WS Ag Center has a great variety of seed to offer our growers including NK Corn, Soybeans, Wheat and Alfalfa. We also offer AgriGold Corn and a wide variety of grasses and cover crops including custom blends for deer plots or government programs. WS Ag now offers seed tenders to our customers to help with loading and handling the seed. Please contact WS Ag if you have any seed questions or interests. We can also offer early order discounts and some financing offers throughout our season.
I realize it’s hard for most of us to believe, but the end of the year is here! As we reflect on last year, I believe all of us were surprised by the yields of both corn and soybeans. As we look forward to next year I am very optimistic what it will bring us. The recent rain fall has replenished the soil with moisture for starting our 2016 growing season.
As we are moving into a new growing season, it’s time to start thinking about next year’s inputs. Pre-pay time of year can be the perfect opportunity to take advantage of early season discounts on seed, chemicals and fertilizer. Fertilizer prices have softened some from last year, while, seed and chemical prices seem to be holding steady. We have financing options that are available to fit everyone’s needs, there are many low interest chemical & seeds financing offers available as well to help you lock in the best pricing opportunities. WS Ag is committed to helping all farmers achieve maximum profitability from their farming operations. Please contact your local WS Ag sales rep to discuss all options available this coming growing season.
With fall quickly approaching, it is getting to be the time of the year that most beef farmers are beginning to prepare for weaning beef calves. It is important that calves are weaned correctly in a low stress environment. Low stress weaning will help minimize weight loss and time off feed. By accomplishing this, we will see better overall Average Daily Gains, as well as a lower feed to gain conversion. Low stress weaning is achieved by weaning calves at a slow and calm rate. I prefer bringing cattle up with a bale on the tractor to prevent chasing them. Calves are sorted out, castrated, dewormed, and vaccinated. In our herd, tattoos are given to registerable cattle as well. We try to do all of this moving slowly, with minimal yelling or noise. Cows are then moved back to pasture, while the calves remain in the feed yard. I always make sure to have a feed identical to the creep they were on waiting in the bunks, as well as good hay in the feeder, free choice mineral, and the Vitaferm stress tubs.
These stress tubs are sweet to the taste and loaded with prebiotics. These probiotics are in the form of Amaferm. The licking of these tubs stimulates rumen activity in these calves, causing them to go back on feed quicker. Since I started this method, rarely do I see cattle go off feed. I suggest keeping cattle on the same diet for at least a week before gradually transitioning them into their grower or finisher diets.
I often recommend during this transition topdressing a product by Purina call PreCon. It can be medicated and is very palatable. It minimizes cattle going off feed during the diet transition. I prefer weaning cattle around 500 pounds, in cooler weather. This helps minimize the heat stress and helps promote healthier cattle. According to research done by Colorado State University and Kansas State University, cattle that are weaned in a low stress method at lower weights like 500 pounds creates better marbling, thus resulting in higher carcass yields and grades.
Are you sneezing, coughing and have a red nose? As the weather continues to get colder it seems chances increase that we may at some point deal with a cold or flu. In addition the holiday season tends to increase stress levels for some. We try to avoid this by increasing vitamin or mineral supplements, drinking more water or for some a preventive shot. We know that staying healthy means we are more productive and happier.
Our animals, whether commercial or companion are not immune to the many sources of stress, bacteria and viruses. Most are very good at hiding symptoms of their stress or early symptoms of viral distress due to their survival instinct. The question is how we help them with preventive measures to ensure their wellbeing and save ourselves costly veterinarian bills. We know there are many solutions on the market for specific situations especially when symptoms present themselves. This could become more of a challenge however as we look ahead to the Veterinarian Feed Directive.
Did you know that today there is a more natural source of immune support that can also help?
May I introduce, BoVantage! Your animals may benefit from BoVantage because it can, provide immune system support, help to combat stress, promote a healthy rumen environment, reduce somatic cell count and more. Kent Nutrition group has conducted several specific studies at our real world research facility to support these findings. Find comfort in knowing that we actually add this product into our milk replacers, calf starters, some dairy and beef feeds and more. Only Kent Dealers can source BoVantage through us. WS Ag Center, Inc. will be more than happy to discuss how BoVantage can help your animals and provide the additional needed immune support that like us is a benefit worth having.
