Montana Field Day and Much More

So this past week I made my way to Great Falls, Montana so that I could attend a field day and look at a research plot that involved AgroLiquid.  I got to Great Falls in the middle of the afternoon, so I had some time before the field day which was the next day.  I have been to Montana many times and there are numerous references around the state to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, officially known as the Voyage of Discovery.  There is an Interpretive Center that I have never visited, until now.  It was very impressive with a complete explanation of the entire voyage, which was from May of 1804 to September of 1806.   

It was an amazing journey of physical challenge and endurance as they explored the Missouri River in the hope of discovering a "Northwest Passage" to the Pacific Ocean.  All was going well until there were these mountains, which had to be crossed on foot and horseback rather than by river.  But it was truly a Voyage of Discovery.  I was amazed that they actually had to pull the boats for so much of the entire journey West, which was upstream.  And they didn't exactly have Red Wing boots or anything like that.  They saw many animals that were new to white men.

One of the biggest hardships was when they got to the area that is currently Great Falls, Montana.  There they were met by not one, but a series of five waterfalls.  Although they weren't really very high, they could not be crossed by water.  Below is one of the falls, although the dam reduced the strong water flow.

So they had to carry the boats some 20 miles around.  This required several trips as they built trailers out of wood for the traverse.  This is a life-size model in the museum.  They talked of how their soft leather shoes were pierced by cactus and rocks, and how there were hailstorms that sent them looking for cover in the grassland.  They originally thought it would only take a few days, but it took 2 weeks.  This is a much longer tale than can be covered here.  So read up on it if you want.  One more amazing fact though.  Out of the 30 men on the journey, only one man died, and that was of appendicitis.  Tough crew.  But it was definitely worth the stop.

The field day was at the Montana State University Western Triangle Ag Research Center north of Conrad, which is about an hour north of Great Falls.  There has been good weather for growing crops this year with decent rainfall for a change.  So growers must have been in a good mood as there was a big tunout of well over a hundred.  Their biggest ever.  In fact the bank that put on the lunch had to scramble back to the store for more food.  (They said they would just raise loan rates to pay for it.)  Anyway, there were a variety of topics on the tour by a variety of researchers both from the WTARC and the Bozeman campus.  There were presentations on spring and winter wheat varieties, barley varieties, bugs, disease, canola, and nutrient research.

Below is Dr. Olga Walsh who is the assistant professor of Soil Nutrient Management at the WTARC.  She is accompanied by her technician Robin who is demonstrating a Greenseeker chlorophyll sensor.  Probably most people in ag might be somewhat familiar with this.  They are used to detect chlorophyll levels in a crop and then can automatically program a sprayer to apply an appropriate amount of nitrogen based on the reading.  It's supposed to variably apply the correct rates over a field rather than a single rate like now. The instruments have been out for more than ten years, but still are being researched and have not reached the market penetration they probably had hoped.  Part of the problem is that they have to develop data equations, or algorithms, for almost every crop.  But the big drag is that the algorithm for, say, spring wheat in Montana is not the same for spring wheat in North Dakota.  So every state has to develop data for every crop. And it can vary by year too.  But it has given researchers plenty to do.  Dr. Walsh says that they are still several years away for crops here.  Good luck with that.

After the tour, Dr. Walsh showed us the experiment we are evaluating different fertilizers on spring wheat.  Loyal readers will recall the blog post on February 14 where I said we were helping set up a drill for application of Liquid fertilizer for plots and showed pictures.  Well we did and now have some fertilizer plots at the WTARC.  Below there is Dr. Walsh and Dr. Tom Jensen of IPNI (International Plant Nutrition Institute, you know, the 4R people), who accompanied us.  I thought the AgroLiquid plots looked better than the dry plots.  We had some different treatments of various research-worthy stuff.  But like the other university tests we have, the plots are pretty short, only 25 feet long.  I think they don't have much room or something even though Montana is a big state.  But that is how they do it, and they wouldn't be where they were otherwise.  So time will tell.

