The difference between success and failure in business is how well that business is able to manage risk. This special issue of The Progressive Farmer provides ideas for managing risk in one of the most volatile times ever in agriculture.

Battle Risk One Field at a Time
These growers are fine-tuning management and production practices to offset rising costs.
By Des Keller

"We've tested the litter for its fertilizer value and it's excellent," says Lester. "It's a lot better than we thought, so I guess we've been saving money going that route." He says the nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium levels for the litter averages 60-70-70, and they apply about 1 1/2 tons per acre.

Given commodity prices, Lester doesn't want to leave any potential income on the table by underfertilizing.

But generally, growers who have been "taking care of their acres for a long time have what I call a bank account in the ground," says Lester. "They can probably ease back on the fertilizer throttle for a year or two."

The big impetus for Lester to move to no-till was the leasing of new rental ground that the owner had been successfully no-tilling for years. "If the no-till does as well as the conventional tilled we have in the same area, then why keep spending money on fuel?" he asks.

Lester will also try to reduce machinery needs by doubling up on the use of their conventional planter to do wheat. In cooperation with researchers at the University of Kentucky and Iowa State University, Lester will test plant a small area of wheat in 15-inch rows in between the rows of corn in the fall. Wheat is generally planted in 6- or 7 1/2-inch rows with a wheat drill.

Soybeans will then be double-cropped into the wheat along the same line as the former corn rows. Lester and the researchers expect to lose some yield on wheat while gaining yield on soybeans. "We won't have to fight so much wheat straw planting the beans," he says.

More precision. Tom Baughman sees the benefit of precision farming in his expenses—or lack thereof. The Napoleon, Ohio, farmer comes to the end of a cornfield with his hands off the wheel; the autosteer mechanism hooked into his RoGator spray rig is in control.

He motions toward the left rear of the vehicle where several nozzles spraying Roundup—now sensing that they are beyond the edge of the end rows—automatically shut down.

"I've always loved technology," says Baughman, who grows 2,800 acres of corn and soybeans in addition to 700 acres of vegetables with his son-in-law, Kyle Shepard. "I feel so refreshed (using the autosteer mechanism to keep machinery on course). I can do a better job fine-tuning the equipment when I'm not working to keep the machine in line every moment." The whole operation now greatly reduces the risks associated with fatigue.

Additionally, Baughman estimates that without precise positioning, even 1 foot of row overlap for disc ripping across the farm would result in a total of 100 acres of duplicated labor and diesel costs. That's big money.

Baughman also maintains his own test plots/strips to provide a comparison, or control, to the variable rates he's using. John McGuire of Simplified Technology Services helps Baughman make decisions based on the compiled data they see from scores of clients.

Baughman has just begun testing variable-rate seeding so he doesn't have any long-term answers. He does, however, take soil samples every three years and map fields with prescription yield zones based on eight years of data. Overall, says Baughman, their prescription fertilizer use has declined from about 200 pounds per acre to near 175 in the past couple of years.

Along with precision planting and input application, Baughman is using encapsulated or "smart" nitrogen that releases over a period of time, preventing loss of the fertilizer immediately after application due to rain.

In addition, he and Shepard plant soybeans using a precision planter rather than a drill. "I'm using less fertilizer and I'm using a lot less population in soybeans," says Baughman. "More beans are hitting the sweet spot for timely germination."