PRO-AG Completes a record year

Acres billed increased almost 12% over prior years. The number of acres retested was at an all time high meaning more acres are staying in our program year after year. 2002 looks to be an even better year. New acres and scheduled retest acres are much higher this year than last year at this same time. With the excellent weather we are having, we are already off to a great start.

Changes at PRO-AG

It seems like yesterday that we opened our office in Shelby Co. in 1987. We had operated our business in Beardstown, IL for several years. But new acres in East Central IL were being added to our program and we felt opening an office here was appropriate for us.

Our business increased and a new lab was built in 1989. By 1993 we had outgrown that building and bought our present office and moved into that location in 1994.

We now have 6 other office locations and our employment now reaches 25 people during the summer months.

The need to continue, our business touches many peoples lives, customers, employees and employees families.

Since I am a Sole Proprietor and drawing Social Security the concern of who is going to run the business was a concern to many.

We considered several options. Hire a manager, sell to another company or individual were some. Several offers to buy the company were received but if sold, there were no assurances as to how it would be run.

So we have decided to sell PRO-AG to five of our employees. The deal will be signed as soon as the financing is finalized and the incorporation papers are completed. We expect this to happen before year-end. I will stay on as a consultant and help train new people.

But most importantly, you’ll see continuity-same people in the office, lab, & field. PRO-AG will stay in Windsor and be able to offer the same quality services as before.

New Products Worth Trying

Last year we reported on two new products we were quite impressed with. AWAKEN® has been used as a foliar applied product as well as a starter fertilizer in the row.

AWAKEN® is a nitrogen-based product with Potash, Boron, Molydenum, and Chelated Iron, Copper, Manganese and Zinc. Application rates are 2 qts per acre either in the row or as a foliar feed.

Tests this year on row application using the rebounder attachment with a fertilizer splitter attachment produced some very good results. Yield increase of 4-6 bushels on beans and 8-10 bushel on corn were obtained in several field tests.

What was disappointing were the results obtained from foliar application. Several field tests in Shelby and Christian County showed no increase in yields. Both of these test had the AWAKEN® applied after the 3rd trifoliate had appeared.

When the AWAKEN® was applied right after full pad set (R4-R5) the yield increases were 5.3 to 5.9 bushels per acre. AWAKEN® costs were $6.50 per acre. Application costs were unknown.

Two quarts of AWAKEN® as row starter with a Conklin product called XCYTO® produced some impressive results in Northern Illinois. Check plot on each side provided yields of 46.2 bu and 45.9 bu. The AWAKEN® - XCYTO® plot produced a yield of 54.4 bu. AWAKEN® cost was $6.50/acre and the XCYTO® cost $4.80/acre.

We will have several plots this year in the North, Middle and Southern parts of the state.

If you want to try the AWAKEN® as a row starter, U.A.P. Richter has a program to supply the attachments for your planter under a sales promotion. Buy enough product for 500 acres of corn for 3 years and it’s yours free.

It is a seed energizer product. Not another seed coat or seed treatment.

Amplify-D® coats the seed with a phosphate (adenosine monophosphate) AMP that seeds use to fuel growth. AMP helps seeds overcome stress conditions like cold, wet soils and low seed vigor. Corn plants emerge evenly and germination increases 5-10%. Costs only $1.50 to $1.80 per acre. Amplify-D® is applied directly to seed by mixing before putting in boxes or in the planter boxes. 2 ounces treats 50# of seeds.

Results in Jasper, Clay and Iroquois Counties produced yield increases from 2 to 6 bu very consistently.

Conklin Company offers a written guarantee if additional profitable yields aren’t there, they’ll return your money with cash-not product replacement.

If you need to know of a Conklin dealer call our office and we’ll put you in touch with one.

Starting our 23rd Year!!

This crop year is the start of our 23rd year as a consulting and soil testing company. It is really hard for me to realize we are starting our 15th year with an office and lab in Shelby, Co. Time does fly when you are having fun, or should I say, time sure does fly when you are getting older.

Kurt Storm, will rejoined PRO-AG effective March 1. Kurt worked for us out of the Windsor and assisted in our sampling and flagging operation. After a few years absence, Kurt rejoins us and will be assisting in our field operations where ever needed.

New Nitrogen Soil Test

Complex problems don’t usually have simple solutions. This one won’t either. But University of Illinois researchers have developed a new soil test for nitrogen that hopefully will help all of us do a better job choosing rates. Unlike current nitrogen soil tests, which measure nitrates, this one measures amino sugars, a fraction of organic N. Several researchers have been involved with the project from the beginning, but the actual test was developed primarily by Two University of Illinois soil chemists Richard Mulvaney and Saeed Khan.

It all started with a series of soil samples taken in farmers’ fields in the early 90’s as part of a nitrogen rate study. University researchers were perplexed by locations that did not respond as expected to N fertilizer, or a lack of it.