After that was over, Area Manager Jerehiah Gulick and I went a little ways back West to his town of Fairfield.  There is lot's of barley there, and it seemed like every field we drove by, Jeremiah would say "That field has Liquid on it."  He has done a good job and so has the fertilizer for growers.  Below he takes a close up look.

I did learn at the field day that this area of Montana is almost perfectly suited for growing premium barley, and the barley product manufacturers know it.  There is plenty of interest and barley-handling facility growth to prove it.  Plus it's just pretty to see a field at this stage of growth blowing in the wind.

Well that was a fun trip.  I saw and learned a lot which served me well to share in this here blog.

NCRS Glimpses

So I can't believe how fast the 4th of July passed and here it is another Sunday night with a busy work week ahead.  We got a few extra days off since this year the 4th of July and Independence Day fell on the same date.  Anyway, I got back from my fertilizer mission to Louisiana last Wednesday afternoon.  Since I hadn't been there in awhile, I swung by the NCRS.  One new thing was our GPS controlled irrigation system on Farm 3.  It is a linear system that we have had for over 10 years.  It had always been guided by a buried wire that sent a signal to a sensor for a straight path down the field.  Well one thing that happened is that the wire would frequently break and have to have the irrigation people come down with their sensors to find the break, or as often happened, breaks.  It wasn't cheap.  It wasn't clear what caused the breaks, but it is thought to be some underground varmits that bite the wire thinking it is food.  It only happens here on Farm  3 as we have the same system on Farm 5 and it works fine.  So this year we decided to go modern and get GPS guidance.  In fact, this is the first run with it installed.  So try and bite that! 

I will also report that this is the first run of the irrigation all year.  It is rare that there is no irrigation in June, but we have been cursed and blessed by rainfall.  But given the choice, I would take rain over drought. In spite of the delayed planting due to rain, the corn is looking really good.  Here is some corn in plots on Farm 7 that had a planter application of Pro-Germinator + Sure-K + Micro 500 + eNhance in the seed furrow.  It had been sidedressed several weeks ago.

Compare that to this plot below which has nitrogen, but no planter fertilizer.  We do this to measure the effects on yield of the different treatments in this experiment.

Here is one of the sugarbeet plots also on Farm 7.  It too is looking very good.  Lot's to be learned when we get the results this fall. 

So that was but a glimpse of what it looked like last Wednesday afternoon.  I hope to get out again tomorrow for more.  In the meantime, I liked the way this picture looked.  It's the Farm 3 irrigation from a different angle.

I do hope your 4th of July celebration was special and safe, and that you have all of the fingers that you started with.  I also hope that you spent it with family or friends instead of just buying a new washer and dryer at an Independence Day sale.  What would the Founding Fathers think about that? 

The Cajun Files

So I was on yet another fertilizer mission this week.  I went down to one of my favorite areas to visit: Louisiana.  We have had some contract research down between Alexandria and Lafayette for 3 years now, and have had some very good results that I have even reported in the AgroLiquid newletter.  Below we see SAM Reid looking at some sugarcane in a plot with one of our contract researchers.  This is the third year, or the second stubble crop (as the first crop from the planted cane is called the plant cane crop).  Usually this will be the last crop for this cane, as production begins to drop off after the second stubble crop.  Some keep it for a third stubble crop, but usually it is time to replant. Plots are looking good though.

Here is a nearby grower field that has existing cane next to a field that will be planted in August or September.  The way they do it is to lay in stalks of sugarcane in furrows in the bed, with about a 10% overlap of the pieces.  Then they are covered up.  They usually don't put fertilizer on in the fall in Louisiana as they don't want to promote fall growth prior to winter.  At planting, they don't like to cut the cane into smaller pieces due to concerns of disease in the cut pieces.  I have never seen this with my own eyes, but think it would be somethig to experience.  Then the cane sends out shoots the next spring and then this plant cane crop is harvested in the fall.  They said there is around 70,000 acres of sugarcane in this county south of Alexandria.  But the mill is around 100 miles away.

