Fantasy Farming Challenge Results 2015 Monsanto – Monmouth Learning Center

SchoolHybridTraitInsecticide?Planting Pop.Row SpacingN RatePlant dateFungicide?YIELD Monmouth-RosevilleDKC62-08GENSS RIBY /65EY Clyde Miller AcademyDKC62-77GENSS RIBY /150MY Illini WestDKC64-87GENSS RIBN /85EY SherrardDKC67-57GENNVT3PY /100EN RockridgeDKC61-88GENNVT3PN /70EN UnitedDKC64-87GENSS RIBN /80EN VITDKC67-57GENNVT3PN /90MY ROWVADKC64-87GENSS RIBN /85MY CambridgeDKC63-33GENSS RIBN /70LY Mercer CountyDKC64-87GENSS RIBY /80EY West CentralDKC64-87GENSS RIBN /60MY RiverdaleDKC66-40GENSS RIBN /120EN Abingdon-AvonDKC63-33GENSS RIBY /70MN GeneseoDKC67-57GENNVT3PN /235MY Stark CountyDKC63-33GENSS RIBN MY OrionDKC63-33GENSS RIBN /130EY Spoon River ValleyDKC66-40GENSS RIBN /90MY167.39

Profitability SchoolYIELDGrossInput CostDrying CostProfit Monmouth-Roseville266.82$944.53$717.90$5.46$ Sherrard240.80$852.44$695.25$1.87$ Illini West244.32$864.89$712.81$5.30$ Rockridge230.09$814.52$669.30$ United225.27$797.44$667.18$ Clyde Miller Academy253.37$896.91$777.89$17.59$ West Central213.40$755.45$700.36$0.53$54.56 ROWVA215.11$761.50$710.21$4.67$46.62 Riverdale210.88$746.52$695.78$4.38$46.36 Cambridge213.81$756.87$694.14$18.43$44.31 Mercer County213.76$756.70$715.92$40.78 VIT221.51$784.16$725.20$21.15$37.81 Abingdon-Avon205.40$727.12$693.97$33.15 Stark County188.76$668.23$641.78$26.45 Orion185.44$656.46$ $50.68 Geneseo196.97$697.26$759.00$8.79-$70.53 Spoon River Valley167.39$592.57$702.75$14.69-$124.87

What Mattered… Weather – This is the #1 impact on crop yields, and it is mostly out of our control. This year, in our area, we had excessive rains for the first half of the season, which led to high disease pressure later on, and it reduced rootworm pressure as well. Hybrid – Hybrid selection is always important, but it is difficult to match up the best hybrid for the growing conditions when you don’t know what those conditions will be yet. To illustrate this point – the hybrid that won the contest this year was in the lowest yielding plot last year. Incidentally, this hybrid was also the one used to grow the current world-record corn yield of over 500 BU/A. Nitrogen – This is typically the 2nd biggest impact on corn yields, and it is often directly related to weather. This year, the schools that ‘front-loaded’ their nitrogen with heavier applications before planting tended to fare better. This is likely due to the heavy rains reducing nitrogen availability during that part of the growing season. Fungicide – This was a non-factor last year. However, I had expected fungicide to be a benefit this year, due to the heavy rains early in the season – and it was. We have seen fungicide increase yield in our plots anywhere from 8 to 30 bushels this year. Planting date – Typically, there is a benefit to planting early if conditions allow it – and this year was no exception (Although some of you may remember this was not a factor in last year’s results). Five of the top six schools this year opted for early planting, which gave those plots additional time to get established and do what plants do – which is gather sunlight to make food.

What Didn’t… Planting Population – It’s not really accurate to say this didn’t matter, but it was a very minor factor compared to the others. For the most part, schools were in the – seeds/acre range. This is a very good range both from a yield and profitability standpoint on these soils. Schools who went higher than that didn’t really support it with the extra resources (such as Nitrogen) to fill all the extra kernels, and schools that went lower probably gave up opportunity for more kernels to be produced. No school really deviated too far from the average in this category, so it’s difficult to see any major differences. Row spacing – This is a factor that usually comes into play in stress conditions, which we did not experience in these plots this year. In addition, only one school planted more than seeds/acre, and that plot received a low amount of nitrogen, so row spacing didn’t factor in there. Narrow row spacings tend to provide a bigger advantage as populations really get pushed higher, but other resources such as nitrogen need to be there to support it. Rootworm – Before planting, I expected this to be a big factor in the contest. This particular plot had corn in it last year, and experienced high rootworm pressure. However, rootworm larvae are very bad swimmers, and the heavy rains during the first half of the growing season significantly reduced populations.

Economics… This is the first time in this contest that the top yield winner was also the most profitable. Obviously, yield is tremendously important, but it is not the only factor. Note that the 2 nd highest yielding plot was 6 th place for profitability. Farmers must be efficient with their input costs. Also note that the most profitable plot did not use the cheapest seed, or cut way back on nitrogen fertilizer, or eliminate other inputs. In fact, the most profitable plot was also the 4 th most expensive to produce. It is generally not possible to ‘cut your way to profitability’. It is about finding the most efficient combination of inputs for your particular field.

“Life’s not fair…” In addition, as I said to all of you in my presentation this spring, sometimes there is just natural variability in a field that will trump some of the other things you do. This can be seen to some extent in this year’s results as well. One example – two schools picked hybrid Although there were some differences in management, on paper each plot should have had a similar yield potential. However, there were over 40 bushels difference between the two plots, which can’t really be all accounted for by the management choices the students made. Put it in the “life is not fair” category – and that is why most farmers purchase some form of crop insurance. Also – be assured, next year will be different! Thanks again to all schools for participating, and congratulations to the winners!