'Phenomenal' year within reach for some
This is a very unusual year weather-wise which will result in luck for some farmers come harvest.
“It is going to produce some phenomenal results in the fields that I’ve seen and the data that I’ve also seen accompanying those fields across the state and even into Iowa,” explains Scot Benson with Nitrogen Pulse.
Benson notes we are always looking for not necessarily new data sets but the results of what the data is showing us. He feels farmers need to start looking more at soil performance.
“Everything we do is all about the water – the water we receive for free in the form of rain and also with the irrigation water we are using.”
The international standard for corn production relative to rain is nine bushels per inch of rain. We are going to witness corn somewhere around 15 to 20 bushels per inch of rain across much of Illinois this year.
While crops look good in many places this season with record yields possible, those growing on the sandy soils with lower water holding capacity are going to be limping home, according to Benson, as the damage has already been done. Those poorer areas could have a 20 to 30 percent reduction in yield.
Many pockets of the growing region received between seven and 15 inches of rain which covers most of Illinois with the exception of storm areas to the south. This will lead to strong yields.
“They are going to be producing phenomenal yields that 20 and 30 years ago would not have been possible with the rain amounts that have been received,” noted Benson.
Nitrogen Pulse offers a weather subscription service known as Weather Pulse which tracks nitrogen performance, losses and crop development. A field can be tracked from fall anhydrous application all the way through harvest the following year. A comprehensive report is generated at the end of the growing season.
“We are now able to predict within a three to five percent variance of what your final yield will be relative to the weather.”
For more on the services provided by Nitrogen Pulse and Weather Pulse or what the company will be doing in the future, contact Benson at 815-762-4374. You can also visit www.nitrogenpulse.com.
