June 22, 2023 • 45 mins
We chat with Glenn Herz, Field Research Lead at Ag PhD, and Abe Eubank, Agronomy Lead at Topcon. They discuss what you can expect to see at the Ag PhD Field Day event in July and new research on plot management that reveals better tactics for increasing annual yields. It’s an episode that will definitely plant some seeds!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hello and welcome to the Topcon Talks Agriculture
podcast. On each episode, wediscuss and shared topics that
are important to farmers andgrowers and agribusiness. My
name is Dan Hendricks, and I'myour host for today. I am the
Senior Business DevelopmentManager for Topcon Agriculture,
and I get to work with anamazing team of talented
(00:33):
individuals who loveagriculture. They enjoy
technology, and they strive tohelp farmers and growers find
solutions. Well, the plantingseason for 2023 has come to an
end for numerous farmers in theUnited States and in Canada.
And this also marks thebeginning of the summer Farm
Show circuit. One of the mostdistinguished farm shows in the
(00:55):
United States is the AG PhDField Day event, which is set
to take place on Thursday, July27th at the AG PhD Farm in
Baltic, South Dakota. Lastyear, AG PhD Field Day set an
attendance record with over11,000 people from various
parts of the United States andforeign countries in
attendance. And the event willfeature the top agriculture
(01:18):
companies showcasing theirsolutions, and all attendees
will be provided with acomplimentary lunch because
farmers love a free lunch.
Topcon Agriculture has been ina participant at AG PhD Field
Day event for five years now.
Additionally, this year marksthe second time that we have
set up a test plot for thisevent. And later in the episode
(01:40):
we will discuss that plot in alittle more detail. But before
that, I want to introduce ourguests for today's episode.
They both have extensiveexperience in precision
agriculture and agronomy, andour first guest is Glenn Hers ,
who is the field research leadat Ag PhD . And , uh, gly heads
(02:01):
up the test plots and overseesall the agronomic duties on the
AG PhD farm. Glenn has workedwith Ag PhD for over 11 years.
He grew up as a farm kid inWestern North Dakota, and he
brings a wealth of knowledgeand experience to customers and
agriculture companies for AgPhD . And he stays extremely
busy, juggling all the plotsand tasks from the various
(02:25):
manufacturers. Glenn , welcometo our podcast today. Thanks
for having me, Dan. Yeah, Iappreciate you being here. And
let me introduce our secondguest, Abe Eubank. Abe is the
regional sales manager for theSouthwest for Topcon
Agriculture. He also serves asthe agronomy lead for Top Con.
He is the proud graduate ofMississippi State University
(02:48):
and currently resides in thegreat state of Georgia. He is a
coworker of mine and a personalfriend, and I always appreciate
Abe's agronomy knowledge andhis passion for agriculture.
Abe, welcome to the podcasttoday.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Hey Dan, thanks for having me. Good to see you
again. And I'm in thesoutheast, not the southwest.
Yeah, we did things a littledifferent here in the south.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Okay . You know, my bad on that. My bad, Abe, I
knew where you lived . I just ,
Speaker 2 (03:14):
It's fine . Didn't
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Say correct. So ,
Speaker 2 (03:16):
And I went to Clemson too, so I got a double
strike against me just keepingit all in the South
state for grad school and CL orstate for undergrad and Clemson
for graduate school.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So , uh, for our listeners today who aren't as
familiar with AG PhD , Glen ,can you please give us some
background on AG PhD Field Day?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Well, I'll be honest, I mean, the way I found
out about Ag PhD was before Ieven worked with Brian and
Darren for Ag PhD and , and,and the other things that way ,
um, just was word of mouth. Itwas more of a regional show at
the time. I remember the firsttime that we came here, I think
my wife and I came to the fieldday in 2010. There was about a
(04:02):
thousand people here. Um, itwas a lot smaller, you know,
event, I guess if you wannacall it or so than that. It was
more almost a customerappreciation type scenario, and
it's just exploded. Um, I mean,and when I started in 2013 , we
were still using our, I mean ,uh, the first crop that I put
(04:25):
in for the field day or Ihelped it with was , uh, we
still used our farm planter todo all of the crops. Most of it
was re relaying on that wasmore the crop itself out there
to what it's blossomed intotoday , um, with all of the
vendors and the , the , youknow, the, the mm-hmm .
speaking sessionsand all of that. Yeah . It's
just been quite a , quite anundertaking. So , yeah . Uh ,
(04:48):
that's, that's kind of where,the way I remember it is , I
mean, it used to be golf cropsand now it's still the, the ,
the plots are still a very biglearning tool and a backdrop
for everything that we'retrying to show. But it's all
about , um, bringing newproducts, bringing new
innovation mm-hmm.
, um, it's thefirst look for most people,
like you mentioned, it's the,the kickoff for farm field days
(05:11):
and, you know, farm shows forthe summer and the fall that go
on. And it's just, it's, it'sreally turned into its own
animal.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And tell our listeners what the mission of
AG PhD is. How would youdescribe it?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Well, I, I think Brian and Darren really liked
it's, it's, we're we're moreabout the grower helping
themself mm-hmm.and doing their own
applications and that sort ofthing. And really just doing
what we feel is right for thefarmer. You know, so we, you
know, we, even some of thefolks that we work with, our ,
our main mission is, is helpthe grower do whatever you can
(05:48):
to get him, make him the mostprofitable. I think that's kind
of what we like to show at thefield day . Bring new ideas,
bring new technology, bring newchemistries, whatever that may
be, to help him be moreefficient, grow better crops,
grow better crops. Um, I , Ithink that's really it.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah. So there's definitely an ed educational
piece to Yes . PhD . Yeah .
Yeah. And tell people whereBaltic, South Dakota is, if, if
they're not familiar with,
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah. So we're in the southeast corner of South
Dakota. We're just 10 milesnorth of the city of Sioux
Falls. So for folks that arecoming to the field day, I
mean, we have a lot of folksthat'll fly in, fly out that
same day. Um, some folks willmake it a , I mean, it's gotten
to the point where guys haveseen it for the first time,
find out what the state ofSouth Dakota has to offer
(06:39):
mm-hmm. , um,plan vacations around it, that
sort of thing now. So yeah. Sowe're just 10 miles south of
SIO or north of Sioux Falls.
