Plenty to consider as farmers weigh early planting

Fmn seedsalews
By Justin R. Lessman

Brian Hefty is ready to plant corn.
Well, maybe not, but it sure seemed like he could be on yet another unseasonably warm day late last month as he spoke with farmers at the Jackson Farm and Home Show in Jackson.
"I'm ready to plant today," Hefty joked with farmers. "It looks like April out there. The snow's gone and, in a lot of cases, the ground is thawed."
Hefty, CEO of Baltic, S.D.-based Hefty Seed Co. and cohost of Ag PhD TV and Radio — not to men- tion a fourth-generation farmer — served as a keynote ag presenter at the annual farm and home show in Jackson on Feb. 24. As part of his presentation, he discussed early planting — specifically, putting corn seed into the ground when soil temperatures are at around 40 degrees.
"There is a good chance a lot of people will plant real early this year," Hefty said.
The first rule of early planting, Hefty said, is to not do so before the crop insurance date. Secondly, the soil can be cold, he said, but it must be dry. And third, he added, farmers should plant corn hybrids recommended for 40 degrees.
Jeffrey Strock, University of Minnesota professor of soil, water and climate at the Southwest Research and Outreach Center in Lamberton, said Hefty is not alone in eyeing an early plant date this year.
"Growers have been discussing the possibility of early planting this season," Strock said. "While we don't really know what March and April will bring, it may be pos- sible if the current trend holds."
Like Hefty, Strock said there are certain constraints placed on how early farmers can actually plant based on crop insurance. That said, he added, conditions could be ripe for planting small grains, spring wheat and oats.
"For growers that plant cover crops like rye, this could be a spring where they grow rapidly, so management will be important," he said.
Despite all the talk of early planting this year, Hefty and Strock said, Mother Nature will still have the final say.
"We know the weather is fickle," Strock said. "Wait five minutes; things are likely to change."

Seed sales provide diversification

Fmn seedsalews
by Kyle Kuphal

With each new year, come new seed products with traits to meet producers’ needs.
Trent Johnson, owner of Prairie Winds Seeds in northwestern Murray County, said one new product released by Bayer this year is the V4P, which targets pests such as corn rootworm. He said corn rootworm is a common problem, especially when planting corn on corn.
“A corn on corn situation where guys are corn on corn a lot, they’re gearing up to deal with disease pressure like that — beetle pressure or corn rootworm,” Johnson said.
Johnson sells Beck’s seed and said the company’s products are constantly changing and evolving based on new issues.
“They’re constantly trying to stay industry leading in new traits, new products, new treatments to deal with environmental and disease issues,” he said.
Among the traits available in hybrid seed is one that seems particularly relevant due to the drier than usual weather in recent years — drought tolerance.
“Those have definitely shined over the last three years,” Johnson said.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, as of Feb. 6, most of southwest Minnesota remained abnormally dry or was experiencing moderate drought conditions. Johnson said producers remain focused on yields, however, and they’re selecting seed designed to maximize yields, along with some drought tolerance.
“Drought is a concern, but there’s always the hope for moisture, so I think that’s kind of taking the lead,” Johnson said.
He, like many, is hoping that this year brings more moisture. If the old adage about precipitation 90 days after fog holds true, he said, they could get their wish this spring.
Whether it’s the weather, pests or something else, when it comes to farming, Johnson said, every season presents a new challenge.
“I think that’s why, as farmers, we’re just always gearing up for a challenge,” he said. “There’s always something new. There’s always something that happens in that time frame that you need to get your work done.”
Johnson knows that well through personal experience. Between him, his dad, Rick, and his brother, Jonah, they have a cow/calf operation, raise hogs, and grow corn, soybeans and alfalfa. He added seed sales to that mix in March of 2022 when he started Prairie Winds Seeds. He’d also been involved in precision planting before entering the seed business.
“I enjoyed that, but knew I wanted to be more at home, on farm, be more involved in my own operation,” he said.
Johnson said he’d thought about selling seed before, but hadn’t found the right company. Then a former colleague approached him, who worked with Beck’s, and said he thought Johnson would make a good seed dealer. Johnson looked into it and decided it was the right decision and the right company.
“They’re a good company,” he said. “They stand behind their products, stand behind their dealers, stand behind their customers.”
He said that kind of support and a desire to help farmers succeed is important.
“Farmers want to feel like somebody cares about us and appreciates what we’re doing for the world, for the community,” Johnson said. “A company that backs something like that is huge, to me.”
Johnson sells corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and cover crops including cereal rye, turnips and radishes. His customers are in southwest Minnesota and into southeast South Dakota.
Johnson’s wife, Nichole, does photography and works part-time for Visit Marshall. The couple has three children, ages 2 months to 5 years.

