Closing Out 2016 Crop Year….Yeah, Right!
By: Katie McWhirter, Precision Ag Specialist
What a fantastic fall it has been; wonderful weather and a predominantly uneventful, safe harvest! These are certainly things that I am thankful for! I had a chemical rep in my office last week waiting to talk to Steve. He asked what I do. So, I gave my elevator speech to him. Of course, he asked what I’ve been seeing. I have to hide my smile when people ask me this. I tell him about after four years, we’re just now starting to really dig deep into the data that we’ve been collecting in order to try to figure out a field’s yield-limiting factor. Especially those who are continuous corn or do a three-year rotation. He then questioned what is the yield-limiting factor that we’re seeing. Again, I hide my smile. His question was implying that there is only one yield limiting factor for all growers. Which of course, is certainly not the case.
When we began the ProVantage data analysis program in 2013, we thought Big Data was going to be the cat’s meow. We’d have all the answers and demystify and unlock the secrets of growing corn and soybeans. We are wrapping up the fourth crop season and our thought process has definitely changed. The value of data is not millions of anonymous acres thrown in a pot that could be clean or could be dirty. You have heard me say it before and I will say it again, this is not a cookie cutter approach. The value of Big Data is your own field’s data, year after year.
Have we found the ‘magic bullet?’ No, but when you consistently see the same correlations in the same field year after year, you have a much better idea what management decisions need to be changed. The goal is to take your fields‘ yields to the next level. ProVantage is a more effective strategy rather than blindly throwing another dart at the wall, hoping to hit the bull’s eye.
Too often, we think the rain barrel has three staves: nitrogen, seed population, and water. But, we know better, there are many staves in that rain barrel. Do you know what your field’s yield limiting factors are? Why not try to figure it out, rather than aimlessly throwing another dart?
Contact Katie McWhirter or Amber Milder to start building your 2017 strategy.