As another interesting fall harvest season has ended, here are a few helpful agronomy tips to keep in mind, as 2019 comes to an end.

• Make sure and get your seed, chemical, and fertilizer pre-pays completed by the end of the year or the beginning of the new year, to take advantage of all the early pre-pay discounts available. Also, there could be certain corn seed hybrids with tight supply, following a record wet year in the corn belt. Having your seed locked in early would be wise. Make sure you’re in contact with your fertilizer salesman as there are some phosphorus fertilizer plants beginning to shut down, due to the reduction in the use of phosphorus fertilizer, this last year, with the increase of preventing plant acres throughout the corn belt. This will cause supply to decrease, which will more than likely cause phosphorus fertilizer price to increase by springtime.
• Make sure and go through your planter checklists and schedule inspections or maintenance if needed. Seed singulation/spacing and uniform emergence is very critical for a successful corn/soybean crop. According to University and John Deere data, over 25 years, for every 1” of seed spacing over the standard deviation of 6”, can impact yield in corn by up to 2.5%. Uneven emergence can also impact corn yield by 1% for each day of delayed emergence.

Written by: Josh Horstman
Precision Ag Specialist/CCA Agronomist
CHS-Farmers Alliance/C & B Operations