Farmers try to cap their high costs with some high tech

There was a time when farming involved seed, soil, hard work and favorable weather from Mother Nature.

All of the above is still important. But technology is playing an increasing role in big-business agriculture, and higher crop yields have prompted exploration of new grain storage strategies.

Todd Kunau, president of Kunau Implement Co. in DeWitt and Preston, said high-speed farming, or vertical tillage, is getting a lot of attention.

“Vertical tillage allows you to reduce the size of residue in a field from last year's corn crop at fairly high speed,” Kunau said. “You can get in and out fairly quickly and tread lightly, so you don't create a sheer layer that would be a barrier to roots as the new crop develops.

“It's not a new, new concept, but we've moved past early adopters to the more mainstream phase. All the major manufacturers have introduced their vertical tillage products, and it's definitely moved from a niche market to a mainstream philosophy.”

Residue from corn has to be cut into smaller pieces to pass through tillage machines preparing the soil for the next crop, Kunau said.

Kunau Implement carries a reel disk unit from McFarlane Manufacturing of Sauk City, Wis. Pulled behind a tractor, the implement has concave disk blades that loosen the top 2 or 3 inches of the soil but leaves the seedbed firm.

The blades slice residue into manageable pieces that will flow through a planter or finishing tool.

Following the disks is a rank of seven-blade, 18-inch diameter spiral reels that crosscut the residue and mix it into the soil, aiding decomposition. Smoothing uneven ground and removing small weeds can be done fairly quickly at 7 to 9 miles per hour.

“Case IH makes a similar product called the True-Tandem 330 Turbo disk,” Kunau said. “It's hard to find either implement on a dealer's lot because they're going out as fast as we can prep them.”

American farmers annually spend $23 billion for fertilizer, chemicals and seeds, and $9 billion for energy. As the cost of fertilizer, chemicals and seed continues to rise, assuring the correct application of all three through precision farming has become essential to profitability.

Wireless telemetry is one of the latest wrinkles in precision farming, Kunau added.

“Wireless telemetry transmits the data from the tractor, combine and sprayer back to the farm office electronically, rather than having to transport it on some form of digital media like a card or USB stick,” he explained. “That's something that Trimble is really pioneering with what it calls the Connected Farm.”

The system from Trimble Navigation of Sunnyvale, Calif., allows a farmer to track vehicle movement and service hours to maximize fuel efficiency and to organize fleet management and maintenance schedules.

Connected Farm enables a farmer to put virtual fences around fields to identify when vehicles are entering or leaving so as to eliminate incorrect chemical application on crops.

During the harvest, crop yield data is transmitted to the farm office as it's recorded. Data from multiple combines will be processed and ready to review before the farmer returns to his office at the end of the day.

As with any business, not all new concepts turn out to be winners.

As crop yields rose and demand increased for corn to make ethanol in recent years, adequate grain storage became an issue, for example.

Many ethanol processing plants prefer to buy grain throughout the year rather than store large quantities. Adequate grain storage capacity allows farmers to take advantage of higher market prices.

Cooperatives and grain elevators began exploring condominium storage as a means of financing new bins.

A farmer generally must make an initial investment to reserve the right to use a fixed volume of storage. The producer may own the storage space, or may sign a long-term lease.

The commercial elevator manages the grain and guarantees grade and quality factors, usually for a service fee based on the number of bushels stored or the capacity owned.

Roger Ginder, retired Iowa State University Extension economist, said investing in condominium storage can be a good option for farmers who want to own the right to store their crop but don't want to build on-farm storage facilities or monitor grain quality themselves.

Condominium storage was explored by farmers and cooperatives in 2010 when Iowa's corn harvest was expected to produce a bin-busting crop.

Mike Mollenbeck, vice president of the grain business unit at River Valley Cooperative in Davenport, said the co-op last invested in condominium storage five years ago when it added a 515,000-bushel steel bin at its Donahue elevator.

“I don't think we got 25 percent of it covered,” Mollenbeck said.

Iowa State University Extension Economist William Edwards said condominium grain storage did not become a widespread trend because many farmers opted to construct on-farm facilities to handle their grain. Low interest rates and government programs help finance on-farm bins curtailed investment in condos.