Now meet the new owners:  

Chris Behl
Chris started his employment with PRO-AG while he was in high school as one of our summer time soil samplers. Each summer, while in high school and college, Chris would return to help with our sampling. Chris became a crew leader and was in charge of our field crews, making sure each field was properly sampled. We walked each field so each new summer employee had to be trained on counting steps. Chris soon became known as the “Drill Sergeant”.

May of 1993 was graduation day for Eastern Illinois University and for Chris. Having had his heart set on becoming an Illinois State Trooper he was quite disappointed to find out Illinois had a hiring freeze.  

Northwest Illinois was growing for PRO-AG and we needed someone to work in that area. We offered Chris the job and he joined PRO-AG on a full time basis. Chris resides in Bloomington with his wife Kim and their two children, Zachary and Reagan. Chris has many interests and hobbies, but his favorites are golf and politics.

Under Chris’ guidance, Northern Illinois has grown rapidly and we now have added a second Regional Manager, Neil Eimer, to work Western Illinois.

This marks Chris’ 16th year with PRO-AG Consulting. As Chris often says, “I’ve worked half my life for PRO-AG.”  

Jason Boerngen
Jason joined PRO-AG as a summer intern in May of 1995. He had just finished his first two years at Lakeland College and was enrolled at Southern Illinois University majoring in Plant and Soil Science.

Graduating in May of 1997, Jason immediately came to work for us as a Regional Agronomist. He currently covers an area south of I70, east of I55 and west of I64. Included are the counties of Sullivan, Knox, Daviess, Martin, Gibson, and Pike in Indiana.

This area has tripled in the number of acres and revenue since being assigned to Jason.

Through hard work and dedication, Jason has developed a very loyal group of clients. The word most heard from his clients, “He always does what he says he is going to do.” and “He is always on time.”

Jason and his wife Jennifer built a new home in the Dietrich area. Jennifer teaches school in Effingham. This past October, they were blessed with a beautiful daughter, Kaitlyn. Jason’s hobbies, when he has time, are deer hunting and fishing.

Jason is a member of the National Association of Independent Crop Consultants (NAICC) and the Illinois Soil Testing Association.  

Ted Huber
Ted joined PRO-AG as a Consulting Agronomist in October of 1995 after working in the Fertilizer Industry for the last 16 years. A 1974 graduate of Southern Illinois University with a major in Agriculture, Ted’s work started with the Shelby County Extension Unit.

Ted is very active in many different agricultural and civic organizations. Ted and his wife Donna have been 4-H leaders in their community for many years.

Ted currently covers an area south of I74, west of Christian County and south to I70. Included are several counties in Indiana.

Ted enjoys playing softball, watching Cardinal games and attending their two children’s many school activities.  

Matt Schilling
Matt is a native of Dahlgren, Illinois. He graduated with a major in Plant and Soil Science. Matt worked for PRO-AG as a summer intern while attending Southern Illinois University during the summer of 1998  and 1999.  

The purpose of PRO-AG Consulting, LLC is to provide a soil testing/crop management consulting service to individual farmers on a contractual basis. PRO-AG provides consulting services of high and professional standards. PRO-AG’s goal is to maintain quality control in every aspect of the soil testing, mapping and recommendations we make to clients. Our services will be offered strictly to farmers on a one-on-one basis and we will never offer our services through a retail supplier who might sell products that may misrepresent our recommendations.

 PRO-AG Consulting, LLC will never be involved in the sale of any product because we strongly believe that the credibility of our recommendations would be dramatically compromised. Being consultants first and foremost, we can maintain a very independent status with our customers. Of all our services, we believe our customers, the farmer, appreciate this the most.

PRO-AG is always striving to maintain a professional image in the way that we present ourselves to the customer. This image includes our equipment and the vehicles we use. Plus, we will always strive to employ the most qualified people that we can afford. We will pay a fair and equitable wage with the intent of providing our employees excellent fringe benefits that will aid and help in their quality of life.