After that we went to another location where we have some plots in cotton.  It has been a difficult year for growers here due to considerable rain and cool weather.  The cotton was planted on May 21, but crusting resulted from heavy rain and no crop emergence.  So it was re-planted on June 5 by planting in the same spot with no additional fertilizer.  Below we see Reid discussing something important with the researcher.

Here is the cotton test as it looked yesterday.  There is a good stand now.  We have a number of replicated treatments evaluating planter fertilizers, different nitrogens, experimentals and foliars.  They had just sidedressed the nitrogen a few days prior to our visit.

The fertilizer recommendation was for  85-65-65 of N-Phosphate-potassium (as K2O potash) pounds per acre.  Below is a check treatment that just had nitrogen and no P or K.

Next is the grower standard for the area of a broadcast dry fertilizer and sidedress with 32% UAN.  I think the plants are a little bigger.

And here is a treatment with AgroLiquid fertilizer.  Now our recommendation is not to exceed 3 gal/A on the seed in-furrrow.  So the extra fertilizer was part of the pre-plant broadcast.  This is why I am anxious to try the Ag Xcel planter fertilizer tool on more crops like this here cotton.  Hopefully next year.  But I do think it looks better than the other cotton.  Hopefully the yield proves it.  Again, there are many other treatments being evaluated in this experiment.  I hope I can come back later to see how it looks all bolled up.

We also have some fertilizer treatments on soybeans.  Again because of the wet spring, these were just planted recently on June 24.  But they will certainly grow to maturity.  They were just cracking through.  These are in 19 inch rows.  That is because cotton is often planted in 38 inch rows, and this just puts a row down the middle of that spacing.  Again we have some test fertilizers both through the planter and foliars. 

Now, we got done with business stuff in late afternoon.  So that gave me some time to find something interesting to experience while in Louisiana.  You know how you look at a map and there are points of interest written in red, like historic sites and the like.  Well, South of Lafayette there was something called Rip Van Winkle Gardens.  Now who wouldn't want to see that?  As we learned after arrival, it was originally owned by a rich actor in the late 1800's named Joe Jefferson.  He was wealthy and wanted a place to hunt and fish, and bought this site that was actually on a salt dome.  He built the mansion below in 1870.  So why Rip Van Winkle?  Well after he died, his family sold it and the person who bought it named it after a role that old Joe made famous in his acting days.  Elaborate gardens were planted around the place.  I just feel sorry for the poor guy that had to mow that lawn back before there were riding lawnmowers.

There are southern live oaks all over with Spanish moss.  Looks cool.

And Joe Jefferson, being a famous actor and all, knew lots of other famous people who would come down to spend time here.  One was President Grover Cleveland who would often take siestas beneath this 350 year old oak tree.  So now it is called the Cleveland Oak.  I didn't know that Grover Cleveland was the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.  That was in 1884 and 1892.  He actually won the popular vote in 1888, but lost the electoral vote to Benjamin Harrison.  Not sure if President Harrison also took siestas here as there is no Harrison oak. (See how much you learn from this blog!)

Now another farmous event occurred here on November 20, 1980.  There is a Lake Peigneur (pronounced Pen yore) next to this property.  It used to be a shallow (10 feet deep) fresh water lake.  The Jefferson property was on a salt dome, and there was a very large salt mine underground that had been around since 1919.  Well, on this lake there was also a Texaco oil derrick, as there is often oil around these salt domes.  Due to a miscalculation, the 14 inch oil bit penetrated the salt mine, causing a massive whirlpool that sucked in the derrick and barges that were on the lake at the time, as the water filled the massive mine.  It also sucked in a house that was attached to this chimney in the picture.  There were 65 acres of land that were lost to the accident.  Fortunately the 55 miners got out safely as well as the crew on the oil derrick.  But there was a canal that drained out from the lake to the Gulf of Mexico, and the suction of water into the mine caused the water to reverse.  This brought in salt water, and today the lake is salt water where it used to be fresh water.  Naturally there were settlements and compensation by Texaco.  But I sure don't recall that event, even though it was a pretty big deal.  So I learned something else!

So make it a point to visit some of those red ink spots on a map.  You never know what you will find.