Quick access to get here, youknow, very easy. In and out.
Very easy in and out for theairport. Lots of hotels, all of
that.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
So you, you talked about the growth of AG PhD and
the field day event. So howdoes AG PhD share this
information, this educationwith, with growers? Tell us
about some of the avenues thatyou guys,
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Well, a lot of the avenues are the TV show, A P H
D , you know, the a p TV show,a p HD radio, SiriusXM. Brian
and Darren do a , a daily radioshow Monday through Friday on
SiriusXM. Um, we started usingsocial media with a Acres tv.
Um, a lot of the companies areon there. They have their own
(07:31):
channel. Um, and then justthrough email , um, a lot of ,
I mean, just all of those touchpoints , but, but by and large,
I mean it's, it's Acres tv ,um, it's the, a PhD TV show and
then it's, you know, the a pradio.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
And tell us more about your role as lead
agronomist with Ag PhD . Whatdoes that entail?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, a lot.
Um, it , it's kind of uniquefor myself because I'll, one
day I'll be working with cornand soybean production and that
sort of thing . The next dayI'm, you know, helping with all
of the chemistry. And it's,it's interesting for me cuz I,
I know a lot of the trade namesfor a lot of these products.
(08:14):
I'm getting a lot more used to,you know, the actual active
ingredients when it comes tothe chemistry. But , um, I'll
be honest, since you guys havejoined a B H D Field Day and
some of the other equipmentproviders Yeah . That is really
expanding what our field day isall about. And it's , it's
never the same people talkabout, you know, having a
(08:37):
mundane job, you know, whereit's the same grind every day .
Yeah. Uh , you know , I thinkthat the interesting thing that
I say is a lot of people ask,what's your schedule look like
next week? And I just say, Idunno .
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yeah . ,
Speaker 3 (08:50):
It's , it's , it's just, and that's, that's what
makes it fun. I mean, Icomplain to do something one
day and if you got a fire toput out , um, there's always
something new. So , um, thefield day itself is its own
animal mm-hmm. .
Um , but there's a , there's alot that goes on in between it.
Um, but we, we certainly , uh,we enjoy what we're doing and
we enjoy, or , you know, formyself , um, the field day is
(09:14):
probably one of the last thingsthat I would not want to do. I
mean, it's just, it's alwaysinteresting what's coming for,
to the forefront and to befront and center of that. Uh ,
that's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Yeah. I , I , I know it's a highlight. I, I've
participated in the last twoyears and it's been a , a lot
of fun and , uh, very , very,very learning. Um , a lot of
education. You see a lot ofpeople asking a lot of
questions and a lot of farmersare finding out great
information. So you talkedabout some of your
responsibilities there , um, atthe farm. Tell me a little bit
about your team that, thathelps you. Cuz I know you've
(09:48):
got a pretty good team ofpeople that assist.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Yeah, so I've got, I've got two young guys that
are working with me. I call 'emyoung cuz I'm the old man, got
enough gray hair mm-hmm.
, but I've got twoyoung men that are working with
me that are, you know, in theirearly to mid twenties , um,
that have been with me threeand four years now, or four or
five years I think it is. Um,so those guys are with me on a
daily basis, but then when itcomes to, I mean, we're the
(10:13):
ones that are there day to daymm-hmm., but the
team that's around it fromhelping companies is, you know,
from yourself, from Topcon ,um, you know, and then all of
the chemical companies and whatthey want their plot to look
like, what they're going tohave for, you know,
refreshments or snacks orwhatever for, you know, for
people that day, that group ofpeople that are part of a PhD .
(10:37):
Um , once it gets to be thattimeframe, I almost step back
that last week or so as we'rereally getting things set up
and tense placed and that sortof thing, and temporary
electricity put in. I've becomemore of a support staff. I
really lean on those folks Yeah. To and , um, coworkers of
(10:58):
mine that have different jobsduring the rest of the, the
year around a PhD that when aPhD field day comes, it's, it's
that same thing. You just digin and do whatever you need to.
And the team that I get to workwith, and I mean, it's, it is
second to none. I mean, they'rejust such wonderful people and
(11:19):
, um, we just kind of dropwhatever we're doing at that
point. And for that 10 to 15days that lead up to the field
day, it's just full on fieldday. We get it ready and it's
kind of crazy. Friday comesaround and you're there to help
clean up and do some stuff.
Yeah. Right back to your normaljob just like it never
(11:43):
happened. And we just reallystart thinking about next year.
So it's, it's a differentevent. It's just really amazing
to be part of it.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
So it sounds like it's all hands on deck for it,
and it is , you do have anamazing army of people. I mean,
with 11,000 attendance, ittakes a lot of people with a
lot of details. Tell me ifthere's, is there anything new
this year to the field day thatmaybe people haven't seen in
past years?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Yeah. Um, it continues to, I mean,
especially on the equipmentside, the robotics that
continue to come into , um,into the industry is, is pretty
amazing. I mean, I think oflike my father and my grandpa
and everything back in the dayand look at the , the intensive
(12:28):
labor that those guys did. Andyou're still always gonna have
that human element, but thefact that you can program
something and go and do anothertask or another job around the
farm and you have a robot outthere either applying, you
know, like in the case we'regonna, we're gonna have a , um,
it's , it's , uh, from Yield360, it's a machine called
(12:50):
Rain. This thing walks throughthe field and waters on its
own, you know, in a field. Sowhere you wouldn't be able to
do a center pivot, those typesof things , um, to some of the
innovations that you guys have,you know, with what Topcon's
got with the OneTouch to showguys that hey, you don't, you
just program this thing and letit do some of that work so that
(13:13):
you can , uh, you know, thatthat's huge. Um Right . You
know, for the guys that have ,you know, that are bringing
that to the thing or to the, tothe table and the companies
that bring it. And then on thechemistry side , um, I mean
there's, there's nitrogenreplacement , um, type, you
know, products that are comingon board that people are
(13:34):
interested in. And the marketis kind of running that way as
well to where we're trying tojust be more conscious of the
environment and , and, and justwant to be more productive and
do it as efficiently as we can.
So there's, there's alwayssomething. Yeah .
