March 2010 Newsletter

Greetings from the Seed - Fertilizer - Chemi­cal agronomists. I would like to introduce or reintroduce myself, my name is Doug John­son. Many may remember me from my earlier days at Pro Ag, from 1982 — 1995. For those of you who don't know me, a quick history.  I have been in agronomy since 1976, 6 years in southern MN (1976 — 1982), 13 years at Pro Ag (1982-1995), 10 years at UAP in Sauk Centre (1995-2005) and 4 years as Location Manager at West-Con, in Kensington and now I'm Back!

            Seed has been a topic of interest this year, seems everyone is pulling back their corn maturities this year by a few days. This has put a strain on supply of the earlier maturities for both corn and soybeans. We still have corn maturities available for Dekalb, Croplan and NK, but seed size could be an issue. Soybean seed has been a much larger issue with our main suppliers. We have taken on both Stine and Thunder Seeds to have enough soybean seed available. The weather and harvest abil­ity of fall 2009 has created a problem for most companies who grow seed in West Central and Northern MN. Small grain seed have good supplies for 2010. We will carry Faller — RB­07 - Glenn — Oklee and Sabin Wheat varieties while Oats we will have Morton - Buckskin and Beach. Give us a call at any of our locations to order your seed needs for 2010.

            Chemical Prices for 2010 have been far less notable than last year. Most chemicals other than the Roundup's have been flat to up slight­ly. Roundups (both generic and branded) have seen a 50% or more drop in pricing. Keep in mind to add a second mode of action to your Roundup to help in weed control of Roundup resistance in both corn and soybeans. Also look at putting pre-emergence down on corn and soybeans followed by Roundup, this gives you weed control early in case it becomes wet and you cannot get an early shot of Roundup down. Early weed control is essential for maxi­mizing yields.
Contact any of your agronomists to book your needs for spring. Have a safe Planting Season.