SFG Update - Winter 2021

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

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The crop required very little LP Gas to dry it this year and harvest went good to excellent. Prices appreciated during the harvest, even more than expected.

• Our fertilizer business and seed sales have been at near record highs and has given us perfect application weather in recent weeks.

• Politics in our country is at an all time turmoil. Both parties have not been able to unify our country to date. Morale is at an all time low. Most would like to fire them all and just start over. I feel for the younger generations having to witness the disrespect shown by so many of our leaders today.

• On the bright side Markets continue to climb at a record pace that no one predicted from either side of the aisle.

Stock Markets are good. Unemployment is at a major all time low. We have several slots open within our company to hire the right people.

Max Smith President & CEO Change, Change, Change.

Change is all around us like it never has been before. Highlights from 2020 include:

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Continuation of low markets from the previous year.

The introduction of COVID-19. We had no idea that this pandemic was going to affect everything that we believed to be normal into the new normal!

• Our crops were planted, and we had near perfect conditions to start a new crop season.

• We experienced the largest storm in Iowa and learned a new word in the process: Derecho. Basically, a hurricane in the Midwest. It caused 11 billion dollars in damage to Iowa Crops. The good news is that it was mostly North of our trade territory. With 140 MPH winds we were so lucky to miss the blunt force of this massive storm.

• With a near perfect crop taking shape by August 1st mother nature shut off all the water to our crops for several weeks and changed a record crop into a slightly above average crop in most places except in the far South of our trade area.

All that being said we can hope and pray that 2021 will get our country turned around where it needs to be. More on that in months to come.

SFG is continuing to promote Value Added Products to enhance the profitability in your farming operation. Management is working on the “next big thing” to enhance all the work done to date. We have designated this year’s focus to provide more training to our staff and our employees to improve all aspects of their jobs. We have some of the best people employed at SFG to design any program we can to enhance our efforts to better serve you our valued customer. It is our top priority. COVID-19 had taught us we can be more efficient if we just prioritize and work at it every day.

We have several people working on Agronomy, Grain, and Feed equipment to bring it up to higher standards. For 2021, SFG has updated several items of agronomy, feed, and grain equipment, as well as focusing more on perfecting our agronomy and nutrition plans.

Call to make an appointment to focus on your 2021 needs.

You will be glad you did!

Thank you for your past and future business for the upcoming season. We will do anything we can to earn more of your business every year!!

Max Smith, President and CEO of SFG

SFG Update

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Jason Smith Southern Division Manager With the holidays behind us we seem to be getting back into the normal swing of things here at Albia and Centerville.

At Albia, around the feed mill things have been extremely busy, but we’re keeping up with the incoming orders. We’ve had more than our fair share of mechanical breakdowns this winter, but I will give credit to the staff. They did not let it interfere with fulfilling all the orders on time.

Charles Smith Northern Division Manager The northern division has been very busy this winter with application. This past fall, the weather allowed SFG to work throughout the season getting necessary field work and application done. We honestly could not have asked for better weather. With that being said, we are ahead of schedule and continuing to get as much work done as needed. The SFG team has already applied around 60% of our Anhydrous Ammonia for the 2021 season. We have had a very good run-on super grow and dry fertilizer too. We are now stocking up our sheds and doing some maintenance on equipment.

This way we are ready to go back into the fields once the snow melts and dries up.

This winter we have been working on keeping the grain bins in shape and getting maintenance work done.

Spring will be here before we know it. Our tool bars are

Our delivery drivers have been navigating those slick country roads and driveways. When you’re clearing out the site where feed is to be delivered, please remember that our trucks are big. They need a good-sized area to maneuver around to get to the delivery point. I know the drivers will greatly appreciate this.

Here at Centerville, on the grain side we have kept busy with shipments. Customers seem to be taking advantage of the surge in grain prices. As we are hauling out grain, we are taking time to clean out some of the smaller silos as we go. Better to get that over with now than wait till the heat of the summer.

On the agronomy side we had good fall for application work. We were able apply NH3, dry fertilizer and even a fair amount of ag lime up till mid-December when the weather finally moved in on us. Having this done will allow us to get started on spring equipment maintenance and safety inspections. Before we know it, spring will be here. Stay safe everyone.

currently getting worked on to be ready. Most of them went out this fall and now must be gone through before then. We have gone through and filled all anhydrous tanks and made sure they are all working properly.

Other work getting done is putting together agronomy plans for spring. We are going through everyone’s requirements and creating plans for what each farmer will need. We put together field maps, fertilizer requirements, seed varieties, and chemical spray programs. This way each farmer will have a good idea of their budget going forward and we can make sure we have the products in place for everyone. We know things can change come spring, but this sure helps.

Another upgrade we have this season is getting a top -dress machine. This will mean we can apply dry nitrogen on corn up to chest high now. In the past we have only been able to side-dress nitrogen on corn up to knee-high. This will be a big part of a planned split nitrogen program this season. More and more, yield increases are a result of split-applying nitrogen.

The crop may be getting the same amount of total nitrogen, but by split-applying it the crop gets it when it needs it. This will mean more bushels in the long run and less run off.

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SFG Update

Beau Smith SFG Feed Albia Location Manager

Calving season is upon us. All locations have colostrum on hand and a good selection of milk replacers.