Speaker 1 (13:50):
So , so if someone hasn't attended before and
they're gonna attend this year,what would you tell them not to
miss? Because there's a lot ofthings going on on that day and
you can get a littleoverwhelmed when you show up
Yeah . As like, but what , whatwould you say like, don't miss
these couple of things
Speaker 3 (14:08):
For the, don't miss things that I would say is
gonna be, don't miss some ofthese speaking sessions.
There's some very good growersthat are coming in. There's
some, some entertainment typepeople that are , you know ,
they're the learning aspectthat is at this field day as
compared to some of the othershows , um, I think is probably
(14:28):
what sets us apart. I can't sayenough, Dan . I don't know if
that , there's a particularthing that I would say don't
miss. What we like to see isthe guys that are leaving later
in the day that are like, I'mcoming back next year because I
couldn't take this all in. I'mdone. Mm-hmm. ,
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Right .
Speaker 3 (14:47):
To see that guy , to see the look on people's faces
that they're kind of spent forthe day
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Is kind of what we're aiming for. We want them
to come back. And I thinkthat's what we see the most is
like , uh, folks that are like,man, I learned a lot today. I
gotta come back because I don'tthink I can absorb what I took
in. Right.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
So , and I appreciate that, that , that
about your show as well as it'snot just looking at tractors or
looking at hardware or seed,but it is the educational
aspect where you're reallyteaching people how you're
teaching farmers how to dotheir job better, how to make
more money. Right . How to savetime, how to do it in a more
effective way and make the mostof, of what they're doing. So
(15:27):
tell me a little bit about the,the yield winners, like the
contest that you have and, andhow that works each year.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
So we usually have taken guys that have been
either N C G A , um, you know,you know, either regional or
national winners, N C G A , alot of the guys were, were , we
were doing what we called firststep plots where we were doing
high yield plots mm-hmm.
, um, at the timewe've kind of gravitated away
from that, but yet those guyshave become such good friends
(15:56):
of ours that we like to havethose folks in because they are
always trying some of thethings that we really
highlight, you know, as tryingto do better, trying to get
more on those acres, trying to,you know, you know, be more
productive. So , um, we'rebringing those a a lot of those
guys in. And then , um, socialmedia and then just getting the
word out about agriculture ,um, the people that are, you
(16:19):
know, probably being seen alittle bit more on the, on the
social media side, just to givepeople the awareness of what
happens in the agriculturecommunity. I mean, there's be
there keeps to becoming lessand less of us out there, I
guess, if you wanna call itthat. Right. So we're trying to
kind of show the , you know,different sides of agriculture.
(16:40):
So those are the folks that aregonna be here , um, for the
most part. But I know, I think,you know, we've had many of the
guys that are here and we'vegot some new faces that are
coming in all the time justbecause we're trying to keep
things fresh all the time aswell. But I know Kevin
Matthews, Chad Henderson, MattMiles , Kelly Garrett , uh, Lee
Lou's , a lot of the guys thatare with Extreme Ag and that
(17:02):
group are gonna be here. Um, Ithink Rob Sharky , Randy the
farmer, I'm, I'm really stokedto see Randy the farmer. I've
been following Randy, thefarmer since he started. I just
kind of , I can't wait to shakehis hand myself, you know? Yeah
. So I'm looking forward tothat, you know, because it ,
there's something new for meall the time too, and I think
that's why I'm, I'm justlooking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
So. Yeah. Well that's very cool. Hey , I gotta
ask you, have you seen ourcameras out there that we
mounted in the test plot?
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Absolutely. I , I was just out around him this
morning and I , yeah. And I, Ialways laugh at my, my , one of
the young guys, Mr. Perklethat's with me and , and him
and I go back and forth all thetime and he's like , gotta be
careful what you say out here .
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Cause they're listening .
Speaker 3 (17:45):
This isn't Big Brother , this is just looking
their corn plot . Yeah . We're,yeah, we , um, we're uh, pretty
neat to see that thing throughhow that's gonna play out
through the year. And I want ,it'll be interesting just to
see the time lapse of whatthat's gonna look like.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
So Yeah, for the people that are listening, I
mean, we put six LTE solarpowered cameras on, one on each
of the six plots that Topconhas out there. And , uh, they
have worked, they have workedflawlessly. We've got each of
'em grabbing TimeLapse frombefore emergence. And so I know
, um, you know, we've looked atthe footage and are able to
(18:22):
remotely look and see what'sgoing on in those plots. And
it's been pretty fun.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Yeah. And I know too , uh, Dan, you know, we're
getting to that time cuz I wasjust talking with the guys this
morning. Uh , we've got acouple of 'em that we're gonna
try and do some , um, somenitrate studies with , uh, um,
with tap and whatnot or , orthe , the program that you guys
have for the monitor , um, sothat we can see what's going on
in there. And we'll probably beputting those SRIs applications
(18:49):
on. We're gonna do our SRIsapplication a little bit
different than the farmernormally does because we're
just gonna try and put somegranules on right next to the
row , uh, you know, using urea.
Right. Um , that's just theeasiest way that we can put it
on without damaging the plot.
And then we're gonna water thatin, you know, so we don't lose
any of that. So we can try andget it as consistent as we can.
(19:11):
But yeah, I'm, I'm kind ofstoked. The thing looks pretty
darn good this year and, and ,um, I'd be really interested to
see what we're gonna see fromthe cameras , um, as it comes
out .
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Okay. Well that's really cool. All right, well
let's uh , bring in Abe, wehaven't forgot about you Abe,
but , uh, tell me a little bitabout how many years Top Keon
has been a partner with Ag PhD? Give us a little history
lesson .
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Oh , well , ag PhD and prior to that was, I think
Top Gun was done a couple yearsbefore that , I'm not really
sure. I came award for Top Gunin thousand and that was one ,
my first first events with thecompany was from Georgia ,
(19:58):
headed south for the event .
And now that was , that startedoff as just kinda , hey ,
here's who we , here's all ourproducts , demo product set .
