09.14.07 - Add $40⁄Acre To Your Corn Profits In Just 2 Hours!
Farmers in the Mid-South are continuing to learn a lot about producing corn. For a crop that seemed to have little importance a few years ago, corn has been elevated to the No.2 and often No.1 status on many southern farms. Growers are using corn, not only as an important part of their soybean, cotton and wheat rotations, but they are also looking at corn as a key to their future in farming. "We are food and fuel producers today," says Terry Dulaney, President of AgVenture Seed in Clarksdale, Mississippi. There are currently more than 3500 different products sold in grocery stores that are made from corn and that number is growing fast. New innovations are putting farmers into the food and fuel production business faster than they realize. That is truly our future."
But regardless of whether a farmer is producing food or fuel, the goal is to maximize profit from every acre. Believe it or not, the number one factor for getting those top profits takes place a full 6 months prior to planting, and it takes only 2 hours to achieve. It’s called developing a Cropping Plan and AgVenture Seed is the first and ONLY seed company in the Mid-South to offer this kind of plan to corn growers.
The Cropping Plan is the one essential tool corn growers must use to get top yields and top profits. "Every seed company is happy to write your seed order," says Terry, "but few take the time to validate those seed buying decisions. According to Dulaney, 75% of all corn varieties farmers plant today never produce to their potential because they are planted on the wrong piece of ground. "You need to know the genetics of that hybrid, how it responds to different soil types, how it reacts to low or high pH, and many other variables," says Terry. "If everyone had "ice cream ground," it would be a different story," he jokes, "but few farmers do. Many corn sales reps don’t know enough about a variety’s parentage to make the field-by-field match-ups growers need. It does take more time to develop a Cropping Plan, but the time spent is nothing compared to the rewards a grower can receive. We know if a farmer develops his Cropping Plan with our Crop Planning Specialists by October 15, he can add a minimum of $40 per acre to his profits just from planning ahead."
There are 4 basic reasons Dulaney gives for growers increasing profits when developing their Cropping Plans early. First, with an early Cropping Plan, a grower can begin planning other important aspects of his farming operation around it, such as fertility, pesticide, and irrigation plans as well as a sequential planting schedule. Second, inputs can be ordered earlier, which almost always means saving money and adding more profit. Third, the grower can begin to develop his marketing program for that crop and take advantage of upward market swings. The fourth and most important reason why growers can add $40 per acre profit to their corn production is matching the right varieties to the right fields. By developing cropping plans this early, it allows our Crop Planning Specialists the time they need to do their homework and strategically place the correct varieties in the fields where they will perform to their full potential. "This takes more time than most growers think," says Dulaney. "And since we know how important it really is, we encourage our growers to let us get started as early as possible.
In today’s marketplace, farmers cannot continue to delay deciding which varieties they will plant until late in the season. Deciding which varieties to plant is the most important input decision a farmer will make all season. Many of today’s farmers are trying to achieve profitable corn yields but are simply "guessing" at too many of the decisions. And even these "guesses" are being made too late and without adequate help. "Things are changing so fast that farmers don’t have the information they need to make the best decisions, when they decide which varieties to plant in each field," says Wayne Dulaney, Lead Agronomist for AgVenture Seed. "Farmers need to rely on their Cropping Plan Specialist to help them make the right decisions, but they need to start the planning process NOW!"
Every grower needs a well thought out Cropping Plan, it is the business plan for his farming operation. The Cropping Plan allows farmers to think through their options far in advance and know what they’re going to plant, where they’re going to plant it and how it needs to be managed. "The best part of the whole thing," says Wayne, "We do most of the work, and that makes it simple for the grower. Our customers that utilize Cropping Plans will never go back to the old way of doing things. It pays them extra profits and reduces their stress level dramatically. In farming today, that is worth a lot."