Big gain from big data

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What does the use of big data in corn genomics mean for today’s producers?
“If we can understand what makes a particular hybrid perform the way it does in a particular environment, different hybrids could be placed strategically where they would perform the best,” said Candice Hirsch, a corn geneticist and genomics professor at the University of Minnesota.
Hirsch’s Maize Translational Genomics lab generates big data to study these relationships between corn genetics, the environment and phenotypic variation under different growing conditions. Getting that data, however, is labor intensive. Plants are sampled from the field, then DNA is isolated and sequenced. The result is terabytes worth of data to try and make sense of. Each plant has 2.3 billion genomic bases and these are compared against all other plant samples.
There is a surprising amount of genetic diversity among corn hybrids, Hirsch said. To illustrate, 26 corn plants were analyzed and each had about 40,000 genes. However, researchers found 100,000 unique genes across all varieties. That translates into 60,000 extra genes that are sometimes present within each genotype.
The expansion of corn genomic data will allow plant breeders to predict performance for a large number of progeny without having to grow every individual in every field environment. Big data can help researchers understand how different genotypes interact with the environment.
Recent studies have shown different genes control a plant’s performance potential versus its ability to react to its environment — or plasticity. Other studies suggest corn breeding may have reduced this genomic plasticity.
To study plasticity, Hirsch’s group measured the height of every plant in 500 different varieties in several environments at several times during the growing season using drones. The resulting plant growth curves could be compared.
Their results showed significant diversity in the growth curves, even when varieties ended the season at the same height. Data like these help quantify the genetic elements that contribute to stable growth patterns across environments and improved corn crops.
Hirsch’s group wondered if it could also use drones to study how plants interact with different management practices. Unfortunately, a massive wind event occurred, and plans shifted into studying lodging and recovery.
A repeated study the following year also had a lodging event, so researchers took a closer look at the underlying variation affecting lodging and recovery instead. They identified high plant densities and corn stage as important factors affecting lodging and recovery.
What about climate change? Tom Hoverstad, researcher at the University of Minnesota Southern Research and Outreach Center near Waconia, said as the climate gets warmer and wetter, corn genetics also change.
“Since corn is bred, selected and tested where they’re going to be grown,” he said, “new hybrids are adapted to that changing environment.”
However, if the climate starts to change more rapidly, he added, it may be a challenge for corn genetics to keep up.
Will a warming climate translate into growing longer relative maturity hybrids? Not necessarily, Hoverstad said.
“Even if we gained a few growing degree days during the spring, soils still need to dry out before planting,” he said. “More importantly, the risk of frost hasn’t changed.”
Since first fall frost dates haven’t shifted dramatically, maturity ratings haven’t moved.
Hirsch’s lab has documented an incredible amount of genetic diversity in corn plants.
“The use of big data allows us to maximize yield increases under increasingly stressful conditions,” Hirsch said.

Homegrown hydroponic lettuce and herbs

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Sirrina Martinez
Multimedia reporter
smartinez@pipestonestar.com