And starting last year's whenwe lot , um, that was something
(20:18):
new for us, something new forthe company and it was, it was
a little bit sketchy to to saythe least at first cause we
were like , we put a plantogether and then we start
executing that plan comes kindawashes everything out and one
thing led to another , allkinda different things . But at
the end of the day we werestill able to pull it back
together, be able to pick apartand tell the story . And once
(20:42):
we saw the story was was stillbeing , even with all the
problems that , that we werefacing, it was a powerful story
. And we focused on the tillerdepth control as well as the
nitrogen with our crop specsensors. And for those
listeners that are listening ,if you came through the plots
last year , you know , you wereable to see that with the
(21:03):
tiller depth control, wefocused on basically three
different tillage regimes .
Either too deep, too shallow,or just right . Um , and those
numbers were, lot of peoplewere on what's too deep ,
what's too shallow, what's justright ? And it was , well
what's your area know ? So weweren't really focused on magic
number as much as we were thatthat good seed zone for that ,
(21:26):
that region. And when thoseplants started coming up, then
we, you know , the , the storytelling itself ear height
placements , that was kinda theshining star that really told
the difference in thetreatments . We flag placement
deep was all the air heightswere erratic , too shallow,
they were very erratic. But inthe zones where we were
(21:47):
shooting for that optimaldepth, they were just nice. And
even so that told a really goodpowerful story and that really
resonated with the farmers thatcame for it . Cause they were
able to look , see and visuallysee this is what we're shooting
for . It's not just a pictureon a page or , or you know , a
screen or something like that.
(22:08):
They're seeing it somethingthey can relate to . Same thing
in , in the nitrogen blocksthat that we able to our crop
spec sensors running acrossthree plots in , in a pretty
short distance, a couplehundred feet from , from start
to finish. And show that justin that little bit of a
difference , the amount ofvariability that nitrogen can
(22:31):
have . That was a powerful ,powerful visual as well . Cause
now guys were like , oh man ,oxygen's expensive. Right? So
here I would overly here Iwould under apply how much
money is that gonna cost me inthe long run ? So now we're ,
we're starting technology backto kind things . And this year,
(22:53):
you know , as we you down thisroad of , of an actual field
plot at this event, we're gonnamirror what we did last year
and showcase those, those twotechnologies. Cause given the
timing of this field day , thecrop stage that it's gonna be
in , those are the twosolutions in our portfolio that
we can really highlight and getthe best visual bang for the
(23:17):
box , so to speak. That , thatwe can.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
And you talked about the six different plots, you
know, the three with nitrogenand the three with tillage
depth control. But why wouldyou say this has been an
important show for Topcon? WhyAG PhD ? I mean why plots at Ag
PhD ? Why is that important to,to , to Topcon?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Well, for , from a brand recognition standpoint ,
they say , who are you ? Or Iknew you did something but I
really didn't know . So itgives us a chance to kinda get
out in front of those growers .
And with ag it's a very uniquefact . It's just one day . And
(24:01):
number two , it's really gearedand catered for farmers , you
know , across the year showcase. But , so you still have those
(24:23):
equipment manufacturers, butthey're also showing what that
machine does in the field. Youknow, not just here it's all
shined up nice , neat, pretty,but we're gonna put it in the
field . We're gonna show youwhat this machine is meant to
do or what this technologypackage or what this . So it's
, it's really geared forfarmers and for growers and
that's what makes the showunique. Cause you know , you
(24:46):
know that the quality of ofthose people coming through ,
they're gonna ask questions .
They're , they're there for areason . They're not just there
for , you know , have a offfarm . So speak , they're there
, they're wanting to learn ,they're looking for new , you
know , new technologies. Yousee , you know , those kinda
things. And so just a , abetter quality of of how that's
(25:07):
there .
Speaker 1 (25:09):
So unpack for me, and you mentioned this a little
bit, but unpack for me some ofthe key indicators that you
look for in these plots whenyou look at 'em. Cuz I was
there last year and it wasinteresting. I remember Glen
came out and he was pointingout some things, you know,
with, with uh, just differentparts of the , uh, the field.
And it was fascinating to hearfrom an agronomist standpoint
(25:31):
that things that agronomistsees that maybe the average
person wouldn't see. So whatare some of those things?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Yeah , so well let's , let's start with the tillage
depth control. Cause that'swhat we got in the field right
now. Um , corn was planning acouple ago , maybe at this
point . Um , but with tillagedepth May 15th . Okay , so
about a month ago . So withtillage depth , what we're
gonna look at first, and thisis where the cameras are really
(25:58):
, really proven they're worthis emergence . Not only are we
looking at ok , the comingobviously up , but how is
coming up , up even across thefield if , if we do have some
early late emergence , you know, what plots are those in ? Are
those in the shallow plots ?
(26:19):
Are the two deep plots , youknow , how is gonna , compared
to plots in primary tillagetillage range , you knows . So
how gonna compare all that ? Soin those right now it's um ,
once everything comes up andleaving out a little bit , but
(26:40):
then as we start setting years, then we're gonna come back .
We're look at tassel dates . Wehave , you know , uniform
tasseling across the field ,which is gonna more uniform
pollination, especially if weget into a hot dry summer where
moistures gonna be limited .
You know , if we plants thatare , they're gonna struggle to
(27:02):
pollinate as compared to thosethat are ahead. Um , as , as we
shift over to the , to thenitrogen to the crop spec trial
. Right now , really what we'relooking at is what visual
indicators can we see ? Arethere any color differences
between the plot, anyyellowing, any , you know , any
(27:23):
spots that are darker greenthan others that we can pick
out with our , just with nakedeye and as well . And then once
sensor across those plots ,comparing sensor data to visual
data and cause that , thatreally is what tells the story
there too . Cause when youreyes see it , then it's easier
(27:45):
to say , ok , yeah , I saw that, you know , right here in this
spot in field I saw eyes . Sothere , there's , you know ,
there's validity there . Butthen also maybe that sensors
gonna pick up on some spotsthat weaker not , it's not
enough or nitrogen becomesproblem before we start losing
(28:16):
yield at the end of the season.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Yeah. So the crop spec helps you see what your
eyes can't necessarily pick up.
Exactly. So what would you say,what have you learned that
works and doesn't work fromthese plots?
Speaker 2 (28:31):
From a plot standpoint ? The one thing I
can tell you yeah , is sit downand plan everything out that
you want. And then once you getthat plan drawn up, crumple it
up and throw it away. Causemother nature's gonna throw
curve ball after curve ballafter curve agreements there .
Um , and that , that's just thenature of , of plots. I've done
(28:55):
plots for years of previouslife. I mean , research plots
all throughout the southeasternUS and especially when when
you're trying to condenseeverything down to a small
footprint so you can reallyhave a visual that you can show
that you can be proud of . Themore concentrated you make that
the bigger the effort is that ,that you need to , to get
(29:17):
there. So number one, thebiggest thing I've learned with
this and and throughout theyears is have a plan and then
have a backup plan , and thenhave another backup plan . And
then when it all , when allthose fail , go to your last
backup floor and , and justremain flexible. Um , and then
(29:38):
the , the other big componentof that is , is , and we
(29:59):
planned it today, we made thisapplication. This is what our
plans are, you know , goingforward as we get , you know ,
a little bit closer to theshow, we'll start talking soil
samples and tissue samples,things like that. So have a
plan , have a backup , but mostof all have , have team that
you can trust . Cause if youdon't have boots on the ground
every day for , for an eventlike this, you're not gonna be
(30:21):
successful at it .
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Hmm . Those are good takeaways. So Glen , we've
talked about field day comingup here fast and your team and
all that has to happen, butwhat challenges have you guys
faced this spring? I mean,weather or has there been some
specific things you've raninto?
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Yeah, it's, it's been weather. Um ,
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Uhhuh .
in what way?
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Dry. Okay. Extremely dry guys. Um, and we're, and I
, I think that was kind of whatwe're talking about. Even with
the side drift here, now we'retrying to irrigate and I I say
irrigate quote unquote rightnow because we're trying to
keep it alive. We don't have awell that we can provide enough
(31:03):
water there. So we'll keep italive. We'll make it look as be
, you know, as best we can.
We're hoping for someturnaround. But to Abe's point,
I mean we, we were dry quite abit last year and all of a
sudden on July 5th, and I, Iwon't forget that day for a
while , um, we got five inchesof rain in about two hours and
(31:25):
that washed away a lot of whatwe had started on that field
day and had to turn it around.
I don't wanna know what the ,what the , what could happen
until July 27th, youknow, when we do this again.
Right. But we're , you alwaysgotta be prepared for it. I
know. You know, so that's been,that's been our biggest thing
is just been, yeah , it's beenhonestly dry. Um, we did plant
(31:46):
our field day this year,probably, this is the earliest,
we've planted it since probably1415. So we got things to where
everything is off the groundand it , and it , look , we've
got some nice emergence andwhatnot. Everything looks
pretty good so far right now.
We're just trying to keepthings alive and hoping that
mother nature cooperates withus a little bit. Um, but I
(32:08):
can't echo enough what , whatAbe said. Um, we put out a plan
for just this plot here, and Ithink we've got a couple of
things that are on the backsideof it that we wanna look at
from a data perspective. Um,just because we're doing stuff
with tillage depth , I wannasee just from myself , um, how
(32:28):
my planter reacted to that.
There's not too many timeswhere, you know, specifically
in this spot that I went tooshallow or this is where I
really was trying to hit thattwo to four inch mark for
tillage. Or if I tilt too deep,I wanna see how that, how did
that planter respond to that?
What does that look like?
(32:49):
Because, you know, that's theway my planter responded
because of, you know , theability now to have up and down
force on there and some ofthose things. But yeah , I mean
that that, those types ofthings are what we'd like to
really focus on for the, forthe year as to how does , how
does things react and , andwhatnot when you, when you put
(33:09):
out a plan like that. Um , butyeah , that, back to your, the
original question, that's beenthe biggest thing is, is we've
just been awfully dry mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
. Okay
.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
And to try and still make it look presentable for
the folks by the time we get tofield day will be our, our
biggest thing. So
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Now tell our listeners what kind of
equipment and technology yourteam relies on for these plots,
because it differs from what anaverage farmer's doing in their
field. Somewhat. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
We some of
it, believe it or not, is, I
mean, we're, most of it issprayed with a backpack. Okay .
Um , so we'll put a backpack on, um, and then I got a 10 foot
boom so I can get prettyparticular on that. We're using
three gallon canisters. Um, Mr.
Perkle and Caden , my , the twoyoung guys that are with me,
(33:58):
they like to try and show theold man up so they put a five
gallon can. I'm like, well ,you're back. I'll tell you that
in a few years. Butthat's fine, you can do that.
But yeah, we do everything.
Most of it is done by hand. Wedo some mechanically , um, with
a four wheeler sprayer if we'vegot a smaller set. But when
you've got so many differentchanges for each company's
plot, a lot of it is done byhand. Okay. You know? Yeah. Um,
(34:22):
we try and be as, as best wecan to emulate , uh, real world
activity out there, but it'sjust really hard. I mean, you
guys know as well. I mean,think about some of this stuff.
It's, it's 50 feet long andthen there's something
different to try and makeequipment work in 50 feet and
respond the way it's supposedto. You, there's a lot of
(34:44):
checks and balances that go inthere before you push in the
clutch and decide you're gonnaplant, let's put it that way.
Right.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
So , yeah. So you've been managing these plots for
several years. How , how do youincrease variation and what
does that do to your soil?
Speaker 3 (34:59):
As far as variation?
In what sense? I guess Dan ?
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah, the sense of variation in like what plot one
compared to plot two comparedto plot two three. I mean, what
variation do , do you guys tryto show in these plots? I mean,
does it like,
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Well , I , I mean like, like for Topcon here,
this will be, you know, will bethe fertility piece on it. But
it is a challenge I have, Ibasically have the map layout
from everything going backabout seven years. After seven
years. It's like your taxes,you can pretty much take that
out, right? I mean, you canthrow that away, but , um, we
(35:39):
have to be cognizant of that.
