Two-thousand-nineteen highlighted the importance of preparing a backup plan. Plan A may not pan out, and one must be prepared to not only accept that, but act upon it. An agronomic consultant advises producers to ?have a plan, but not be bound to it.?
Flexibility will be key as producers manuever their way through another crop season, shares Matthew Brandt, North America agronomic system lead for Bayer. Brandt proceeds in offering advice to growers coming off a historically challenging year.
?Oftentimes we think back to last year. Two-thousand-nineteen is a year we may never see again, and it?s important to remember that and not try to overcompensate or plan for the challenges we saw in 2019 that we?re unlikely to experience this year,? Brandt said. ?We all know Mother Nature is unpredictable, and we have to be ready for anything that might get thrown our way. Because of that, having a plan and knowing when to deviate from that plan is going to be the decision maker in 2020.?
As farmers look to enter fields, Brandt encourages farmers to focus on planting conditions and use calendar dates only as a guide.
?One thing last year taught us was that if the weather is good and soils are fit, then get in the field. Don?t worry so much about the date, worry about the planting conditions. The genetics in today?s corn and soybean products have shown the ability to withstand cold, wet spring weather,” Brandt said.
Making plans to address weeds in-season is also key moving forward, shares Brandt.
?The cornerstone to any herbicide program should include starting clean, either with a tillage or burndown pass, and then coming back with overlapping residuals and multiple modes of action,? Brandt said. ?Oftentimes we want to see weeds emerge and then we get into a time period where we say, ?Hey, if I can wait a couple more days, I?ll a little bit more emergence.? A year like last year showed us that if you wait those couple days, a rain event may come through and you may be delayed another week. Get out there early, use overlapping residuals and stay clean in that weed control program.?
