2020 crops

[BuckSutherland]

I finished planting my crops (corn and soybeans) on Saturday, April 25th. That is the earliest ever for me by a long ways. Most of the corn (85% or better) is planted in my county along with about 25% of soybeans. My corn has 1/2" sprout already and beans are planted, rolled, and sprayed with pre emerge herbicide. I left most of my soybean stubble last fall unworked and just ran my field cultivator over it once and then planted. It worked up like flour. Most importantly there was no mud. Mud and corn planters do not mix. I worked most of my corn ground last fall with my chisel plow, but I left some for a no-till experiment. The no-till worked much better than I expected. I have some pretty heavy residue so its hard to get our heavy soil dried out. We have the first ingredient for a HUGE crop. We need to avoid heavy rain for the first 8 weeks. Got a million dollar rain this morning and the weather really looks good for the next ten days. Yield goal for corn is 225-250 bushels per acre, 65-70 for soybeans.

A few pictures. Corn planting stuff.

 

[BuckSutherland]

My first shot at no till soybeans







Conventional till soybeans and my floating row cleaners. The row cleaners are the best thing I ever bought.

 

[BuckSutherland]

More conventional tillage soybeans. I plant my beans at 100,000 seed per acre. Most of my neighbors are planting 140,000-170,000. They haven't figured out my secrets yet.





My no-till experiment into 225 bushel to the acre residue. I was shocked how well it worked. I dont expect them to yield quite as good, but I hate tillage more every year. I planted the no-till at 120,000 seeds, just to be sure the stand was thick enough.

 

[NT179]

How many acres do you plant? I love taking a drive around the country in may when some crops are up and some still being planted.

 

[BuckSutherland]

I have 70 acres of soybeans and 40 acres of corn this year. I used to be around 200 acres of continuous corn, but some back to back wet years damn near sunk me a few years ago. I was offered more land again this spring but I turned it down with the low prices. There is some really good stuff in the neighborhood that will be coming for rent soon.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

You're doing something right. Both your beans and corn are yielding very well for Cass County. I'm assuming you are in the SW corner of the area? I'm in Ag but based out of the Twin Cities.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Mostly just oats and alfalfa getting planted by us.

 

[bwoods11]

I rent my farm ground out, but the farmer(s) are planting 145 acres planted in Soybeans in Iowa, and 80 in corn in MN. With some smaller alfalfa plots as well. Looking good in MN for planting!! Now we need to see a move up in prices. (past picture of the crop ground)

 

[BuckSutherland]

You're doing something right. Both your beans and corn are yielding very well for Cass County. I'm assuming you are in the SW corner of the area? I'm in Ag but based out of the Twin Cities.

Oops, I should have added that I farm in McLeod County. 50 miles west of Minneapolis off highway 7. Cass county is where I do my deer hunting, fishing, and the place I would love to move to but the wife wont let me. I am gonna be going up north to plant trees tomorrow. The crops should be out of the soil by the time I get back. The bears in Cass county would never allow yields like that. LOL

 

[Hoytvectrix]

Oops, I should have added that I farm in McLeod County. 50 miles west of Minneapolis off highway 7. Cass county is where I do my deer hunting, fishing, and the place I would love to move to but the wife wont let me. I am gonna be going up north to plant trees tomorrow. The crops should be out of the soil by the time I get back. The bears in Cass county would never allow yields like that. LOL

Haha, I think that makes a little more sense.

 

[willy]

Buck, how deep do you plant your beans? I love the look of the no till beans into your standing corn residue.

 

[H20fwler]

Looks good Buck, your county is way ahead of the farmers in my area of Ohio. Maybe 5% of my county is planted just been to wet and cold. Next couple weeks look good and they will jump on the fields around the clock as soon as it dries out a little.
Last spring was crazy wet and a lot of fields sat all year. Makes me think land prices should be going down some and that makes me get the itch to buy another place!

 

[SWIFFY]

Buck, I got all my stuff in (food plots) over in Kandiyohi Co. We're 45 days ahead of last year and last year a lot of fields never got planted period because of all the moisture. Things are looking up this year. All the neighbors in my section have gone to no-till for their corn and beans. I love it. I never see any black dirt anymore! I wish more guys would go that direction.

 

[tylor.johnson3]

You’re off to a great start. We’re pretty well wrapped up in blue earth county as well. Much better start than the last few years, were ready for a good .5” to .75” of rain now to get beans popping and our pre’s activated.

Glad to see you’re being progressive and dropping your soybean pops! There’s a lot of data out there to confirm that what you’re doing is spot on for the best ROI.

Are you treating your soybeans or are they naked?

 

[BuckSutherland]

Buck, how deep do you plant your beans? I love the look of the no till beans into your standing corn residue.

Hey willy, I generally shoot for 1.25" on soybeans. If they get dirt on them and the slot closed up without crusting they will grow. Depth on them isnt as critical as it is on corn.

 

[BuckSutherland]

You’re off to a great start. We’re pretty well wrapped up in blue earth county as well. Much better start than the last few years, were ready for a good .5” to .75” of rain now to get beans popping and our pre’s activated.

Glad to see you’re being progressive and dropping your soybean pops! There’s a lot of data out there to confirm that what you’re doing is spot on for the best ROI.

Are you treating your soybeans or are they naked?

I have been planting low population beans for about 5 years. I generally plant at 90,000, but left it a little higher this year just because it was so early. I treated most of the beans this year as I do every year. I even treated them with Ilevo this year just cause I notice SDS more in the years where we plant early. I got my pre on and then got half inch of rain the next day. I will look tomorrow, but I'm sure they are out of the ground.

Less population= better branching/ more breathing/less competition. The beans in this little field averaged 84 BPA 2 years ago planted at 90,000. I had an Asgrow bean test plot here and it had the highest average yield in the 5 state area.

 

[willy]

Those look awesome. Thanks for the info and pics Buck.

 

[OakSeeds]

I wouldn't let anyone named Jack get very close to those stalks, he'll probably try to climb them. simply elegant looking beans

 

[tylor.johnson3]

I have been planting low population beans for about 5 years. I generally plant at 90,000, but left it a little higher this year just because it was so early. I treated most of the beans this year as I do every year. I even treated them with Ilevo this year just cause I notice SDS more in the years where we plant early. I got my pre on and then got half inch of rain the next day. I will look tomorrow, but I'm sure they are out of the ground.

Less population= better branching/ more breathing/less competition. The beans in this little field averaged 84 BPA 2 years ago planted at 90,000. I had an Asgrow bean test plot here and it had the highest average yield in the 5 state area.



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Not sure if you fight white mold in your area, assuming you do as most everyone does, but dropping your pops like that is also the best way to manage white mold. More so than wider row spacing.

Ilevo is a great product, keep an eye on your cotyledons when they come out, you’ll likely see a halo around the outside of them. Looks like herbicide carryover but that is just the visual symptoms of the plant taking the ilevo in, as it’s a systemic product. It’ll scare you if you haven’t seen it but is typically not a concern. With the wet cool spring we had last year that added stress was enough for us to lose a few plants. But I still think a fully treated bean pays nine times out of ten.

Good luck this year, looking forward to seeing the progress!

 

[bwoods11]

I am hearing....27 for a low this weekend in MN, problems for the corn?