And there's some spots outthere. I mean , um, just as a
for instance, and you guysprobably , I mean, Abe's gonna
know this right off the top, wewere having trouble getting
our, our alleyways and , andour walkways for people
established. So we thoughtlet's throw some wood chips out
there so people have somewhereto walk on so they don't have a
bunch of dust to walk on. We'restill seeing the effects of
(36:02):
that because anywhere I putnitrogen where those wood chips
are at, because we got 'em outas best we could, but you ,
you're on black soil , you know, on on conventional tilt soil,
there's still some of that in,we get nitrogen tie up in those
wood chips all the time.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
So those in , in a corn scenario, all of a sudden
I'll have a little loop inthere where it's all of a
sudden it's corn. Well, we knowafter field they were going
back in there and trying topick that up. You just, when
you've got something that's onthis big of a scope ,
and it sounds big in , inresearch terms, but when you've
got that much scope and yougotta try and figure out what's
going on, the , the , thehiccups show themselves pretty
(36:40):
quickly. So , um, so we, wekeep trying to do that. Um, a
lot of folks have asked me, whydon't you no till it ? Um,
we've tried that in spots, butyou can't imagine what 11,000
people walking around on eightacres, how compacted Oh wow.
(37:01):
That becomes right. Because thehuman footprint just walking
around that area, it is amazingjust how compacted this gets so
that that roll , you know,rolls into what we do from year
to year to year as well.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
And then every year's different Right . Corn
and this block this year , butnext year it may be different
company . They need splitbetween corn and beans. So it's
just they're really planningjust is a crap sheet in most
days . Right. You know , youjust gotta do the best you can
(37:40):
with what you have . Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
TA's point, you know, two is like, you know,
you may have a vendor that willbe here for one year the next
year. They're not, or there'snew vendors. This year has been
tremendous that there's a , alot of vendors that want to
come in. So where we'vediscussed leaving it permanent
alleyways and separatingdifferent plots, it just hasn't
(38:03):
worked like that becausethere's so much variability.
We'd like to try and change thelayout every year. So believe
it or not, the grass that yousee every year, we replant it.
Um, and just to , I mean,everybody knows how typical it
can be to do that, counter thatwith bringing the traffic in
to, to do all the plots and laythem out exactly where they are
(38:25):
. Um, it's pretty bigundertaking and it is , but
it's still a lot of fun. So,
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Well, talk to me about how you manage irrigation
and runoff. Like you weresaying, it's, it , it ,
sometimes it's dry and then allof a sudden you get five inches
of rain. Yeah . So how do youguys manage that?
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Well, I think, and I , I , that's the, that's the
biggest thing that we've gotright now is, you know, Dan Abe
, you guys have been at thefield, they say, I think what
the one thing that people don'trealize is how much drop and
fall there is in this littlespace. This is not a flat area
whatsoever. Um, even the teamthat I work with here, we, we ,
(39:02):
we will get out a big, youknow, printout or a Google Map
image or something like that.
We'll draw the plots out andthey're like, well , we wanna
put the tent here , or abuilding, you know, that sort
of thing. I'm like, impossible.
You don't understand how muchdrop there is. Um, so we
actually drove it with ourtractor with the R T K and the
, there's over 30 feet of fallfrom one side of this to the
(39:23):
other where this goes through.
So that is no doubt, issomething that we, we really
pay attention to. Theirrigation, like I said, that
we do, is simply to keep italive. I mean, when we're put
on irrigation, we're probablyputting on a half an inch at a
time. We're doing it in smallblocks, it's literally done
with water reels. Now we'retrying to do that and some
(39:46):
small guns. Um, the wateringthat we do, we don't even do
with a very big diameter , um,orifice on the end so that we
don't , um, get big dropletsbecause I don't wanna compact
anybody's stuff, you know, withthe big droplets or for that
matter, as dry as it is rightnow. Um , I can get , um,
herbicide splash, you know,we're, so we're , we're
(40:09):
cognizant of that too. Sothere's, it's, there's all
sorts of challenges that whenyou walk out and look at it,
you go, well, that's not thatbig a deal. Um, it was the day
when you were trying to makethat application. So,
Speaker 1 (40:22):
So you had mentioned that you got the seed in the
ground on May 15th, but thentell us a little bit about when
you sprayed it and how manytimes you've sprayed the top
con plot .
Speaker 3 (40:32):
Well, the , the tough part that we had guys, so
we, we planted it, everythinglooked really good, planted
into moisture, had pretty goodemergence. Um, and then we
sprayed our pres . We waited ,I mean, got real nice , um,
conditions for planting. Sowe'll plant it and then we'll
put our pres on. Now, Topcon'snot too specific to what they
(40:56):
want us to do, so we'll doessentially what we consider a
burn down , you know, to getany , anything that's existing
there. And then we'll put aresidual herbicide on . It
hasn't rained enough toactivate that residual
herbicide. And our priests thisyear, where last year they
worked tremendously, all of thecompanies priests this year
(41:16):
have been what I would callless than average. And it
doesn't matter to thechemistry, but as we know in
Akin testified to this too, ifyou don't get moisture to
activate a pre, you got thatcontact herbicide to work. But
the pre is now allowing theweeds to come through. Um, and
believe it or not, you canprobably not get the herbicide
(41:37):
to activate, but the darn wewill come up. So , um, we've
done a secondary, what I wouldcall an early contact post
application , um, now thatwe're starting to get some that
we're starting to water , um,because we got to where we
thought Mother Nature was gonnahelp us out , we're watering
against things happening. I'vegot little weeds that are
(41:57):
trying to come back up, but youcan see now just that little
dab of water that we've donenow the pres are starting to
activate. They're still there.
So , um, it's coming around. Itlooks really, I I think it's
gonna look fantastic for thefield day. Um, the biggest
struggle that we've got rightnow is we're just, it's just a
lot more labor because we're,we're trying to keep things
(42:18):
alive.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Yeah. So, so Glen , let me ask you this. Explain to
our listeners the importance ofthe concept of seed depth . W
how would you explain that? Uh, why is that important?
Speaker 3 (42:29):
Well, I think especially in the terms of, of
the corn plant, you know, Igotta get that seed down so
that I can get better rootdevelopment and get that, you
know, so I've got my nodalroots to develop where they're
supposed to and , and give thatplant its best chance to
thrive. I mean, you can, youcan plant shallower and if
Mother Nature , um, cooperateswith you enough, you can, you
(42:53):
can get from A to B. That'snot, that's not the , the look
that myself, that's not thelook that Abe is looking for.