Oh yes, the cajun food was excellent.  You havent lived until you have eaten some boudin balls!

Since I was already in Iowa...

So after the 4R summit, I had a few other things to do while in Iowa.  On Wednesday afternoon as I was headed West on I-80, there was a sign for a turnoff to a historical train robbery site.  Well that was a calling I couldn't ignore, so off I went...and in a short time came to this spot.

So right here on this spot Jesse James and the James Gang made history.  They reportedly took $3000.  And this is the 140th anniversary year.  Not sure if any festivities planned on July 21.

Evidently that Jesse pulled up the tracks on either side of the train to prevent it from following them.  I guess it was never re-built. 

The next morning I saw this in a field.  Alternating strips of corn and soybeans.  There were 6-30" rows of corn and 12-15" rows of soybeans.  Certainly not a common practice. But there are advantages.  The reason is to take advantage of the extra light received on the outside rows.  The planted population is higher in the outside rows too, up to 50,000 or more.  Yields have been in excess of 400 bu/A in this arrangement.  It was found that the 6 row strips are superior to 12 row strips.  The soybeans suffer a little from the extra shading from the corn, but the corn yield more than makes up.  Now this would increase food production for those 9 billion people in the future.

I also stopped by one of our contract research locations.  Here I saw the "tote" corn that Sr. Agronomy Mgr Cory has been running for several years now.  Here is corn growing under different fertility programs in the 330 gallon fertilizer totes.  Drainage water is collected from the bottom for nutrient leaching content.  But here they are now.

There are also some soybean plots there with different applications of experimental and exsitng products.  You can tell this is research by all of the flags there.

And as I got closer to home on the long drive yesterday, dark rain clouds appeared on what had been an otherwise dry and sunny day.  Minutes later it was slow down and windshield wipers on full speed in the proverbial torrential downpour. 

Sure hope any stray N and P don't find their way down to the Gulf of Mexico.

4R Summit in Iowa

So this week I attended a fertilizer conference in Des Moines, Iowa.  Only this was not your typical conference.  It was The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Summit put on by The Fertilizer Institue and the International Plant Nutrition Institute.  AgroLiquid is a supporting member of 4R Nutrient Stewardship, and the conference was to bring members up to date on the current situation with regard to nutrient management in the environment.  The big issue is management of nutrients, mainly N and P, that find their way into the Mississippi River and down to the Gulf of Mexico which leads to plankton and algae blooms.  Then as the plankton die and sink, bacteria decompose them which leads to oxygen depletion, or dead zones.  This is called hypoxia.  But I'm getting ahead.  I drove out on Monday, and look what I saw on I-80 just after entering Iowa.  My goodness, these trucks are everywhere.  Godspeed to you, deliverer of nutrition. 

Des Moines is a nice town, in spite of their anti-agriculture newspaper.  Here is a view of town from where the conference was.  The aptly named Des Moines River is pretty high and mighty with the recent heavy rains.

The summit was attended by a large number of people with various backgrounds, including The Fertilizer Institute, industry (like me), state department of agriculture people, state ag business associations, university researchers, USDA-ARS, NRCS, NIFA and other acronyms, EPA, Canadian agricuture representatives,  a number of representatives of The Nature Conservancy, and probably lots more.  But it's not going to be easy.  The hypoxia problem is still being studied, and there are no clear answers.  It is acknowledged that even without fertilizer and farming, there is a lot of N and P naturally released from the soil to the Gulf watershed.  There were presentations on potential for nutrient reductions like rotations, application timing, rates, cover crops, buffer zones and the like.  But weather is the dominating factor.  Last year in the drought, there was reduced nutrient flow.  But this year with the excess rain, there is to be more.  So it is not easy.  But all presenters are hopeful that any strategies will be voluntary, and not mandates.  Especially when there is no clear solution.  But studies continue.  However we all know that using Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers enables reduction of nutrient application while maintaining yield.  But we will have to provide the lead in that strategy. 