Around five miles southwest of Holland sits the property of Earl Giesbrecht, the owner of Giesbrecht Gardens. On this farmstead the Giesbrecht’s grow a variety of hydroponic lettuce and herbs in a greenhouse facility that the family constructed in the summer of 2023.
The facility, which was mainly constructed by the Giesbrecht family with some help from hired contractors, is approximately 144 feet long and 90 feet wide. Attached to the facility is a lean-to that the family calls “the hen house,” which measures around 90 feet long by 20 feet wide. Housed inside of the greenhouse are three large deep culture ponds, each which holds around 53,000 gallons of water, Earl said.
The operation dumps minimal water for its size, approximately 400 gallons a day. Otherwise, the rest of the water is used by the plants or evaporates. Their water bill, Giesbrecht said, is not a concern as they fill the pond from their well, however, heating the facility is accomplished through the use of propane. Sometimes on a good day in the winter, heating the greenhouse doesn’t require a lot of energy, he said.
“On a sunny day even in th winter time you sometimes won’t need any heat and the fans will turn on and vent a little heat out,” he said. “But when the sun goes down then the propane starts.”
Plants spend approximately two weeks in a little nursery inside of the greenhouse before being placed into the water. Some of the seeds are placed by hand and the rest are placed by a seed vacuum. When they are ready to go out into the water ponds, they are placed on rafts that float in the water, and the roots are typically pulled through the holes in the raft with another vacuum. The plants initially start out as 72 plants per raft, and as they grow, they are spread out to various rafts where there are typically 18 plants per raft. Fertilizer is applied to the water, but nothing is applied to the foliage of the plants. The time it takes to grow the produce is on average seven weeks from planting to harvest, Giesbrecht said, although this time of year can take a little longer.
“This time of the year is really slow,” he said. “We are at the shortest days of the year. Some of it is probably out here longer than that but that’s a typical length.”
It is a family run operation, where Earl, his wife Carrol and their children work together to plant and harvest their produce, with occasional help from hired hands. The family grows at least 10 varieties of lettuce  at a time in the facility, Giesbrecht said, including Butter Head lettuce which they market as a BIB variety, and Romaine lettuce, which is the most popular variety among customers. Additionally, they grow a variety of herbs. Giesbrecht’s primary customers are area grocery stores, restaurants and hospitals, he said, and his produce goes as far as Sioux Falls and Marshall as well. The lettuce is sold unwashed and uncut, much like you would buy at a farmer’s market.
Giesbrecht decided to use the hydroponic method of farming, because of the ability to grow produce throughout the year, and because of his interest in growing plants.
“We can grow them year round, we heat the water and we heat the air, and there’s no weeds,” he chuckled. “So those are some advantages. One of the biggest things is the year round thing. We go right through the winter and you can keep your customers all year round. I also like to grow things.”
In 2006, the Giesbrecht family moved from California and bought the farm that they now live on. Although they were residents of the West Coast state at the time, previous to the purchase, they were living in Zimbabwe, Africa, where they worked as missionaries. In 2011 the family returned to Zimbabwe to continue their missionary work until 2013. During that time, Gibesbrecht was only operating his welding business, AG Weld, on the farm and they hired someone to run the welding shop while they were gone. Before building his own greenhouse, Giesbrecht started growing his produce down the road in a greenhouse that was set up as a NFT system that used plastic channels in the water to grow the plants. After around three years, the family decided to move the operation to their property and built the greenhouse that they run today.

Martin County soybean farmers help biobased road sealant firm pave a better future in Trimont

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The Trimont Town Center parking lot has a new overlay of soybean oil-based road sealant courtesy of Martin County soybean farmers.
Earlier this year, the Martin County Corn and Soybean Growers, in partnership with the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, donated $5,000 to the Trimont Town Center to apply RePlay on its parking lot.
A patented road sealant product available through BioSpan Technologies, RePlay extends the life of paved asphalt surfaces by up to seven years. RePlay is 88 percent biobased, replacing petroleum oil with soybean oil, making it non-toxic, non-polluting, carbon negative and safe for the user.
“There are several farmers on the board of the town center who’d heard about RePlay and wanted to use a product that utilizes something that they grow,” said Rochelle Krusemark, who sits on the Martin County Corn and Soybean Growers Board of Directors. “So, they asked us about it, and we decided that it was a good opportunity to highlight what checkoff dollars have accomplished.”
The United Soybean Board helped fund RePlay’s original research, which was first made commercially available in 2003. Since then, MSR&PC has invested checkoff dollars into promoting the product and expanding its market. In 2016, MSR&PC joined forces with the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute to evaluate the effectiveness of RePlay, proving RePlay outperformed chip-seal applications and extended the roads’ lifespan by three to 11 years.
“Between AURI and Minnesota Soybean, we continue to share the data that proves this product does extend the life of asphalt streets and roads beyond their original lifespan,” said Mike Youngerberg, MSR&PC’s senior director of product development and commercialization “MSR&PC continues to invest in new and exciting research and development efforts because, as the world keeps changing and demand for new and innovative products increase, we want Minnesota soybean farmers to be able to profit from new markets and new opportunities.”
RePlay, created by Sheldon Chesky, works by penetrating the asphalt surface to stop the oxidation process, preventing irritants like cracks and potholes. Taking just 30 minutes to cure, RePlay reduces moisture penetration and maintains skid resistance.
“It only makes sense to use it locally here in our community and get the word out,” said Krusemark, who also serves as MSR&PC’s District 8 representative. “Not only can soybean farmers see what their checkoff dollars are invested in, but also to get the local road authorities to use a more environmentally friendly product.”