He wants a plant that when youput it in the ground, it's
thriving and seed depth is, isis one of the initial steps
that that comes in . You haveto have that, that good seed to
soil contact. You have to havethe proper depth. Um, otherwise
(43:16):
your plant can survive. But,you know, thriving is what
we're looking for. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
And then you're wanting it consistent too,
right? Correct.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
To be,
Speaker 1 (43:24):
Yeah , the same.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
And I , I think that's, that's the nature of,
you know, where equipment isgoing, you know, and what we're
able to do now compared to whatour dad and grandpa used to do.
Um, and what makes it, youknow, so that we can get the
yields that we are consistency,depth simulation is all part of
that, and that's why we'reworking with Topcon and doing
(43:46):
the stuff that we're
Speaker 1 (43:49):
All right . Glenn and Abe , thanks so much for
joining us on today's podcastepisode. You can find out more
about the Ag PhD Field Daycoming up by going to ww.ag
phd.com . As Glen said, you canalso find them on Facebook and
they have a daily radio showand TV show in many areas of
(44:09):
the country, as well as Acrestv, which is an online video
platform for nothing butagricultural content. So we
hope that , uh, you'll come outto the Ag PhD field Day and see
it and stop by the Topconbooth. We also want to thank
each of our listeners fortuning in today. Topcon
appreciates all of our friendsin agriculture who work so
tirelessly to put food on ourtables. If you enjoyed this
(44:32):
episode, remember to like,share and subscribe to Topcon
Talks Agriculture on Spotify,apple Podcasts, Amazon Music,
or wherever you get yourpodcasts. Please tell your
friends about us. We'd love foryou to follow Topcon
Agriculture on social media.
Thanks again for joining ustoday. See you next time and go
out and make it a great day.
Hello and welcome to the Topcon Talks Agriculture
podcast. On each episode, wediscuss and shared topics that
are important to farmers andgrowers and agribusiness. My
name is Dan Hendricks, and I'myour host for today. I am the
Senior Business DevelopmentManager for Topcon Agriculture,
and I get to work with anamazing team of talented
(00:33):
individuals who loveagriculture. They enjoy
technology, and they strive tohelp farmers and growers find
solutions. Well, the plantingseason for 2023 has come to an
end for numerous farmers in theUnited States and in Canada.
And this also marks thebeginning of the summer Farm
Show circuit. One of the mostdistinguished farm shows in the
(00:55):
United States is the AG PhDField Day event, which is set
to take place on Thursday, July27th at the AG PhD Farm in
Baltic, South Dakota. Lastyear, AG PhD Field Day set an
attendance record with over11,000 people from various
parts of the United States andforeign countries in
attendance. And the event willfeature the top agriculture
(01:18):
companies showcasing theirsolutions, and all attendees
will be provided with acomplimentary lunch because
farmers love a free lunch.
Topcon Agriculture has been ina participant at AG PhD Field
Day event for five years now.
Additionally, this year marksthe second time that we have
set up a test plot for thisevent. And later in the episode
(01:40):
we will discuss that plot in alittle more detail. But before
that, I want to introduce ourguests for today's episode.
They both have extensiveexperience in precision
agriculture and agronomy, andour first guest is Glenn Hers ,
who is the field research leadat Ag PhD . And , uh, gly heads
(02:01):
up the test plots and overseesall the agronomic duties on the
AG PhD farm. Glenn has workedwith Ag PhD for over 11 years.
He grew up as a farm kid inWestern North Dakota, and he
brings a wealth of knowledgeand experience to customers and
agriculture companies for AgPhD . And he stays extremely
busy, juggling all the plotsand tasks from the various
(02:25):
manufacturers. Glenn , welcometo our podcast today. Thanks
for having me, Dan. Yeah, Iappreciate you being here. And
let me introduce our secondguest, Abe Eubank. Abe is the
regional sales manager for theSouthwest for Topcon
Agriculture. He also serves asthe agronomy lead for Top Con.
He is the proud graduate ofMississippi State University
(02:48):
and currently resides in thegreat state of Georgia. He is a
coworker of mine and a personalfriend, and I always appreciate
Abe's agronomy knowledge andhis passion for agriculture.
Abe, welcome to the podcasttoday.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Hey Dan, thanks for having me. Good to see you
again. And I'm in thesoutheast, not the southwest.
Yeah, we did things a littledifferent here in the south.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Okay . You know, my bad on that. My bad, Abe, I
knew where you lived . I just ,
Speaker 2 (03:14):
It's fine . Didn't
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Say correct. So ,
Speaker 2 (03:16):
And I went to Clemson too, so I got a double
strike against me just keepingit all in the South
state for grad school and CL orstate for undergrad and Clemson
for graduate school.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So , uh, for our listeners today who aren't as
familiar with AG PhD , Glen ,can you please give us some
background on AG PhD Field Day?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Well, I'll be honest, I mean, the way I found
out about Ag PhD was before Ieven worked with Brian and
Darren for Ag PhD and , and,and the other things that way ,
um, just was word of mouth. Itwas more of a regional show at
the time. I remember the firsttime that we came here, I think
my wife and I came to the fieldday in 2010. There was about a
(04:02):
thousand people here. Um, itwas a lot smaller, you know,
event, I guess if you wannacall it or so than that. It was
more almost a customerappreciation type scenario, and
it's just exploded. Um, I mean,and when I started in 2013 , we
were still using our, I mean ,uh, the first crop that I put
(04:25):
in for the field day or Ihelped it with was , uh, we
still used our farm planter todo all of the crops. Most of it
was re relaying on that wasmore the crop itself out there
to what it's blossomed intotoday , um, with all of the
vendors and the , the , youknow, the, the mm-hmm .
just been quite a , quite anundertaking. So , yeah . Uh ,
(04:48):
that's, that's kind of where,the way I remember it is , I
mean, it used to be golf cropsand now it's still the, the ,
the plots are still a very biglearning tool and a backdrop
for everything that we'retrying to show. But it's all
about , um, bringing newproducts, bringing new
innovation mm-hmm.
like you mentioned, it's the,the kickoff for farm field days
(05:11):
and, you know, farm shows forthe summer and the fall that go
on. And it's just, it's, it'sreally turned into its own
animal.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And tell our listeners what the mission of
AG PhD is. How would youdescribe it?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Well, I, I think Brian and Darren really liked
it's, it's, we're we're moreabout the grower helping
themself mm-hmm.
applications and that sort ofthing. And really just doing
what we feel is right for thefarmer. You know, so we, you
know, we, even some of thefolks that we work with, our ,
our main mission is, is helpthe grower do whatever you can
(05:48):
to get him, make him the mostprofitable. I think that's kind
of what we like to show at thefield day . Bring new ideas,
bring new technology, bring newchemistries, whatever that may
be, to help him be moreefficient, grow better crops,
grow better crops. Um, I , Ithink that's really it.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah. So there's definitely an ed educational
piece to Yes . PhD . Yeah .
