Boots In The Field Report

 In this week’s Boots In The Field Report , Ken Ferrie covers how current weather patterns are setting the stage in Tar Spot Alley and shares an update on three new counties where tar spot has been confirmed. Ken also dives into pollination concerns showing up in hybrids planted around April 14th and warns how upcoming weather could further hinder pollination success. With sightings of winged aphi...

Ken covers how pollination uniformity can change the amount of silk clipping pressure a field can take, wide spread potassium deficiencies, how bean stage needs to be evaluated before doing rescue applications, and the elephant in the room - Tar Spot. He covers reports coming in, next steps, and reminders of what we learned from past tar spot outbreaks.

In this week "Boots In The Field Report" Ken Ferrie dives deep into the "carbon penalty." He explains what this is, what specific conditions trigger it, and why growers are seeing a significantly worse impact this year compared to previous seasons. Additionally, Ken warns growers that current weather patterns are creating ideal conditions for tar spot to emerge later in the season. He stresses the...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie catches up with Matt Duesterhaus in the western part of the state and they talk about beans caught in the carbon penalty, herbicide carryover, sulfur deficiency, in season look at plot fields, insect pressure, and how the clock starts now for how much tar spot pressure we might see late season.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken talks evaluating stands and diagnosing causes of non-uniformity. He covers why growers may have seen even emergence initially but now are seeing uneven plants. Ken stresses the importance of knowing if the difference is a height difference or a collar difference. Plants can be the same collar but different heights if there is an interruption in the tran...

 This week on the "Boots in the Field Report," Ken discusses the recent weather and dust storms, highlighting concerns about residue, sandblasting, and replant decisions. He also addresses nutrient and herbicide loss due to the lack of rain after application, and issues like rootless corn, sidewall smearing, and down pressure, noting how recent rain should help. Plus, get an exciting update on a b...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers why timeliness is important when it comes to making replant decisions and how accurate stand counts and ear counts are crucial in making the right call. For beans, the count is more for weed control concerns in most fields, but for corn a grower needs to look not only at emergence but uniform emergence to get an accurate ear count. If it i...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie covers the good coming from this rain delay for spreading out our crop stages and reducing risks. He also reminders growers to switch up planting order for beans now that we are back in the normal planting window and gives a heads up on bugs the pest team should be scouting for. 

With a green light for planting corn in central IL this week, Ken advises growers to spend a lot of time on the ground checking planter settings to make sure it is set correctly before going full out. He covers setting down pressure, checking row cleaners, and maturity planting order. But he also reminders growers not to forget about early planted fields that might be fighting crusting with this p...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie talks about thinking through conserving water with your tillage decisions,  reminds growers to hoe before they know and recaps what the seed results that are back are indicating about this year’s seed.

The first podcast on what to consider when changing to corn on corn produced a flurry of questions coming in, so this week Ken dives into questions like: Which fields do I choose for going corn on corn?  What hybrids do I pick? Why does my residue level and placement matter more in corn on corn situations? Is 100 pounds of Urea broadcast enough to combat the carbon penalty? Ken answers these quest...

This week in the Boots In The Field Podcast, Ken Ferrie talks spring anhydrous warnings, compaction from 1st pass reminder and tips to think about with early beans

With current commodity prices, several growers are looking at switching some fields to corn on corn for a better ROI. In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie issues some reminders of things to think about or plan for when switching to corn on corn for the first time in a field.

While we don’t plan for a drought, we can make sure we are picking the right hybrid for the ground and our management style that will mitigate risks like a drought. Matching defensive ground with a defensive hybrid and offensive ground with offensive hybrids can be the best advantage to getting every bushel from an acre while also minimizing risk. Ken Ferrie covers this and more in this week’s Boo...

In this weeks episode Ken Ferrie gives an update on where we stand with 45Z

This winter growers are asking about what to do when they notice they have stand issues and Ken Ferrie gives some tips for how to hunt down the root of the problem in this week’s Boots In The Field Report. Yield maps can tell us where a problem is and how much that problem is costing in yield, but it can’t tell us what the problem is.  It can guide us where to look but not answer the why. If the p...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie answers a grower’s question about if you can create enough efficiency in banding fertilizer in beans to be able to reduce the amount of product applied. There are several factors that play into what the correct answer to that question is which are specific to a farming operation. Ken walks though things to consider to help growers come up with a...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken answers a question that came in from a Beyond the Basics series viewer concerning what to consider when laying out a 4R nutrient plan that involves manure.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie covers some things to consider when evaluating how many acres to allot for new hybrids that are winning yield contests. He also has an interview discussing farming in Utah from a recent meeting he did out West.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie walks through considerations for fall tillage and if the window closes, plan Bs for getting ready next spring. He explains the different considerations for growers this fall depending on if they are in a horizontal tillage system or a vertical tillage system and also covers the question of liming ground that is on an unsecured lease.  

A 4R nitrogen plan starts now. In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie reminds growers that if they are applying anhydrous this fall that they need to do it in conditions that will allow it to seal and conserve the nitrogen being applied, not letting it gas off.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie talks early plot results from fields harvested last week and also walks growers through options on fall tillage for the dry conditions we are facing.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report Ken Ferrie advises growers to have a harvest fire plan, and make sure everyone is aware of the plan and their part in the plan. In the dry areas he also recommends not just doing the stalk push test but also to check shank strength to make sure there aren’t fields hiding that Need to move up the priority list. Ken also reminds growers to take a moment to re...

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie says yield information is coming in slow, but yield reports are strong. How yields are affected by this late season drought depends on soil type, compaction present, and health of crop coming into the drought.  Ken encourages scouts to start doing push tests in fields and monitoring stock quality to make sure harvest order can be set appropriate...

If you aren’t seeing photocopy stands and photocopy ears, do a little investigation before the combine rolls through to figure where adjustments need to be made for next year to improve your systems approach.