The Rural Voice, 2000-02, Page 39Cutting cropping
costs to manage
margins
11 growers are going to cut their
costs to try to make up for low
commodity prices this year, they
shouldn't chop indiscriminately but
concentrate on areas that will boost
profit, Keith Reid OMAFRA Soil
Fertility Specialist told producers at
the crops day of Grey -Bruce
Farmers' Week, January 7.
"Concentrate on activities that
will make you more money," Reid
said.
• When planting, plant by population,
not by weight. Corn has always been
planted by population but soybeans
and wheat are usually planted by
weight, he said. But the population
rate can vary greatly between the
same weight of a small -seed variety
versus a large -seed variety.
• Don't scrimp on quality of seed.
Buying the cheapest seed the dealer
sells may not be a bargain.
• Buy only what you need. Calculate
the amount of seed you need and
don't buy more.
• Make sure the benefit of a novel
trait seed variety balances the cost. Bt
Corn has been a pretty good bet to
return the extra investment but it
won't happen in every field, every
year. On the other hand growers have
to balance the potential yield gains
versus concern over a market for
genetically -altered crops.
If you're thinking of Roundup
Ready varieties, are the problem
weeds you have the kind that need
Roundup? "If you can control weeds
with cheaper chemicals, why pay
extra? It may add cost without any
benefit."
• Fertilize for profitable yield
increase. If your soil tests show your
land is in the medium to high fertility
range, you might choose not to
fertilize this year to replace the
nutrient used by this year's crop. A
low soil test may mean there's a
greater gain in yield by fertilizing.
• Use on-farm nutrients, taking the
effect of your manure or legumes
into account. Look at using your
manure where it will bring the best
Advice
return. It may be handy to spread
manure on a field near the barn but a
field farther away may show a better
yield gain.
• Fertilize for the crop you want to
grow. Adding nitrogen will give a
good return on the dollar on corn. On
corn you may want to cut P and K.
On soybeans, nitrogen won't benefit
so you can cut it back but the crop
needs potash.
• Only add micronutrients if you've
proven you had a deficiency of them
in your soil.
• Look at banding fertilizer for
maximum value.
• Know the weeds you're dealing
with. If you don't know what the
weed is, get it identified. Different
weeds need different controls.
Publication 75, A Guide of Weed
Control .can help you identify the
cheapest control for the weeds you
have.
• You may be able to cut application
rates of herbicides if you have the
right weeds, the right weather, the
right timing and the right growth
stage. Reduced rates won't work if
the weeds have hardened off and if
weeds aren't at their most vulnerable
stage of growth. "The more area
you're trying to get over, the less
likely (reducing rates) will work"
• Create a good seed bed. "If you
haven't got a good seed bed you're
not going to have a good crop."
Usually people get into their fields
too soon and the result is an uneven
seed bed. Before you start working
the field, dig several holes and get
samples of the soil, not just from the
surface. If you can make a ball with
the soil, it's too wet.
A good seed bed requires good
soil/seed contact. "It doesn't have to
be a picture -perfect seedbed." Look
at what the seed/soil contact is going
to be'in the seed zone an inch or
more down.
If you're going to plow your soil,
do it right so the seed bed will work
to your advantage.
• Be ready to go when the conditions
are right. This is the time of the year
to be looking at your planter, at the
opener and the seeding mechanism.
• When the soil's ready, plant. With
spring cereals the earlier you plant
the better the crop. Once you're past
the middle of March, if the ground is
ready you can plant.
• Test your planter. Get your planter
up to speed then stop and check the
plant population in all the rows. If it
isn't right, adjust.
• Once crops come up, walk your
fields. "If you don't know what's
going on in your fields, you can't
manage them." •
A "windshield survey" won't tell
you what weeds you have and what
stages they're at. Sometimes you
have to get right down on your knees
to check weeds.
• Control your equipment costs.
"Don't get into buying equipment
because your neighbour has it." Still,
you need equipment to do the job.
• Keep a budget of what you're
doing.
"All we're doing is using your
management to replace throwing
money at a crop," Reid said.0
Reflections
on the sad state
of wheat prices
By Jim Whitelaw
Marketing Manager
Ontario Wheat Producers'
Marketing Board
Since January is the time to look
ahead, I guess we had better see
where we are standing..
Here are the following gross
prices that the Ontario and Quebec
flour processing and cereal
manufacturing sectors are. and have
paid for Ontario soft wheat.
December 1996, $194.34: December
1997, $163.80: December 1998
,$145.04: and December 1999,
$100.6l.
The point at looking back is to say
that this market has eroded over time
and the current crisis is not
something that developed over a
couple of months. Recently I took
time to call all the people that work
in wheat marketing, brokers, traders,
advisers and the agreement was
universal: the wheat market has not
bottomed yet!
Current wheat situations with the
BILLION bushel carryover in the
United States, lack of importing
FEBRUARY 2000 35