The researchers were confident that they knew why some of the 75 sites didn’t respond. "But 17% of the locations didn’t respond to nitrogen, and we couldn’t explain why." At on location we had close to 200 bu of corn with zero nitrogen fertilizer applied.

As the research continued, it became evident that nitrogen response, or lack of response, on those sites was tied to amino sugar, which is one form of organic N. If the amino sugar N is 240 parts per million (PPM) or above in a 12-inch soil sample, there is no response to applied N.

Unfortunately, testing for amino sugars is difficult. But fortunately, in developing the Illinois N test, Mulvaney and Khan found a simple way to mimic the test for amino sugar. The relationship of the Illinois Nitrogen Soil Test to amino sugars is very good. This year, researchers will develop guidelines for using the test. My hope is we can use a 6 or 7-inch soil sample just like we use for P and K.

Low Phosphorus Readings by Steve Wiedman, Mowers Soil Lab-Toulon, IL

We have noted a few more very low phosphorus (P) readings this fall than in previous years. We usually see very high P values, above 200#/A, almost routinely, but values in the teens and below are very unusual for our testing area. Even though there are several possibilities for such low values, none have real solid backing in my mind.

First and most obvious is sampling depth. This is especially true in minimum and no-till fields. A deeper sample will tend to give lower values, not only of P but of other nutrients as well. Soil moisture at the time of sampling can have a significant effect also. With no-till, there may be stratification issues to deal with as well. The large differences compared to test values several years ago do not fit well with this explanation however.

Another obvious possibility is in the laboratory. We have re-checked most of the very low values against our national soil standards and generally, have agreed quite closely. There are always a few outliers that don’t make sense whether within a field or across lab batches of samples. Also, the test values from the test several years ago may not have been correct. That certainly is possible but unlikely considering our quality control procedures.

Lastly, we have seen instances this year within a field and across several fields where the P values have been low but the P² values referred to as "strong Bray", can be used as an indicator of the pool of P which may be available if weather conditions are right. Since we have found a trend of higher P²’s where P¹’s are low, the soluble P may be reverting back to some of this more strongly held P. This P² phosphorus is not tested in the standard P¹ procedure and is usually not available to the plant.

That leaves us with not much to go on. Where values within a field dropped dramatically, I lean toward soil-weather interactions of some kind, maybe in relation to the P² mentioned above. For whole fields, there could have been a change in tillage or culture, crop sequences, manure/fertilizer spreading, or laboratory testing or a combination of these. High yields also produce large amounts of organic material leading to temporary P tie-up by microbes. Many times we don’t have all the background information to give a good answer to why values are different than expected.

We are always willing to re-check samples that seem out of line. We keep samples about 30 days from testing with some exception during the busy season because of space requirements.

Article written by and gave his permission to duplicate by Steve Wiedman.

Even seed spacing can increase yields. Getting seed corn out of the ground evenly with uniform stands increases our chances for better yields. Seed spacing deteriorates as a planter ages.

STEVE ROBINSON, EDGEWOOD

Steve Robinson at Edgewood, Illinois (just south of Effingham on I-57) has a seed metering service for John Deere and Kinze Planters. A computerized test is run on each unit. If warranted, the unit is torn down cleaned and parts replaced. You get a computer print out of each unit before and after showing seed placement and population counts. As Steve says "Population will not give spacings, but desired spacing will get Population".

Test cost $6.00 per row unit, complete tear down, cleanup and test cost $22.00 plus parts. If interested call Steve at 618-238-4743.

Jim Koester Memorial Scholarship

Again this year we are going to award a $2,000 scholarship in memory of Jim Koester. The scholarship is given to a high school senior whose family is a client of PRO-AG Consulting and who plans to enroll in college in an agricultural related field. To qualify, simply call our office and ask for Kim. She will mail out our application form. Complete the information and return to our office before May 31st. A committee will select the winner. To date, we have awarded 6 scholarships plus a hardship scholarship for a total of $12,500. Past winners are as follows:

Katherine Edgecomb, Maroa, IL

Ashley Mathias, Herrick, IL.

Travis Michl, Newton, IL.

Casey Parson, Paxton, IL.

Nicholas Nagele, Sheldon, IL.

Kevin Knapp, Magnolia, IL.

Katherine (Katie) is the Ag teacher at Okaw Valley high school in Bethany, IL. She has brought her students to our lab this past year.

A FRIEND IN NEED!

Our good friend, Lew Buettner has really been battling a series of illnesses this past winter. Much of his time has been spent either in the hospital or at home. He regrets he has not been out to see many of you and got your orders.

So, we well help you get your product in time for planting. You can help Lew by either calling him at 1-800-426-9405 or by calling our office and ask for Don or Kim and we’ll help Lew deliver the product to you.

As of March 6th this year, Lew still can not drive and depends on others to help him. Friends are helping deliver the orders until he gets back on his feet.