Farmers and independent repair shops face challenges in equipment service and repair

Fmn jones repair
Sirrina Martinez
Multimedia reporter
smartinez@pipestonestar.com

With the world of agriculture experiencing rapid development, many producers are finding themselves increasingly unable to service and repair their own equipment. In turn, many longstanding repair shops are also working hard to meet these challenges, and finding that they are being limited by large equipment manufacturers that are developing new technology that can only be serviced and repaired at dealerships. As a result, many producers are taking legal action, resulting in a lawsuit being brought against equipment manufacturing giants like John Deere.
According to Progressive Farmer magazine, an ongoing right-to-repair anti-trust case was brought against the global producer of agricultural, construction and forestry equipment in late October of 2022. At that time, nine farmers from across the country filed a consolidated right-to-repair class action complaint after the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Legislation consolidated 13 lawsuits that had been filed nationwide into one class action suit in an Illinois federal court. The cases alleged that the manufacturer has created a monopoly in the service and repair market for their agricultural equipment brand through the use of engine control units (ECUs), or onboard central computers. Additionally, each case claimed that John Deere violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, which, according to the National Archives, outlawed monopolistic business practices. With multiple states introducing bills encompassing the right-to-repair, the issue appears to be a wide-spread concern.
According to documents filed on Nov. 27, by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Western Division, U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston denied John Deere’s motion for judgment on the case, stating that the “plaintiffs have plausibly alleged claims based on § 1 and § 2 of the Sherman Act under Kodak. Plaintiffs’ Complaint alleges both constitutional and antitrust standing, relevant markets, and all the necessary requirements for each count in the Complaint.” This judgment ultimately requires the manufacturer to face the lawsuit.
At the state level, according to the Office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, this year Minnesota passed the Digital Fair Repair Act, which requires “manufacturers of certain electronic products to make documentation, parts, and tools for diagnosis, maintenance, or repair available to independent repair providers and product owners on fair and reasonable terms.” However, the act which will take effect on July 1, 2024, only applies to equipment that was sold on or after July 1, 2021, and excludes a list of products, including farm machinery and tractors.
For locally owned and operated repair and service shops, the alleged monopoly on service and repair presents significant challenges. With 90% of his work involving farm equipment, Al Jones, the owner and operator of Jones Repair in Pipestone, has watched agricultural technology morph over the years into a heavily computerized industry. Over the past 10-15 years, Jones, who opened his shop in 1983, has seen a significant increase in computerized farm technology.
“It’s in tractors, everything,” he said. “They went to computer boards that basically run as an electric throttle. It used to be linkage and now it’s electric. It’s changing the RPM’s through electronics. It’s getting more complicated, tractors are becoming totally electric.”
Around five years ago, Jones was able to purchase a computer system called Service Advisor from an Ohio based company. The system has helped him to further serve his customers, he said.
“We can figure some of it out,” he said. “I do have a computer that does help us that we can punch up and that helps a lot.”
However, the computer only helps him to diagnose most problems, For some issues, the machine still has to be taken to a dealer for service or repair. There is a financial impact for his clients who have newer equipment, Jones said, in some ways making it more economical to have an older tractor than newer models.
“If they have to go to the dealer it is so expensive,” he said.
To be able to service and repair some electrical components of newer models, small shops like Jones’ would have to go through extensive training which at this point has not been made available to them, he said. However, Jones said he is receiving email traffic that indicates some changes are being made that he believes will provide more technology to equipment owners and smaller shops.
“I think down the road there are companies who are trying to help us repair shops to get the technology we need so that we can do everything,” he said. “It’s getting closer.”
Despite the heavy influx of electric powered mechanisms in agricultural equipment, Jones said he still has plenty of older farm machinery brought to him for service and repair.
According to their corporate website, John Deere has been providing a variety of tools to farmers, including digital access to repair manuals and a diagnostic and information tool called Customer Service ADVISOR that has been available for purchase by farmers and independent repair shops as of May 2022. Additionally, in a Dec. 4, news release, John Deere announced an “Enhanced customer solution for self-repair,” that is available initially in U.S. through its Equipment Mobile app. The update, the company said, will help producers by “enabling customers to remotely download secure software updates directly to embedded controllers on compatible 4-G connected John Deere equipment.” Their website further states that John Deere is “committed to continuing the development of solutions that support and enhance customers’ ability to safely and securely repair their own equipment, including reprogramming capabilities for compatible equipment and solutions for non-connected machines.”