The most important lesson in implementing the Systems Approach, is to take all of the pieces of production into consideration. One of those is your equipment–its maintenance, operation, and selection.
“We can’t eliminate the equipment decisions made on your farm when we’re talking about the Systems Approach,” says Farm Journal Associate Field Agronomist Missy Bauer. “Maybe the fertility is right, the scouting is right, but with a piece of equipment not set up properly or not calibrated to run properly, then all of those other efforts are lost.”
Here are Bauer’s top recommendations to review:
- Every farm’s baseline should be to take care of machinery basics and maintenance.
- At the end of the season, take the time to do inspections, what needs to be improved and have equipment set up and ready to go.
- Everyone who repairs or run a piece of equipment should be invited to attend relevant trainings or clinics.
- Anyone who makes a pass across the field should understand its importance to the overall production. For example Bauer says, “if you make a mistake with tillage, then you could have problems with the planter pass.”
- When adopting technology, develop a technology plan.
You can learn more in Episode 1 of Corn College TV:
