Who would have ever believed any weather forecaster that in the middle of the two- week long period of -15 to -20 below if they had predicted temps in the mid-40s to low 60s of higher in late Feb thru early March? There seemed to be a better chance of seeing 40 below rather than 40 above. So now we find ourselves with most of the snow and snowbanks gone and lots of water flowing downstream. The first robins have been reported. And the true harbingers of spring have appeared, the young skunks have been seen waddling behind their mothers as they have moved from their burrows. Now to see the first pocket gopher mounds with the dark soil being pushed upwards and us thinking about trapping them shortly.
On the first order of business: Kris Nelson with her business manager and various writers assembled a great collection of articles highlighting various business happenings and expansions and new opportunities being capitalized upon by inhabitants in different counties. Since we have to many livestock specialists in the state, why not build the support, input and feed products, and transportation network to make this area the center of fish farming. The Fresh Thyme grocery stores in IA still carry the Barramundi or Asian Sea Bass. Next to fresh caught Halibut it is our favorite eating fish. The Nelson cousins showed that it could be raised in volume in confinement buildings in north central Iowa. With there being more restrictions and fishing seasons and fish numbers, it might be time to get more aquaculture operations started in the state.
There was also an article about using corn stalks to make snow and ski boards. That may open more imaginations as with their being a true shortage of lumber that could exist for years due to two main mills being destroyed in the western wildfires. Several smaller once were forced out by logging restrictions. Will we live with the plywood and 2 X shortages or see if those same developers can substitute corn stalk lignin substitute for tree lignin. The old saying that necessity is the mother of invention may prove correct again.
Another New Business
The last saying may be proven right again. So far I have not read any articles about one new business moving into Iowa. That business has grown to be more crucial in the past year or two, with few people ever thinking about it. With the huge Derecho and numerous hail storms hammering parts of the state, and many thousands of houses having to be re-shingled, where did all of those shingles end up, with their three components being oil tar, fiberglass and grit. Do all of those shingles get trucked to fill the landfills or could they be processed and recycled? The mammoth, warehouse sized building in Marengo that has housed a soybean crush plant will be partnered with a nationwide chain of other processing plants that will do the same with plants strategically located to service a 500-mile wide circle using their patented process. Why this could be important to Iowa farmers is that the plant will need the oil from about 65,000 acres of Non-GMO beans. Any farmer who was looking to grow a value-added crop may want to visit with Jeff at Marengo about the expected premiums. It might be noted that this business will be moving to the state because our junior senator proved to be helpful to the owner when he was needing help with other issues in years past. She was the only one that kept her word about helping him when his ship came in and his years if hard work and obtaining patents put in a position to expand again.
Expectations for the 2021 Growing Season
Jerry Scheppele is a friend and mineral supplier up in NE Iowa. He held a few smaller meetings late this winter and included a few blurbs about the expected weather conditions this summer. He is in the smallish group that subscribes to Dr. Simon Atkins, noted meteorologist and seer from his hideaway in the middle of a eucalyptus forest west of Punte del Este, Uruguay. Based on his studies of global magnetics and cycles he commented on six facets of the summer’s weather. Because of activity in the sun there have been major changes in the magnetics of the sun and earth. Simon believes the fronts will be stronger and more defined. That would set up stronger winds and greater temperature fluctuations. He expects the drought to move east and affect the area from the Mo river to about 800 miles eastward. Do what it takes to drought proof your crops and helping your deep-rooted hybrids maximize root depth. He is expecting a warm and early spring which will present planting opportunities in mid-April with delays coming in May. He mentions that there have been a number of all-time barometric records set, so this trend will continue. He makes particular mention of strong winds, and after the Aug 10 th storm and aftermath, that takes on another new meaning. Do we strengthen the stalks with Silica or pay a higher price for wind insurance? Then the last comment was that the changing magnets may alter the uptake of different minerals from the soil. Does that place more importance on soil microbiology induced nutrient release? Now Simon is an Edgar Cayce type seer and not an agronomist, but Jerry thinks that places greater importance and reliance on using foliar applied minerals periodically during the summer when moisture is so short that mass flow and transpiration flow are reduced. When that has happened in the past the only way to get the minerals into the plant was thru foliar application. That may sound expensive and time consuming but with corn at over $5/Bu now, if we are drying what could it be worth next fall.
For anyone else thinking that China having their worst flooding in history, us having the strongest windstorm ever in the Midwest, and California having severe wildfires during their weather months, is anyone else thinking this is too coincidental. Just for kicks we look up weather modification equipment and idea patents granted since 1980. The list was almost 100 abstracts long. It is easy to reason that Space Force was started to keep pace with the Russians and Chinese. It is now difficult to get any informed person to comment on this work or reprint previously published pictures.
Jerry and other forward thinking agronomists and fertilizer researchers are also preaching about the value of amino acid chelated minerals and how they save the plant energy. Included in the bundle of new information are the admonitions to pay attention to more of the trace minerals to gain greater efficiency of the dollars spent and the pH adjustments in the spray batches to allow the minerals to move into the leaves. This is where the use of phosphites (PO3) and AA chelators will show great advantage.
I still have to visit with the friend who told me last March that a mid-July to late August was 80% likely. He typically draws his summary in early March.
Another Cropping Opportunity
We had a fellow who typically attends our Ag Conferences show up at the IPS in Feb. He drove clear from SW Kansas just to get our opinion plus to see any new machinery. They are two years into a D3 drought and the Ogallala aquifer has been seriously depleted. Corn production has mostly left the area as a result, mostly replaced by grain sorghum, which is a lot cheaper to plant and is more drought tolerant. In the past it sold at a sizeable discount to #2 corn. However this year Japan and China are both fighting for any left from old crop, Due to the risk of creating herbicide resistant shattercane it was never converted to a GMO crop. Now that a favorite drink is made with the grain it in great demand, even for new crop contracts and a $1.30 to $1.40 premium over the board price is being offered.
Heat and Drought Prevention
If the threat of hot and dry weather is on your mind be aware that the patented Protect + (StressTech in 2020) to protect all crops is available in a dry formulation this year, versus only liquid product last year. It performed very well in those condition for IA and NE growers.
Bob Streit is an independent crop consultant and columnist for Farm News. He can be reached at (515) 709-0143 or www.CentralIowaAg.com.