The calving season is rapidly approaching, so it’s time to evaluate the body condition of your beef cows. Beef cow body condition scores describe the relative fat cover of a cow using the 9 point scale (1-9, 1 being the thinnest and 9 being the fattest) to evaluate the nutritional needs of your herd as we prepare for winter feeding strategies.
Cow body condition score is directly related to reproductive efficiency. Cows that are on the bottom 1/3 of this scale (cows that are thinner than usual) will have a tougher time breeding back because of the lack of body fat reserves to pull from during this time of negative energy balance due to raising her calf. First calf heifers also struggle with breed back from time to time because they have more nutritional needs because they are still growing while they are feeding their calves
We have high energy lick tubs available from Kent, Purina and Hubbard which have varying levels of protein and energy and mineral supplementation as well. These tubs have been a very effective, not to mention simple to use, management tool to help maintain body condition on your cows and heifers. Call us or stop in to discuss feeding strategies going into the upcoming calving season to ensure a successful calving season and an efficient breeding season.
The weather is finally starting to feel like fall after the warm stretch we had in September. As you start to combine, plan ahead to avoid driving on fields when they are still wet from any rain events that we will receive. Unseen by our eyes, soil compaction can be a key factor in the decreased productivity in some fields. A healthy soil in our area will be about half solid material and half pore space. Soil organic matter and soil minerals make up the solid portion of soil while air and water should be split between the total pore space. Normally, water would infiltrate the soil profile and pass through the soil pores until the excess water has drained away and the soil has returned to its water holding capacity. Compacting the soil reduces the amount pore space in soil which can lead to ponding in fields from reduced infiltration. Poor water infiltration will also cause most of the soil pore space remaining to be taken up by water with little room for air. The plant roots won’t get the oxygen they need so they start to suffocate which is one cause of the short, yellow plants we observe. Anytime we drive on soil we are causing some compaction so we can never eliminate it entirely but there are ways that we can try to reduce soil compaction. Attempt to reduce axel load on soil by only using the horsepower you need to per-form each field operation. Avoid excessive tire pressures and inflate tires to what the manufacturer recommends. Waiting until fields have dried out will reduce the compaction done to a field. Con-trolled traffic limits soil compaction to only the areas you need to drive on for each field operation. Taproot crops penetrate deep into the soil and break up some of the compaction that we cause. The research on the positive effects of subsoiling is generally inconclusive so that is an area to look at more in depth before you try it on your farm. Soil compaction causes more problems and has more solutions than the ones I have mentioned but these are some ideas to get you thinking in the right direction. Like with many problems, it is better to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to soil compaction.
As we are in the midst of another harvest (which by the way we can feel blessed about) we need to reflect on the challenges we face each day in the commodities market. Currently we are at a break-even or slightly above in the corn market depending on if we took advantage of the short summer rally. As we look back on the markets from last year, Corn is presently up $.55 while Soybeans are down $.70. We all need to be ready to take advantage of what the market gives us at certain times of the year, no matter what the commodity is. We also need to take advantage of the technology available to benefit from cost-savings of prescription treating and variable-rate application of your crop inputs to maximize your yield potential and help you control your costs. Right now the common thread in the industry is about new technology and using what is available to project well into the future, consolidation, projecting crop production costs and using historical trends in weather, land values and more. Now is the time to adopt what is available with educated farm marketers and agronomists to formulate a successful farming operation. We at WS Ag have these tools, partnered with qualified personnel available to help you move ahead and maximize the profit potential of your farming operation. So get in touch with one of our qualified staff to develop a plan for your 2016 crop year.
