Mid-May Agronomy Team Update

We checked in with members of the Pivot Bio Agronomy team from across the country to understand where things stand in mid-May.

Makala Pittman – North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia
Planting season has been going pretty well for the region. We’ve had fairly dry weather the past couple of weeks, which has been good in the sense that we’ve been able to get a lot planted. We haven’t been held back much by rain, but did reach a period where we were all hoping for some rain, and we got that this past weekend.

South Carolina is pretty much done planting corn. In North Carolina, we’re probably about 75% done with corn and are switching over to soybeans now. They’re just getting started in parts of Virginia, which varies from the eastern to the western part of the state as far as planting dates. I’ve talked to a couple of guys in Virginia who are really rolling, so it won’t be long before they’re done as well.

In South Carolina, they got started around the first of April and have progressed quickly. We did get a lot of days with high growing degree units, so there’s some corn that’s starting to emerge, all the way up to corn at V6.

Cotton will typically start around mid-April, so we are on track there. Cotton planting season stretches throughout the whole month of May, so we will likely wrap up at the end of the month.

In terms of precipitation, we’re sitting around average. The water table should be in a good spot as we head into summer. We are all trying to stay positive this year and hope for the best conditions possible for the season.

Similarly, I think last year being dry has affected some growers and their planting decisions. Everyone is trying to target an optimum window for planting this year, even more than last year. Staggering planting windows, if you have the ability to do so, can help to mitigate some of that risk, as opposed to trying to get everything done in a week.

Jay Long – Northern Illinois
Everything’s looking pretty good in Northern Illinois. We’ve had 10 days here with nothing but sunshine and warm temperatures. If guys aren’t towards the tail end of planting by now, then they are probably behind.

Folks started getting into the fields around April 15. We had a couple of rain delays, but other than that, it’s been a really nice spring. It doesn’t look like we are getting rain any time soon, and we haven’t had much precipitation in a while, so it’ll be something we monitor as the year progresses. If we stay dry this summer, it could cause some challenges, so we’ll wait and see on that.

As far as emergence, there’s some corn in the area that has started to emerge, but I have not seen much so far. That should change here pretty soon. Overall, it feels like we had an early start and guys were able to take advantage of some desirable weather. We are shaping up for a good year!

Kalleigh Goodson – Southeast Iowa
We have some planters rolling today in Iowa and I’ve seen some corn that’s already at V2, so overall things are looking very good. I have also helped with planting some PROVEN G3 demos, which are all almost finished at this point.

There have been some wet conditions here in the past couple of weeks, so it was a bit of a slow start. In my part of Iowa, we are over 75% finished with planting. Any precipitation has been welcomed – there haven’t been any torrential downpours, but slow and steady rains that have been helpful. We are trending a little lower when it comes to rainfall, but nothing that has been concerning.

Looking at the extended forecast, we should be wrapped up soon with 70 to 80 degree temperatures and sunshine on the horizon. It’s been fun to be out in the field and see the planters rolling. Aside from harvest, this is the most fun time of the year for me.

Ryan Collett – Ohio
Field work in Ohio has slowed thanks to recent rain. It’s delayed a lot of planting, and we have some crops that are under water. On the positive side, it looks like there’s some warm weather coming, so hopefully we can dry out and get back into the fields.

Unfortunately, some folks will have to consider replant decisions with the amount of rainfall we’ve received. The great thing with Pivot Bio is we will always replace our Liquid In-Furrow product, at no cost, due to product being rained out or equipment issues in the field. We want to ensure our growers have good, viable product. Regardless of whether a farmer uses our On-Seed or Liquid In-Furrow product, they can rest assured that they will be supported by Pivot Bio so they are ready when conditions are fit again. That’s my biggest focus right now – working with growers to make sure they get the support they need.

Statewide, we are probably close to 50% planted. I think compared to the average year, we are further ahead than normal. The goal is to always get the crop up and off to as healthy of a start as possible. With our microbial technology, it has helped greatly with early season plant vigor. We always want to make sure we have the best plan in place for every customer to be the most successful with our product.

Marc Cartwright – North Dakota, Northwestern Minnesota
Throughout eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota, some operations are having a quicker start than others. There are some areas with above adequate rainfall, which makes some of those places a little wet and slower going. We had a cold winter with minimal snow cover and thus still have some frost coming out of the ground in places, prohibiting any kind of field work.

On the other hand, we have guys that are going to be pretty close to finishing up with their corn planting within the next couple of days. We are in the 30 to 40% range with corn being planted, but it’s quite variable. We are also further along with the small grains, such as wheat and barley, and a fair amount of demand for oats have come back into this geography in pockets.

There’s a lot of years that by mid-May, the whole region hasn’t had much activity.  So, we are still kind of on the early side of things. It has been a slow but steady going. There’s been a little bit of rain that has forced some delays, but I don’t think anyone has complained yet about the pace of things.

Planting conditions have been great for the most part. All of the seedlings should have great moisture to start, which helps the crop to emerge uniform and strong. Farmers are pretty excited about the potential they have in this year’s crop.