MSPB Chairman Update

Happy New Year!

I hope most of you are looking back on an exceptionally successful 2013. It got off to a rough start, but the crop thrived during a mild summer.

Because of regular rains during the month of April, it was hard to get the crop planted in a timely manner. Some of us were able to plant in between the rains, while others were more patient and waited until the weather started to follow a more normal pattern.  It was not that long ago that we did not plant before significant rain events because we did not use any seed treatments to prevent seed rot and seedling diseases. Now we know that seed treatment is a must in order to carry the seed and the young seedling through a wet period and to a healthy crop.

We also learned that sufficient planting capacity is important for the success of a crop. The ability to plant a crop on time could mean a big difference in yield at the end of the season.

The best thing to happen this summer was an extraordinary July with daily temperatures hardly 90 degrees and night temperatures below 70. This mild period really set the stage for exceptional pod set and therefore top yield potential. The early planted soybeans took full advantage of these lower temperatures.

For those who were able to irrigate, those mild July temperatures really helped our operations. In my case, PHAUCET helped tremendously.  The program helped me maximize the use of my pump capacity and it cut the time spent pumping per field by 38 percent.

The timely application of fungicides, a combination of strobilurin and triazole, added to plant health and ultimately to the bushels we harvested. The combination of the two types of fungicide turned out to be effective for most plant diseases, including frogeye leaf spot.

Harvest was easier than normal because there were no adverse weather events to cause significant problems.

Our state’s average soybean yield is expected to be between 45 and 47 bushels per acre, which would be among our best ever.

We should feel extremely blessed and be very proud of these accomplishments. This year could very well set a benchmark for soybean yields for many years to come!

Sincerely,

Jan de Regt