Another option that you may see on our front counters is Opti-calf paste. This product helps battle scours and is highly recommended.

Our bagged feed business is still growing and continues to break previous sales records.

Jacob, our Mill Manager, oversees the feed mixing operations to get quality feed out in a timely manner.

I would also recommend our selection of tubs and loose mineral. We have a huge selection of minerals for every stage of your livestock’s life.

With the winter months here, the SFG feed team is taking extra precautions to assure feed is delivered safely and on time. Before our driver arrives, please be sure to clear the snow and ice around driveways, feeders, and bins to allow safe feed delivery.

Both Kent and Hubbard are going through new feed branding. Bags may look different and names may change, but the product itself will be the same. If you have any questions feel free to call Scott Goetz at our Milo Location, or Kent Watson at our Albia location. We will be glad to answer any questions or concerns you may have on getting your livestock through the winter season.

SFG Update

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Mark White SFG Grain Merchandiser If you had taken a long nap the past 4 months and woke up to the grain markets we have today, you would have to wonder what in the world happened. For those of us that watch the markets each day we have some of the same wonderment. In the last 4 months we have transitioned from 6 plus years of average to below average grain markets to a level we have not seen for years. No one thing can take all the credit for this rally. Several factors have been involved including bigger exports, some minor crop issues around the world, and just the fact there are a lot of mouths to feed in the world. In just the last year we have gone from asking ourselves where we will put all the surplus grain, to wondering how we can produce enough to feed the world. Now as we plan for the 2021 crop year, we have something that has been missing for several years, true optimism.

Owners of old crop grain are seeing an opportunity that only comes around maybe once in a decade. We have put 5.00 plus on the bean market since preharvest. Corn is worth almost 2.00 more than last August. New crop prices are not nearly this high, but they are at profitable levels.

We are coming off a year that saw mainly lower prices prior to harvest, but when you start to add the government checks all up it wasn’t a complete bust. Our area did raise a respectable crop in 2020 and that put bushels in the bins. One year will not cure us of all that ails agriculture, but it does put us on the right track for a change.

The object now will be to manage your operation to the best of your ability and strive to increase your net worth while we have the chance to make better returns. Our last top of the cycle did not last much more than 18 months. This one may not either so it makes it even more important to grasp all you can. No one has all the answers on how to navigate all the opportunities in front of us. However, we at SFG do have a lot of experience in growing and marketing grain.

We will be more than glad to lend you some of what we have learned over the years. Give us a call.

Tune in to SFG Top Performance, with new episodes posted weekly on Monday Mornings!

View them on our website at https://www.sfgiowa.com/news/sfg-top-performance. Be sure to subscribe on YouTube and click “follow” to be notified of new episodes and other video content from SFG!

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SFG Update

Mark Young Senior SFG Agronomy Manager Did you know that about 41% of corn yield in the United States is directly attributable to the use of nitrogen fertilizer? Regardless of the advances that crop breeding and modern bioengineering have brought to increased yield potential, fertilizer is still a major component of yield.

And it isn’t just nitrogen fertilizers that are critical to yield!

Crops require 16 other essential nutrients to maximize their yield potential. The three that are required in the greatest amounts are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. There is no disputing the fact that for most crops, nitrogen is the nutrient that has the largest effect on yield.

For crops that don’t require nitrogen fertilizer, like soybeans and alfalfa, not applying appropriate amounts of phosphorus and potassium usually limit yield the most.

Even in crops that require nitrogen fertilizer, phosphorus, potassium, and the other essential nutrients are critical to the nitrogen response. Balance nutrition may be one of the most important components of high yields. No nutrient stands alone in importance to crops. Adequate amounts of soil phosphorus promote the uptake of ammonium nitrogen, and in the crop itself, phosphorus is critical for nitrogen metabolism and for all the energy transfer reactions.

Potassium is critical for efficient nitrogen utilization because it is necessary to drive the enzymes that assimilate nitrogen into biochemical compounds. Also, potassium is critical to maintaining water relations in crops.

It appears that the most profitable fertilizer rates are based on crop response, fertilizer costs and commodity prices. The optimum rate is where the yield increase just pays for the last pound of nutrient. This is usually just below the maximum yield level, but this relationship changes with the price of fertilizer and commodity prices. Given today’s fertilizer and commodity prices, maximum economic yield is still very near the maximum yield potential.

To get the most return from applied fertilizer, have your Smith Fertilizer and Grain agronomist help put it where you have the best chance of getting a return on your investment. Obviously, this is going to occur on your higher yielding fields and/or on soils with low soil test for P and K. In 2021, you will be shooting for yields higher than ever before. Many factors contribute to crop quality.

Good hybrids and varieties, timely planting, proper plant populations, good pest management, and good weather are all necessary, but a good fertility program, from Smith Fertilizer and Grain, will contribute to a significant portion of the yield.

High yields require high fertility. Your goal should be to build your soils to a high enough fertility level so that you can reach you maximum yield potential for any given crop rotation and weather condition. High soil fertility supports yields in good years; it also provides yield stability is less than ideal years. All in all, maintaining a good fertility program will help get the most from your fields in any given year.