huge factor in farm safety. Please keep this in mind when visiting and/or calling our locations as spring season gets ramped up. We’re just as stressed and busy as you are, and we want to help you as much as you need. When working to protect our investment in the goods we produce, there can be many obstacles. We need to outthink these challenges. From bird flu to which insects and diseases will affect our corn and soybean products,
1. Know your tractor, its implements, and how they work. Keep your tractor in good condition. 2. Use ROPS and seat belt whenever and wherever applicable. We recommend the use of ROPS (Rollover protective structure) in almost all applications. Most tractor fatalities are caused by overturns. If the tractor is equipped with ROPS, always wear the seat belt. 3. Be familiar with your terrain and drive safely. Use caution on slopes, slow down for all turns, and stay off the highway whenever possible. Elementary, but all too often neglected. 4. Never start an engine in a closed shed or garage. Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless—and deadly. 5. Always keep your PTO properly shielded. It rotates with the strength of 500 men. 6. Keep your hitches low and always on the drawbar. Otherwise your tractor might flip over backwards. 7. Never jump off a moving tractor or leave it with its engine running. A runaway tractor can be extremely dangerous. 8. Never refuel while the engine is running or hot. And do not add water to radiator while the engine is hot; hot water can erupt and scald. 9. Keep all children off of and away from your tractor and its implements at all times. A tractor’s work is not child’s play. 10. Never be in a hurry about anything to do with your tractor. Take your time and do it right.
Market Update Mark White Grain Division Manager
We started seeing weekly volatility in the grain markets a year ago last October and we are still seeing it. We have also been in an upward trending market for most of this time. Many events have developed to make the commodity markets behave this way. It started with a dry season in 2020 that lowered crop yields in many areas. About the same time China was on a buying spree trying to complete phase one of their trade agreement with the US. The 2021 crop was better for most of the US, but South America had weather problems of their own allowing prices to stay on the better side. Then we get to 2022 and war breaks out in the Ukraine stopping the exports of feed grains out of that country forcing the importing countries to seek the grain they need from other sources, including the United States. On March 31 the USDA released their March planting intentions report and for those looking for surprises this one did not disappoint. The trade was expecting 92 million acres of corn to be planted while the prediction came in at 89.5 million acres. Meanwhile the report estimated a record 91million acres of beans would be planted compared to the trade guess of 88.9. This was a huge acre swap, and the markets traded that
way as corn went higher while beans fell hard for 2 days. Then a week later corn was still higher, and beans had regained most of its losses. Now a lot of people from traders to farmers to end users are rubbing their crystal balls as they try to predict the future of these markets. The one thing that everyone agrees on is that the cost of inputs will stay high and will probably continue to stay high for the near future. Every year farmers begin the crop year optimistic they will have a good crop that will bring a good price. This year those 2 things become even more important. The weather will play a major role in the production side. Farmers will have more control on the pricing of their crops and will need to be very informed of not only issues in the United States, but also world issues. Current world events will play a huge role in commodity prices in the coming year and beyond. Inflated input costs will be a reality for some time to come. History tells us that input prices are slow to follow lower commodity prices. There is no reason to believe that the situation will be any different this time. New crop prices are attractive right now. Give us a call and we can visit about protecting your cost of production.
Operations Update Charles Smith Agronomy Operations Manager
It has been a long winter and we cannot wait for the weather to warm up and stay warm. It seems like spring started off great but the rain and snow brought an abundance of moisture. We received several inches of rain in the month of March into April. With all the moisture we have not been able to apply much Supergrow, NH3, or dry fertilizer. We have been working on sprayers and NH3 applicators. We utilize our down time to ensure that our machines are 100% ready to enter the fields when the ground dries up. The weeds are getting hard enough to kill at a full rate, let alone at a reduced rate due to a nozzle not working correctly. We go through and test each nozzle on our sprayers and check to see that the applicator electronics work. You cannot visually tell if a nozzle is working properly or not, so we test each nozzle at a constant pressure to verify that they are all spraying correctly. We usually find that some are wearing more than the others. This process takes time. Other work that is getting done here at SFG is a new 750,000 gallon beet juice tank that is being installed at our Pleasantville location this
spring. This will increase our storage by six times. We are very excited to be able to have more supply readily available when the deicing season is here. Spring will be here and over before we know it. Let’s just hope that the weather will cooperate soon and allow us to get back in the field. We will continue to give our customers the best service and a job well done. Let’s have a safe and easy-going spring. If you have any questions on agronomy needs, give SFG a call.
