Create a report card to evaluate your season-long decisions
Your crops are talking to you. Are you listening?
“From the first 24 hours of its life, a corn plant will tell you everything that went wrong or right until harvest,” says Steve Gauck, regional agronomy manager at Beck’s Hybrids.
To repeat the successes and avoid the failures, take notes throughout the season and keep a report card for each field. Then you can take the notes and final grade to your supplier and make a proactive seed plan, Gauck says.
“Look at issues such as weed, diseases, grain quality, etc.,” Gauck says. “What was your goal? How did do you rate it?”
Most growers have a good handle on planting and harvest data, says Matt Meisner, head of data science for FBN. Review data from multiple years and look for correlations.
Add in some qualitative perspective to this quantitative data. What weather issue occurred during the season? Did you replant? What trials were you running?
“You want to look at data that leads you to products and practices that create more resiliency against the extremes,” Meisner explains. “A product may not be the winner in the best year, but it doesn’t leave you flat-footed in a bad year. This type of analysis will help you not focus solely on yield, which is just one component of profitability.”
Agronomic Report Card
Rate the success of your seed choices and agronomic practices to make adjustments for 2022, advises Steve Gauck, regional agronomy manager at Beck’s Hybrids.
Emergence
- How quick did the crop emerge?
- How uniform was the stand?
Root Growth
- Did you dig roots and see any compaction issues?
- What limited root growth?
Pollination
- How well did the ears pollinate?
- Did the weather, insect pressure or diseases impact pollination?
Disease Levels
- What diseases did you have?
- When did disease pressure arrive?
- What fungicide or other products did you apply when?
- How much yield do you think you lost to disease?
Insect Pressure
- What insects did you see?
- When did the insect pressure arrive?
- What pesticide or other products did you apply when?
- How much yield do you think you lost to insect pressure?
Fertility
- What fertility applications did you make when?
- Did any visual nutrient deficiencies show up?
- Did you make extra nutrient applications to offset deficiencies?
Grain Fill
- How did weather affect grain fill?
- Did you have enough nitrogen/nutrients to finish grain fill?
- Were all the ears uniform in size?
- Did your yields meet your expectation for that field?
