PROSPER, N.D. – New genetics and on-farm trials are continually being tested at Peterson Farms Seed. Those trials include: yield preservation, yield enhancement products, seeding depth and plant population studies.
“For the past 20 years, Peterson Farms Seed has been conducting on farm studies at Proper on 160 acres right next to our headquarters,” said Kelsey Stumvoll, regional sales agronomist at Peterson Farms Seed.
Last year, company agronomists gathered all the data from years of trials and put the information and solutions together in a “short, quick guide” for farmers.
“In the guide, there are lots of photos for farmers based on the problems we are seeing in the fields. Basically, we are just trying to help guys recognize the issues in their fields, and then, how to come back and fix them,” Stumvoll said.
Research was focused mainly on soybeans and corn, with some studies on wheat and a little information on peas.
“Soybeans and corn are our bread and butter, and wheat and peas are something we have delved into the last couple of years,” she said.
The Peterson Farms Seed field day held in September was revamped over the last two years to focus more on yield preservation and enhancement topics.
“We are continuing to put many of these studies in the guide, and we are just taking them one step further,” Stumvoll said.
For example, with corn, they have found the earliest planting dates often produce the highest yields.
“With our planting date studies when it comes to corn, the earlier you get it in the ground, that will absolutely increase your yield,” she said. “However, if you go in too early, there could be other factors going on that could hinder yield.”
Some of those factors could be that the soil temperature might be too cold or the moisture might be lacking, Stumvoll pointed out.
“When it comes to planting corn at a certain seed depth, there are other factors to consider beyond, “Well, I want to plant this seed at 2 inches,” she said.
Besides lack of moisture, one of the biggest factors they have found with planting depth problems is the correct equipment calibration.
“Equipment has gotten so sophisticated and advanced that people often think they can just jump in the cab and press a button and go, and they are not actually double-checking that their equipment is doing what it says it’s doing,” she said.
Equipment should not only be calibrated to the machine, but calibrated to what you’re doing on the farm.
In 2023, farmers faced challenges during seeding, and it was not always an equipment calibration problem.
“One of the huge difficulties this year wasn’t necessarily that the equipment wasn’t calibrated, but the conditions of the field were so uneven. Guys, especially out in the (Red River) Valley, were finding when they were planting that they were going from spots that were bone dry to spots that were soaking wet,” Stumvoll said. “There were a lot of variants when it came to planter depth, and it was just a huge challenge that you just had to try and face in the field.”
Because of field conditions, farmers had to adjust the downforce on the fly in their planter systems, which is extremely difficult.
“The changes were quick and there was so much variance in the field,” she said.
Stumvoll noted that the recent growing season has been an “interesting one.”
“It has been feast or famine. We have gone from being really worried that we’re going to be into a drought and have a crop loss, to all of a sudden we’re getting moisture and now it won’t turn off,” she said. “This late-season moisture is really going to save our corn and beans. There are still pockets out there that are pretty dry in the corridor from Harvey up through Devils Lake. But, depending on where you’re located at, it could be shaping up to be a really nice crop this year,” she said.
With many of the research studies in the guide, Peterson Farms Seed agronomists are encouraging farmers to take another in-depth look at their operation – an objective look.
“Some of the standards that we’ve held for 20 years or so, such as population planting date, may need revisiting,” she said. “You start thinking, ‘How much have our genetics changed for our crops? How much has our equipment changed our methodologies? That may mean going back and looking at our own farms and thinking about where we are losing bushels and how can we get those back.”
During the annual field day, Stumvoll said they toured their 160 acres of trials and expert speakers talked about yield preservation studies, as well as some of the yield enhancement studies.
“Enhancements include some of the new technologies, such as biological products. That’s something that we’ve been looking into for probably the last five years,” she said. “We are reviewing and testing different biologicals for farmers, poking and prodding and working out the kinks in the products to find out what they can do for farmers.”
