Below is an edited excerpt from crop consultant Bob Streit’s weekly summary to his clients and friends, emphasizing two of the presentations you’ll see if you attend the Central Iowa Agronomics pre-season conference scheduled Jan. 22 near Webster City (see next news item for details on that).
As we’ve emphasized in our own Renewable Farming reports, foliars and in-furrow nutrients are widely used by contest winners and farmers intent on gaining the highest return per dollar. They’ll be discussed by several speakers at the Jan. 22 conference. We’ll also offer a briefing on how our product, WakeUP, enhances the performance of foliars and in-furrow treatments. We have a decade of field trials and farmer experience verifying those results.
Here’s Bob’s “preview:”
Last week I attended two days of Kevin Kimberley’s winter meeting. It was a valuable experience in that it teaches what to look for, in how every planter attachment, opener or closer, or in-furrow is supposed to work. The same goes for every tillage tool, in that many of the vertical tillage tools out there were named vertical tillage even if they didn’t fit the description and action of what other vertical machines did.
Kevin will be presenting for an hour on Jan. 22, and then having a session at his location near Elkhart on Jan. 23. If you are planning on going on the 23rd, he needs to know, to have enough food ready. You can advise Carol at 515-231-6710 and mention your interest in the next-day meeting at Kevin’s.
Brad Forkner, mineral specialist out of Illinois, presented to the group on how he would set up a mineral and fertility program that supports the production of top end crop yields.
Brad has set up a fertilizer plant near his home which allows him and his clients to customize anything needed. He has a thorough understanding of how all of the minerals interact, the roles of biology in the root zone, where essential oils fit, and the importance of each of the micronutrients. His experience far surpasses what most fertility people talk about.
Brad has out-dollared corn yield contest winner Randy Dowdy each of the last two years. Brad will be speaking at our meeting Jan. 22.
We are planning on having the conference on a warm, sunny and calm winter day Jan. 22. The speakers are lined up and each of them know their specialized areas well. In the past we have had crowds of up to 210 people. Anyone expecting to attend needs to register by Friday afternoon Jan. 17 to reserve a spot so we can turn in an expected crowd size to make sure the caterer fixes enough food. Call Carol at 515-231-6710 to register.
The speakers will be focusing on how their recommendations and products will help the crop react positively even in a stressed environment. If the collective opinion of the bio-stimulant scientists is that plants devote 60 to 70% of their energy battling environmental stresses, then by supplying the correct nutrients and supporting good microbial activity, the crop will produce a better yield and that is the path to follow.
For those that are CCA certified we will be offering Continuing Education Unit credits. We hope to see you at the meeting.
Past attendees typically remarked that our pre-season meetings are the most informative conferences they’ve attended in years. Bring your notebooks and pens. We will have a conference video available for sale later.
We will add something else: You may want a video for backup, but nothing matches the benefits of face-to-face exchanges between you, the speakers and other leading farmers in the room. Bob Streit is an independent crop consultant and columnist for Farm News. He can be reached at (515) 709-0143 or www.CentralIowaAg.com.