Spring Preplanning
Sirrina Martinez
Multimedia reporter
smartinez@pipestonestar.com
With harvest coming to a close for many producers across the southwest corner of the state, the time has come to begin planning for the next season.
For producers preparing for spring planting, Ken Franzky, the Agronomy Services Manager with Marshall-based Centrol Crop Consulting and his team of 52 crop consultants across the state of Minnesota and South Dakota have some advice for making sure their operation is prepared.
Frankzy, who grew up as a farm kid in western Minnesota and has worked in agriculture his entire career, said that the first step for producers to take is to assess prior years.
“Review what has been consistently working for your operation and provided proven results year-over-year,” he said. “As well as things that may have not paid as good or consistent of a return on investment or new things you have tried on a limited basis and have seen mixed results with. Be willing to try new things but on a scaled approach to control risks of unpredictable results.”
Producers should start planning right away while the last season is fresh in their mind so that they can draw proper conclusions and outcomes from the weather related issues that are beyond a producer’s control, Franzky said. Outcomes that their management decisions influenced positively or negatively should also be evaluated.
“This includes things like tillage systems, seed selection choices, planting dates, crop protection product decisions, timing of field applications, grain marketing, etc.,” he said.
Common mistakes that Frankzy has seen made by produces during preplanning have been jumping too quickly on decisions or prepaying for the next year rather than investing enough time in analyzing their data to make the most informed decision possible. Also, worrying too much about what their neighbors are doing, and not meeting with their ag lenders on a quarterly basis to keep communication open to continuously review budgets and cash flows.
Something else producers should consider when preplanning for the spring season is the ever-evolving technology in the agricultural industry, Frankzy said. However, some more traditional methods of operation assessment still provide the best results.
“Various technologies can provide ways to protect yields, gain in-field efficiency, reduce some risk levels, etc.,” he said. “But nothing is currently available to replace the fundamentals of quality soil sampling, proper recommendations for crop nutrition, utilization of best management practices for crop inputs, and keeping a mindset of environmental stewardship like farmers commonly do to protect their livelihoods and assets of soil, water, and air.”
For those looking for an outside opinion to assist in planning, the number one advantage of working with an independent crop consultant is the unbiased service and recommendations producers will receive, Frankzy said.
“We do not sell products like other input suppliers,” he said. “Rather, our goal is to assist farmers in finding and extracting the higher rate of return with all their input and agronomic decisions.”
Some final advice that Frankzy offers to producers is to be smart with their planning and decision making.
“Do not get talked into or pressured into things that ‘sound too good to be true’ or are mostly based on testimonials or limited scientific research and data,” he said. “‘Trust but verify’ as the old phrase goes! I would like to remind our MN and SD farmers to act with a little Missouri attitude, ‘show me’ first and let me see, believe, and understand the value of a product or production practice before I jump in 100%.”
Multimedia reporter
smartinez@pipestonestar.com
With harvest coming to a close for many producers across the southwest corner of the state, the time has come to begin planning for the next season.
For producers preparing for spring planting, Ken Franzky, the Agronomy Services Manager with Marshall-based Centrol Crop Consulting and his team of 52 crop consultants across the state of Minnesota and South Dakota have some advice for making sure their operation is prepared.
Frankzy, who grew up as a farm kid in western Minnesota and has worked in agriculture his entire career, said that the first step for producers to take is to assess prior years.
“Review what has been consistently working for your operation and provided proven results year-over-year,” he said. “As well as things that may have not paid as good or consistent of a return on investment or new things you have tried on a limited basis and have seen mixed results with. Be willing to try new things but on a scaled approach to control risks of unpredictable results.”
Producers should start planning right away while the last season is fresh in their mind so that they can draw proper conclusions and outcomes from the weather related issues that are beyond a producer’s control, Franzky said. Outcomes that their management decisions influenced positively or negatively should also be evaluated.
“This includes things like tillage systems, seed selection choices, planting dates, crop protection product decisions, timing of field applications, grain marketing, etc.,” he said.
Common mistakes that Frankzy has seen made by produces during preplanning have been jumping too quickly on decisions or prepaying for the next year rather than investing enough time in analyzing their data to make the most informed decision possible. Also, worrying too much about what their neighbors are doing, and not meeting with their ag lenders on a quarterly basis to keep communication open to continuously review budgets and cash flows.
Something else producers should consider when preplanning for the spring season is the ever-evolving technology in the agricultural industry, Frankzy said. However, some more traditional methods of operation assessment still provide the best results.
“Various technologies can provide ways to protect yields, gain in-field efficiency, reduce some risk levels, etc.,” he said. “But nothing is currently available to replace the fundamentals of quality soil sampling, proper recommendations for crop nutrition, utilization of best management practices for crop inputs, and keeping a mindset of environmental stewardship like farmers commonly do to protect their livelihoods and assets of soil, water, and air.”
For those looking for an outside opinion to assist in planning, the number one advantage of working with an independent crop consultant is the unbiased service and recommendations producers will receive, Frankzy said.
“We do not sell products like other input suppliers,” he said. “Rather, our goal is to assist farmers in finding and extracting the higher rate of return with all their input and agronomic decisions.”
Some final advice that Frankzy offers to producers is to be smart with their planning and decision making.
“Do not get talked into or pressured into things that ‘sound too good to be true’ or are mostly based on testimonials or limited scientific research and data,” he said. “‘Trust but verify’ as the old phrase goes! I would like to remind our MN and SD farmers to act with a little Missouri attitude, ‘show me’ first and let me see, believe, and understand the value of a product or production practice before I jump in 100%.”
