Planning key for successful crops

With spring planting knocking on the door, now is the time to gather those thoughts before heading to the field.

Dan Froelich, technical agronomist for Brandt Consolidated, recommends taking your time, figuring out what you need to do and how to do it – so you can do it right.

“The average farmer plants 30-40 crops in his lifetime. Let’s make sure every time we do it, we do it the best we can,” Froelich said.

Froelich has been busy writing variable-rate population prescriptions for corn. In his spare time, he has attended a few grower meetings this winter and has noticed farmers asking some good questions.

“Farmers, for the most part, are positive and optimistic about the coming year. They’re also wanting to know about the new technologies and things they can do to improve their operations.”

Froelich hosted some breakout sessions during the recent Illinois Soybean Summit in Peoria. He recommends an entire systems approach to growing soybeans, which includes fungicide treatments, seed treatment, timing, maturity and choosing varieties.

Froelich also touched on weed resistance issues and the dicamba soybean coming out this year.

“We live and learn each day and things change,” Froelich added.