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Northern Agronomy Update Jason Jensen Northern Agronomy Sales
Cool, wet springs offer a variety of challenges. One of the concerns that I hear often is, “Is my nitrogen still around from when we applied it last fall?” The short answer to this question is yes. It is still close to where it was applied, and we have lost very little of it, if any. Two things must happen for us to lose nitrogen: Soil temps over 50 degrees and heavy rain. The ground temperature has not been above 50 degrees since this NH3 has been applied. This has kept the NH3 from converting to nitrate and leaching deeper into the soil profile. We are currently around 40 degrees, so the ground will need to warm up more before we can see these types of losses. As for rain, we’ve had several wet days that haven’t allowed our fields to dry out. There
hasn’t been any large rainfall events to wash nitrates deep into our soil profile. So even if there had been an opportunity for NH3 to convert, there wasn’t enough rainfall to wash it away. The combination of these two scenarios means that nitrogen applied last fall is still in the root zone, and little if any has converted to nitrate at this time. It will still be there when our crops need it. Further, if you used a nitrogen stabilizer, you’ve got even less to worry about. We used these products on many acres of NH3 last fall. These products help extend the time before nitrogen starts converting and help hold nitrates in our soil until we need it. This will help if we do get a wet stretch after soils warm up. I have also had a few conversations as to whether we should be applying a nitrogen stabilizer with spring-applied NH3. Yes, there is a benefit to this as well. The addition of a nitrogen stabilizer will help extend the time that it will take the NH3 to convert this spring, allowing the nitrate to remain in the soil for a longer time than if no stabilizer was used. The longer we can keep nitrogen in a stable form in the soil, the more available nitrogen we will have later in the plants’ life to optimize kernel growth. It's not too late to consider a nitrogen stabilizer. If this wet weather keeps up, it will save you money in lost nitrogen. Feel free to call any of our locations and discuss how we can help you save nitrogen and dollars.
Central Agronomy Update Derrick Hoodjer Agronomy Program Director At SFG this spring there has been plenty of time for pre-planning. March came in like a lamb and out like a lion. This gave us a lot of time to lay the groundwork for a successful 2022 crop. Over the winter we have focused on more variable rate applications than we have in the past. This tells me that customers are looking at their returns closely and wanting to make every acre profitable. This makes sense with high input prices and high commodity prices. We all must look at the return on investment closely. There’s great opportunities for large returns even with these high input costs. SFG continues to look at ROI and invest in more technologies to improve efficiencies and returns. Variable rate applications are the best way to improve the bottom line on the farm. I have spent a lot of time making maps for fertilizer and seed this winter. Here we are putting the input dollars on the best acres and reducing the dollars on the tougher acres. To me this is a win -win and every operation can benefit from it. I’ve had more conversations on the tougher acres this year than in years past as well. It seemed last year there was not as big of spread
between the good acres and the tough acres. I attribute this mostly to the weather as we had weather conducive to crop growth last year. The big question is how will the weather affect us this year? Our winter was mild overall in my opinion. Only a few snowstorms and not huge periods of severely cold weather. This resulted in a lack of moisture in the profile going into April. I was impressed on how quickly the frost went out of the ground and the tile crews were out working again. This tells me that our soils aren’t charged up with moisture. The US drought monitor agreed with that statement going into April. We aren’t as bad as states to the west but overall are sitting lower than overage on moisture in the profile. This changed quickly as we started into April. We are two weeks into April now and the weather has been cool and wet. This time last year we were planting but I would venture to guess we will be at least a week behind last year. I’ve had many conversations about planting in cold conditions and the biggest thing we need to avoid is planting in wet conditions. I know the calendar has a certain date but don’t plant three or four days too early just because of the time of year. The first 48 hours are extremely important for a newly planted field. The first bit of water that comes into the seed can have huge benefits, but also detrimental effects. (Continued on page 7)
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If that first “drink of water” is too cold, we get what’s called imbibitional chilling. This is when the seed brings in cold water and if the temperature is below 50 degrees that can affect germination. We see this the most when planting in dry conditions but get a very cold rain after. The best recommendation is to plant when soils are 50 degrees and warming. At minimum if planting in colder conditions the ground needs to be dry enough. I will settle with a cool and dry seed bed over too much moisture. We’re after that perfectly even stand
Southern Agronomy Update Taylor Banks Southern Agronomy Sales
Starting the month of March, it looked like we were going to get in the fields spreading fertilizer and putting NH3 on right away. The last few weeks have shown that mother nature always has the upper hand. As I type this here in Centerville, it is currently snowing, and the ground is about as saturated as it can get. We have been busy getting all our equipment ready to go. Whenever it dries up, we should be ready to hit the fields full-force to get spring
that comes up within two days of each other and too much cold water can have a huge impact on that goal. We have been in the waiting game for the last couple of weeks, but the weather will turn around and the work will get done. At SFG we have made efforts into planning and will be as efficient as possible. Everything is going to hit at once, but we will be ready for it. Be sure to let us know if there are any last-minute items that you need help with. We are here to help and want to make sure you have as profitable of 2022 as possible. application season over with quickly and smoothly. Jason and everyone else here at Centerville have been getting toolbars out and ready. We’ve also been working on calibrating dry spreaders as weather allows. With some of the product shortages we are experiencing, I’ve been working on encouraging anyone that has not gotten their inputs booked to get that done. This can ensure you get what you need for your acres this spring. We all thought 2021 was a challenging year for chemical shortages, and it appears 2022 will be along the same lines if things don’t shape up. After next week it appears we will be able to get in the fields and planting season will get underway very quickly from that point. Here’s to a smooth and safe spring for all of you.