WS Ag has recently hired Katie Meiselwitz as a new Agronomist and a member of our sales team! Katie Meiselwitz graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville with a major in Soil and Crop Science and a minor in Agribusiness. Over the past year she has been working at Country Visions Cooperative as an Agronomist. Katie grew up on a 300 acre cash crop farm in Cleveland, Wisconsin and in her free time she enjoys hunting, fishing, and farming. We are excited to have her join the WS Ag team!
Make time this fall to evaluate your wheat stands and put the information into play for next year.
Soon, the first of the 2016 wheat crop will be emerging. With good conditions for planting emergence should be fairly good. But wheat emergence is something we should get some feedback on.
Ideally in our typical seeding situations we are shooting for about 1.3 million plants per acre and this requires about 19-20 plants per foot of row in 7.5 inch rows. With a seeding rate of around 1.5 million seeds and good emergence, we should get plant stands in this range. With some fall tillering generating an average of 2 to 2.5 tillers per plant, we should be able to end up with a wheat stand with 40-50 heads/foot of row, which often results in a crop with high yield potential. In early seeded wheat, there is some potential for more tillering, so sometimes we can achieve good yields with lower plant populations and seeding rates.
But the bigger issue is when planting into high residue conditions following high yielding soybeans or especially corn. In these situations, we may not always achieve the desired stands in the 19-20 plants/foot of row. In some cases, even with normal mid-season planting dates, it may be good to consider a higher seeding rate in the 1.7 million/acre or 25 seeds per foot of row if stands are not reaching desired levels. So take some time after wheat emergence this fall under different conditions and make some estimates of emergence to use as feedback for seeding rate recommendations for the future. It’s best to do this shortly after emergence before the wheat tillers.
Contact your WSAG Center Sales Rep for any other seeding questions.
We are excited to offer a new service to our customers, custom treated NK Soybeans. With the recent addition of our new state of the art USC seed treating system, we have the ability to apply Cruiser Max Vibrance + Optimize Inoculant, and deliver to your farm ready to load the planter.
Madison, WI, May 27, 2014 — Earlier soybean planting coupled with increasing seed costs and higher commodity prices have led to a surge in the number of acres planted with seed treatments. Since 2008, research has been conducted in trials throughout Wisconsin to examine if seed treatments are economically viable for soybean production. “Our study found differences in yield, profitability and economic risk due to seed treatment and seeding rate,” says Shawn Conley, Soybean and Wheat Extension Specialist. “Growers should account for their expected grain sale price and seed treatment use when determining their seeding rate and addition ally, the components of the seed treatment should be considered. They need to assess the economic risk and profitability of seed treatments and seeding rates, including calculating economically optimal seeding rate (EOSR) for each seed treatment.”
ApronMaxx RFC and CruiserMaxx (Syngenta Crop Protection) seed treatments were used to achieve these objectives because they differ in their components and relative cost per unit. This study was conducted in 2012 and 2013 at nine Wisconsin locations. All locations were planted in 15 inch rows within the first 3 weeks of May.
Researchers found that reducing seeding rates when using no seed treatment or a fungicide only seed treatment (ApronMaxx) may be too risky and provided minimal profit gains. In contrast, the study also showed that a fungicide/insecticide seed treatment (CruiserMaxx) reduced economic risk and increased profit across an array of environments, seeding rates (80,000–140,000 seeds/a), and grain sale prices ($9/bu and $12/bu). Furthermore, to realize the lowest risk and highest profit increase with CruiserMaxx, producers should consider lowering their seeding rates to the EOSR according to their expected grain sale price. The EOSR for CruiserMaxx ranged from 94,000 to 101,000 seeds/a and was on average, 16% (18,000 seeds/a) less than ApronMaxx and the UTC across grain sale prices of $9/bu and $12/bu. “It is important to examine these responses across a variety of soybean commodity prices and we started by examining $6, $9 and $12/bu. soybeans,” says Conley. “Using the different cost-price structures, we quantified the probability of breaking even based on the percentage increase or decrease in yield with the use of a seed treatment compared to the untreated control.” For more information on this research, visit www.coolbean.info/library/documents/SoybeanTreatmentRisk_2014_FINAL.pdf