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Aberdeen MS | I follow what you are saying Ken.
The question arises, does the grower "shoot for moon" every year, or do they go for a more realistic 10 yr ave of yields?
I've personally grown 185 bu corn on 140 units of N applied in the spring as 28% in a weed/feed situation. I've done it more than once in fact. In the last 5 yrs, last yr being an exception due to drought, I've done 160+ on 140 units.
The biggest question a grower has to ask themselves is this IMO. Is any "excess" N applied as an "insurance policy" going down the river or not? It is extremely difficult to store N, at least up here in my area. There is some residual, but it follows the water table up and down. With tiling to take away the water the soil profile can't hold and N being water soluble, I have to conclude that at least some N is sent down the river. Personally myself, I don't need to send Louisiana any of my money.
But then I don't try to achieve "home runs" year in and year out. I can produce a very nice profit margin on my crops with the system I follow. Strip till allows me that "luxury" to a point.
I can see where a more highly leveraged operation with more reduced profit margins may have to stretch a bit more going for that "insurance" of more N.
It definitely is different from grower to grower, making it neither right or wrong which ever management style one chooses. Some systems can produce a highly bottom line with fewer input dollars than other operations can. It just depends on how willing the grower is to "change" to achieve that goal. | |
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Are we all guilty ??