Southern Feed Update
covered there as well. SFG rents creep feeders for $2.50 per day, first come first serve. If you think you might need one, now’s the time.
It’s also time to have fly control mineral out. You need to start feeding this now and keep with it through September. If you’ve got a specific mineral you really like, we can special-order it with fly control product added in. For a one-two punch, With creep prices so high, you’re likely use Clarifly and Rabon. This will get all flies and kill penciling out your livestock feed options. Smith larvae. Altosid which is an IGR, gets horn flies. Fertilizer & Grain has complete pelleted creep Garlic repellent works for fly control as well. Flies available for our customers. Although it’s more don’t like the smell of garlic that will come from up front, complete pelleted creep will cost less the cow and they’ll stay away. than making your own creep on the farm. If I spoke with you earlier about pricing and you Custom-ground mixes often contain fines, haven’t ordered mineral yet, as I warned it would, which cause bloat and reduce feed intake. the cost has gone up. Many minerals are on Complete pelleted creep leaves minimal fines in allocation, so order now and get product to be sure the bottom of your creep feeders. Also, you have some when you need it later this year. complete pelleted creep has a much better If you’d like to discuss pricing and ordering, give feed efficiency. It comes in at a ratio of 5 to 1, me a call at 641-218-4232. Be sure to check with us whereas commodity creep requires you to feed on pricing and volume discounts. We can go over more creep to achieve the same result, with an mineral programs, creep feeds, feeding calves, efficiency of 8.5 or higher to 1. creep rations, balancers, or any other problem Mike King Southern Feed Sales
If you need a creep feeder, we’ve got you
you’re facing at your operation.
Northern Feed Update Scott Goetz Northern Feed Sales
Mother nature is being a little fickle this year. For the biggest part, we had a pretty nice winter, but so far spring has been a struggle. I had a producer tell me he wished he would have bred all his cows for February this year, as the weather was much nicer. I hope everyone is having good luck keeping calves out of the mud and healthy this year. As I drive to Milo every morning, I go past a field with a rye cover crop on it. The rye was the first green I saw this spring, and it is starting to get some height to it. This might be a good year to graze those cover crops. With the high cost of feed this year, a producer can save some feed costs by using these crops. Not only can you save on feed cost, but they can buy you another 2-3 weeks on your pasture. This might be important this year, as the cool cloudy weather is really putting the brakes on grass trying to grow. You can start grazing cover crops when they are 6 inches tall and have adequate root development. Make sure stocking rates are high enough that the forage does not get too
mature. Keep in mind that if we get a couple warm days, rye easily will outgrow what cows can consume. Cattle need to have been started on a high magnesium mineral before being turned out on green cover crops. Ideally, start a high mag mineral 2-3 weeks before turnout to prevent any issues with grass tetany. Rye in its vegetative state is 14% Dry Matter, 27% Protein, and 71% TDN. The high moisture content makes it difficult to meet the dry matter needs of grazing cattle. Offer dry forage, like grass hay, to meet their nutritional needs. This also slows the passage rate, allowing cattle to better utilize the nutrients in rye. Grazing cover crops in the spring can prove to be valuable and cost effective. Whether you are grazing cover crops or going to pasture, it is time to get high mag mineral in front of your cows. If you have consumption issues with mag mineral, remember SFG has high mag in 250lb tubs also. Feel free to contact Mike or myself at any time to talk about your feed needs.
Knoxville Main Office
Pleasantville Location
Centerville Location
Albia Location
1650 Quebec St
702 E. Jasper
1605 S. 24th St
805 Hwy 5 North
Knoxville, IA 50138
Pleasantville, IA 50228
Centerville, IA 52544
Albia, IA 52531
Office: 641-828-8500
Office: 515-848-5000
Office: 641-856-2828
Office: 641-932-2100
Knoxville City Location
Melcher-Dallas Location
Milo Location
Columbia Fuel Station
601 N. Sherman St
126 2nd St SE
101 1st St
2441 Hwy 14
Knoxville, IA 50138
Melcher-Dallas, IA 50163
Milo, IA 50166
Columbia, IA 50057
Office: 641-842-5511
Office: 641-947-2000
Office: 641-942-6223
Cell: 641-218-4035