Row Width, Fertility and Population

Over the past few years, row width and planting population have been hot topics in the ag world.  Monsanto recently provided some new insight into this mysterious relationship which helps make sense of why some have had success and others have failed.

The following data is from Monsanto’s GEN trials.  They collected data from 59 trial locations throughout the Midwest.  Below is the information for Northern Iowa.  Monsanto planted in 20 inch rows at 5 different populations ranging from 24,000 to 48,000 seeds/acre and replicated each trial 3 times/plot.  Fertility data used was based on the farmers’ yield goal for the test field.  I have information on later hybrids and very detailed information if anyone has interest.

A few years ago, I cared for several seed fields near Waterloo.  Monsanto was converting all of their seed fields to 20 inch rows because they were able to fit more female rows between the male rows.  At that point, I was under the belief that 20 inch rows would eventually become more profitable for field corn because they produced seed corn that yielded the best in 20 inch rows.  Today, it makes sense to me that they are pushing higher populations using fixed ear hybrids because the yield is there and they can sell more seed.

The problem is, as we get to 40,000+ planting populations we can no longer support good stalks and roots in 30 inch rows.  We have to move to 20 inch rows to support these high populations and negate intra-crop competition.  However, without proper fertility, high populations cannot be accomplished regardless of the row spacing.

Going from 30,000 plants to 48,000 and 180 to 250 bu fertility yield goal, the data shows as much as a 101 bushel jump ($606/acre @ $6 corn) using the top yielding hybrids.  The extra seed cost is about $68/ac and extra Nitrogen is about $44/ac (don’t forget P&K).

My point is not that we should all go out and buy 20 inch row planters and manage to 48,000 plants per acre.  I realize that some ground may never be capable of these kinds of yields.  The goal is to get farmers thinking about where they are today and where they are headed so we can integrate a plan to get them where they would like to be.

MicroEssentials SZ

You may have seen our billboards or television advertisements for MicroEssentials.  We are now widely using MicroEssentials SZ (or MESZ as we’ve come to call it) as our main phosphate source throughout my trade territory. 

In short, MESZ is a 12-40-0-10-1 with the extra digits being 10# of sulfur and 1# of Zinc.  It is a MAP based product that incorporates sulfur and zinc while forming EACH granule.  This means two things:  MUCH better distribution of sulfur and zinc and more readily available phosphate to the plant.

After a extensive testing, Mosaic decided to run both elemental (slow breakdown) and AMS (quick breakdown) sulfur into each granule to maximize sulfur availability throughout the season.

Through comparative tests of MAP or DAP based fertilizer, Mosaic was able to produce about a 10 bushel gain using MESZ.  Below are some videos from Mosaic that better illustrate the product’s advantages as well as some pictures from our own company trials.

Uniform Nutrient Distribution:  http://youtu.be/vT3-aTo1A78

Improved Nutrient Uptake:   http://youtu.be/HLJsC-NoTn0

Aerial Imagery.

Ear comparison from same field.

Mosaic Phosphate Mine

Recently, I was invited to a Mosaic Ag Forum in Tampa Bay, Florida.  You may already know that Mosaic is a main producer of the fertilizer we buy.  We spent time going over some of the new products they are offering and then toured their mining facilities near Bartow, Florida.  Below are some photos and videos of the "Four Corners Mine" operation as well as some interesting facts.

http://youtu.be/ktD4lli5DaY

Of Mosaic's 6 drag lines, this beast is the largest.  Weighing in at 7.1 million pounds it runs on 7200 volts of electricity costing roughly $4.5/month to power.  Mosaic produces 25% of their electrical needs as a byproduct of Sulfur production.  This pure electric motor creates 20,000 horsepower.  Replacing this machine today would cost about $110,000,000.

http://youtu.be/R1D9dJ6WSJs

Here you see the process of slurrying the phosphate, clay, and sand for transportation. These robotic water jets are run by one operator and blast out 150,000 gallons/minute.

This is the buckets from the drag line.  It weighs about 80,000 pounds.  When the base is rotating the bucket at full extension, it is moving approximately 90 miles/hour.  This year, it should produce a record 8 million tons of phosphate by moving 130 million tons of soil.  That's 5,200,000,000 50# bags of soil.

Here is a closeup of the drag line.  You can see a platform with a ladder to the ground. This platform (and it's twin on the opposite side) are used to "walk" the drag line.  The platforms are lifted and moved ahead, then the "body" is lifted and moved ahead until their new destination is reached.

This is Jeff Brees, Paul Miller and I standing inside the mouth of an old retired bucket.  It gives a pretty good reference of just how big the drag line is.

75% of the phosphate sold in the US and 25% of the World supply comes from Florida.  Mosaic owns 322,000 acres in Florida and is capable of producing 17.5 million tons of phosphate per year!