The long range plans for PRO-AG Consulting, LLC is to always remain an independent consulting company with individual ownership. If at all possible, PRO-AG will make every attempt to avoid having to sell the company to any concern that may incorporate it into a retail division or may close it down entirely.

Scholarship Winner

PRO-AG Consulting’s Jim Koester Memorial Scholarship winner for this year is Katherine Knapp of Henry Senachwine High School. Katherine is the daughter of Kenneth and Susan Knapp of Magnolia, Illinois. She has been accepted to the University of Illinois. Katherine graduated 1st in a class of 60, with a grade point average of 5.0.

During Katherine’s High School years, she was on the National Honor Roll, National Honor Society, Who’s Who Among American High School Students, member of FFA, active member of 4H, and very active in sports. She also served as her classes President and Secretary. Katherine is active in her church and volunteers in various community projects.  

“It is very easy to see that Katie truly is the outstanding young lady that I speak of,” says her Principal Martin Payne.  

“Katie is very well-rounded. She is respected by her fellow students and adults,” says Anita Wilkinson, community worker for 4H Youth and Families.  

We wish Katherine the very best in her college career and for the career she chooses. lated Zinc.

BALANCING SOIL FERTILITY
When we first started the PRO-AG crop management program 25 years ago, we did so by talking about balancing soil fertility and having one to eight ratio of Phosphate to Potassium.  

When asked to explain the 1-8 ratio, we simply referred to the University of Illinois Agronomy handbook, first published in 1955 while I was a student and it gave us that information. No, you could not find a section that said have your soil in a one to eight ratio. But, if you looked at the fertility response charts, they told you, you would get maximum response for corn and beans by having your soil test levels at 35-50#/Acre for phosphorus and 275-375#/Acre for potassium. If you divide the phosphorus level into the potassium level you will see that it goes 8 times. Thus we called it the one to eight ratio.

Is it still true today? Most certainly! Year after year, the best yields we see are from fields that start the crop year with a balance of phosphorus or potassium. Correct balance of fertility is as important to corn and beans as correct nutrition is to feeding livestock. Balanced nutrition fights off disease and helps offset the effects of inclimate weather including rainfall.  Start with a good soil test. To know your nutrition levels in your field, a good soil test is a way to start. This becomes your beginning inventory. If your inventory is adequate or a little bit high, you will not get an economic return by applying more phosphorus. In fact, we have seen many fields actually suffer yield decreases during stressful growing seasons because excessive applications of phosphorus actually tied-up needed nutrients like zinc.

Some fields are naturally short on potash. Many fields in Illinois cannot release or hold adequate levels of potassium. The silt-loam soils have very low potassium holding capabilities; therefore extra potash has to be applied almost annually to maintain test weight in grain and to give the plant health to protect itself from disease such as stalk rot.

In 1994, when stalk rot was so rampant in Iowa, Iowa State University surveyed hundreds of fields and found stalk rot was almost non-existent in corn fields where potassium levels exceeded 400#/Acre.

We are sampling a few fields that have been in CRP for the last 10-13 years. We have said if soils are left undisturbed and left to release nutrients by weathering the minerals and making them water soluble, we will find most Illinois soils will have a 1 to 8 ratio of phosphorus to potassium. What happens when we plant that old pasture or CRP ground to crops? It usually is one of our better producing fields! This fall we had six fields that had been in CRP at least 10 years and the average phosphate was 43#/Acre and the potassium was 333#/Acre.
 
About 8 out of 10 garden samples we receive, we are told the garden doesn’t grow much anymore. They usually admit to spreading a little extra fertilizer so they can have a good garden. The results are always the same. Too Much, Too Much! Phosphorus and potash are at such high levels that they are out of balance and toxic to the growing plants.

Summary
It does not take a lot of phosphorus and potassium to raise a bumper crop. But they must be in the correct proportions. Applying nutrients only when our soil tests show we can get an economic return from our investment is the wisest decision to make. It is not only wise by providing better growing conditions for our crops, it also improves your net profit and that is what we are striving to improve.