The biologicals include fungicides, bio-pesticides, as well as products that add nitrogen or vigor.
People are also reading…
“We do see some potential in some of these products, so we are bringing some of them out to some of our customers to see if they want to try it,” Stumvoll said.
Part of Peterson Farms Seed’s mission is not necessarily looking for something they can market to their customers, but just bringing products forward that they feel are worth their customers/farmers time to try out on their own farms.
There are several products for soybeans and corn that the company has been testing on full-scale fields. In addition to agronomics, they consider everything that could be used in farming to investigate and research.
During the field day, Michael Cully of Susterre Technologies held a planter demonstration and talked about the new water jet row cleaners.
These Susterre row units utilize water jets in front of the planter’s disc openers and seeding mechanisms. These jets can cut through heavy crop residue with little downforce.
“Instead of traditional row cleaners where you have mechanical spoke wheels that are throwing your trash and stuff out of the way, Susterre is using extremely-high water pressure to cut through trash and open rows,” she said. “It’s just a prototype right now, but they came and did some passes on the farm here so farmers could see how it worked.”
In addition, David Greer of Greeneye Technology was at the field day.
“One of the technologies that I’m really excited to have is called Greeneye. They have a kit to put on your sprayer, and it is actually out in the market right now,” Stumvoll said. “Instead of just a broadcast application of your chemical across the field, this is a system of cameras and secondary jets and it looks down the row as you’re spraying, recognizes a weed, and sprays just that specific weed.”
Peterson Farms Seed is also in a partnership with Equinom, and they are contracting for ultra-high protein yellow field peas in a profitable contract.
“It’s basically a value-added program. These are very-high protein peas, and we expect protein percentage to be anywhere from 28-32 percent,” she said.
The Equinom yellow pea cultivars are resistant to powdery mildew and will stand tall at harvest, making for a good cutting platform.
“Peas have been a really fun opportunity. Basically, by adding that value of the ultra-high protein, the idea is we’re getting processors to pay a little bit extra for this product, and that is extra money that we are passing on to the farmers,” she said.
Stumvoll said they have about 8,000 acres of these yellow peas out this year.
“With that high protein, the peas can go for food processing and replace protein in high-protein pastas and other foods. That is a lot of the market that we’re targeting with this,” she said.
Farmers were out harvesting their peas at the end of August/beginning of September.
“So far, we have had them side-by-side with other commercial peas. We have seen minimal yield drag, which we’re very excited about,” Stumvoll said.
Farmers from all over the state have been growing the ultra-high protein peas, with yields ranging from 30-60 bushels per acre depending on location.
The biggest problem farmers had with growing the peas this year was the high heat throughout the summer.
“Some farmers were fighting aphids, but I think a lot of that is a function of the year,” she said.
This is the second year Peterson Farms Seed farmers have been growing peas, and it’s the first year of full release for the peas.
“Last year, we had a small year of peas, where we had some seed production, and most of that was north of Minot or along the Highway 200 corridor,” Stumvoll said.
She said Peterson Farms Seed and Equinom will find the market for the peas and then they’ll come and get them off the farm and deliver them to the processor.
“That’s a huge benefit for a lot of guys to remove the headache of dealing with markets and finding the time to haul them,” she said.
Farmers interested in the program can call Stumvoll at 701-460-7643.
“If guys are ever interested in the peas, they can reach out to us. Acres will probably be limited again for next year, but this fall and early this winter, we’ll start looking for people that are interested in contracts again,” she said.
If farmers can’t get into the yellow pea program, they do have a similar program with conventional soybeans that offers a $3 per bushel average premium.
Stumvoll grew up on a fifth–generation family farm and always knew she wanted a career in agriculture. She graduated from NDSU’s Crop & Weed program and brings a background in soil health to her job at Peterson Farms Seed.
For more information, e-mail Stumvoll at Peterson Farms Seed at [email protected].