 The lunch speaker the first day was Sara Battelman of the EPA Agricultural division.  Despite the often adversarial position of the EPA, she was actually very pro-farmer, and advocated promotion of on the farm activities that are being done to farm responsibly.  She also spoke of promoting the rich agricultural heritage by multi-generational farms.  So that was refreshing.

The lunch speaker the next day was Iowa's Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey.  He is very popular in Iowa and is a leading member of the Hypoxia task force.  He spoke of the rich heritage of farming in Iowa. He mentioned that his favorite part of the job is the annual awarding of the Century  and Heritage Farms which recognizes farms that have been in the same family for 100 and 150 years.  He also noted that we need to show progress in nutrient management through voluntary efforts in order to prevent imposition of regulations.  It was mentioned several times that in spite of the goal of reducing nutrients to the watershed, the demand for food is ever increasing.  So elimination of farmland is not a good option.  Case in point: by 2050 we will have to feed over 9 billion people.  And one presenter mentioned that with increased standard of living, those 9 billion people will eat like 11 billion people.  Today the world has around 7 billion people. 

The conference was just down the street from the gold dome of the capitol building.  It's shiny in the sun.

So like many situations, everyone knows that there is a problem, but what to do about it is not clear.  Just slapping regulations won't be a solution since it is not known how best to achieve the reduction since so many factors are in play other than just the actions of the farmer.  But with that in mind, every grower has make sure that nutrients are being applied with the Right Source, Right Rate, Right Time and Right Place.  These are the 4 R's of Nutrient Stewardship, which is what Mr. Cook promoted many years ago before this was started anyway.

Head em' up, Move em' out....

So just like we were promised, moving day to the new office did, in fact, occur last Friday at 4:00 pm EDT.  It was a parade back and forth of carrying our worldly work goods to our palatial new digs.

Below we see our leader Troy making a wagon run.

Now how many companies are there where your boss actually moves your stuff into the office for you?  My back was mysteriously sore, but cleared up right after he dropped off the load.  Thanks, Nick.

Here we see Lynette and Nikole moving some boxes into Nikoles office.  Again people helping others.  I must try that sometime.

Well here we are at my new work station.  Time to get things put away and get my bobble heads set out.  (Just kidding, Troy.  They are still in a box far away from the office.)

A sad note amidst all the mirth.  New Sales Account Manger Ashley is leaving us now for her new home in North Carolina.  It was so nice of her to come by to see the move before leaving town.  As you will recall, Ashley helped out quite a bit at the farm, riding in the grain cart weighing plot harvests, and lots of other stuff.  So it is sad to see her go, but happy for the opportunity to have her steer growth out East.  Good luck and safe trip Ashley!

Even Doug is getting his new place set up for business.  He is upstairs on the second floor.  (Did you know in England, what we call the second floor they call the first floor?  And what we call the first floor, they call the ground floor.  So this may be confusing if we ever open an office over there.) 

So here is our new home now that it is open for business.  There are still some finishing touches to be done, so you may hear some hammering or something when you call.

But it's an exciting time, and hopefully all of you readers will get a chance to pay a visit at some point.  But alas, another fertilizer missions beckons, so after a brief visit Monday morning, off I go.  But it will be enjoyable and I hope I can report back.

(By the way, surely many readers will know that the blog title refers to the old TV show "Rawhide".  Now that's a show.)

Trailer for sale or rent....

So I've said that my office for nearly the past year and a half has been in a trailer in the warehouse behind the main office.  This since I relocated from the farm.  For the past while I have been sharing space with the marketing department.  I've enjoyed this arrangement very much and enjoyed seeing their projects develop and sharing comments.  (How else do you think I made the front cover of the last newsletter?)  Anyhow, with moving day just a few days off, it was time to remove the trailer from the premises.  Saying goodbye below is, me, intern Ashley (from Saginaw Valley State University.  Go Cardinals!), Renee and Albert.  (You can tell I'm not a marketer since I'm not wearing black.) But fortunately we are only a spitwad toss away from each other at the new place.

On Thursday they really did haul it away.  I could not bring myself to watch, so was away that day.  Bye trailer.

But happy days definately lie ahead.  Friday was moving day.