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What profitable growers do
What makes the difference between profitable and less profitable farms?
Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois farm management professor, says more profitable growers have a bit higher yields but, ‘ironically,’ with lower costs per acre, “We see those profitable farms adopting the latest technologies but somehow, some way, they also keep their costs in line.”
Matt Essick, Pioneer agronomist, says the most profitable growers pay attention to details, “You’re got to become a student of your crop, right? You have to be out there evaluating, understanding what are some of the yield limiting factors that I see? And if I see those, can I address them now for this season or is something I’ve got to look at for next year?”
Essick says it’s getting toward the end of fungicide season in a lot of places where ROI might not be high enough, “But, if you’ve got some significant disease pressure or field histories where fungicide has shown a good return on your investments, now’s the tmie to be looking at that.”
Essick says farmers need to scout their fields all through the season and into the fall to harvest the right fields first. Essick and Schnitkey headlined a recent Granular webinar on agronomy & profitability.