Yeah. And tell people whereBaltic, South Dakota is, if, if
they're not familiar with,
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah. So we're in the southeast corner of South
Dakota. We're just 10 milesnorth of the city of Sioux
Falls. So for folks that arecoming to the field day, I
mean, we have a lot of folksthat'll fly in, fly out that
same day. Um, some folks willmake it a , I mean, it's gotten
to the point where guys haveseen it for the first time,
find out what the state ofSouth Dakota has to offer
(06:39):
mm-hmm.
sort of thing now. So yeah. Sowe're just 10 miles south of
SIO or north of Sioux Falls.
Quick access to get here, youknow, very easy. In and out.
Very easy in and out for theairport. Lots of hotels, all of
that.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
So you, you talked about the growth of AG PhD and
the field day event. So howdoes AG PhD share this
information, this educationwith, with growers? Tell us
about some of the avenues thatyou guys,
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Well, a lot of the avenues are the TV show, A P H
D , you know, the a p TV show,a p HD radio, SiriusXM. Brian
and Darren do a , a daily radioshow Monday through Friday on
SiriusXM. Um, we started usingsocial media with a Acres tv.
Um, a lot of the companies areon there. They have their own
(07:31):
channel. Um, and then justthrough email , um, a lot of ,
I mean, just all of those touchpoints , but, but by and large,
I mean it's, it's Acres tv ,um, it's the, a PhD TV show and
then it's, you know, the a pradio.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
And tell us more about your role as lead
agronomist with Ag PhD . Whatdoes that entail?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well,
Um, it , it's kind of uniquefor myself because I'll, one
day I'll be working with cornand soybean production and that
sort of thing . The next dayI'm, you know, helping with all
of the chemistry. And it's,it's interesting for me cuz I,
I know a lot of the trade namesfor a lot of these products.
(08:14):
I'm getting a lot more used to,you know, the actual active
ingredients when it comes tothe chemistry. But , um, I'll
be honest, since you guys havejoined a B H D Field Day and
some of the other equipmentproviders Yeah . That is really
expanding what our field day isall about. And it's , it's
never the same people talkabout, you know, having a
(08:37):
mundane job, you know, whereit's the same grind every day .
Yeah. Uh , you know , I thinkthat the interesting thing that
I say is a lot of people ask,what's your schedule look like
next week? And I just say, Idunno .
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yeah .
Speaker 3 (08:50):
It's , it's , it's just, and that's, that's what
makes it fun. I mean, Icomplain to do something one
day and if you got a fire toput out , um, there's always
something new. So , um, thefield day itself is its own
animal mm-hmm.
Um , but there's a , there's alot that goes on in between it.
Um, but we, we certainly , uh,we enjoy what we're doing and
we enjoy, or , you know, formyself , um, the field day is
(09:14):
probably one of the last thingsthat I would not want to do. I
mean, it's just, it's alwaysinteresting what's coming for,
to the forefront and to befront and center of that. Uh ,
that's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Yeah. I , I , I know it's a highlight. I, I've
participated in the last twoyears and it's been a , a lot
of fun and , uh, very , very,very learning. Um , a lot of
education. You see a lot ofpeople asking a lot of
questions and a lot of farmersare finding out great
information. So you talkedabout some of your
responsibilities there , um, atthe farm. Tell me a little bit
about your team that, thathelps you. Cuz I know you've
(09:48):
got a pretty good team ofpeople that assist.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Yeah, so I've got, I've got two young guys that
are working with me. I call 'emyoung cuz I'm the old man, got
enough gray hair mm-hmm.
me that are, you know, in theirearly to mid twenties , um,
that have been with me threeand four years now, or four or
five years I think it is. Um,so those guys are with me on a
daily basis, but then when itcomes to, I mean, we're the
(10:13):
ones that are there day to daymm-hmm.
team that's around it fromhelping companies is, you know,
from yourself, from Topcon ,um, you know, and then all of
the chemical companies and whatthey want their plot to look
like, what they're going tohave for, you know,
refreshments or snacks orwhatever for, you know, for
people that day, that group ofpeople that are part of a PhD .
(10:37):
Um , once it gets to be thattimeframe, I almost step back
that last week or so as we'rereally getting things set up
and tense placed and that sortof thing, and temporary
electricity put in. I've becomemore of a support staff. I
really lean on those folks Yeah. To and , um, coworkers of
(10:58):
mine that have different jobsduring the rest of the, the
year around a PhD that when aPhD field day comes, it's, it's
that same thing. You just digin and do whatever you need to.
And the team that I get to workwith, and I mean, it's, it is
second to none. I mean, they'rejust such wonderful people and
(11:19):
, um, we just kind of dropwhatever we're doing at that
point. And for that 10 to 15days that lead up to the field
day, it's just full on fieldday. We get it ready and it's
kind of crazy. Friday comesaround and you're there to help
clean up and do some stuff.
Yeah. Right back to your normaljob just like it never
(11:43):
happened. And we just reallystart thinking about next year.
So it's, it's a differentevent. It's just really amazing
to be part of it.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
So it sounds like it's all hands on deck for it,
and it is , you do have anamazing army of people. I mean,
with 11,000 attendance, ittakes a lot of people with a
lot of details. Tell me ifthere's, is there anything new
this year to the field day thatmaybe people haven't seen in
past years?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Yeah. Um, it continues to, I mean,
especially on the equipmentside, the robotics that
continue to come into , um,into the industry is, is pretty
amazing. I mean, I think oflike my father and my grandpa
and everything back in the dayand look at the , the intensive
(12:28):
labor that those guys did. Andyou're still always gonna have
that human element, but thefact that you can program
something and go and do anothertask or another job around the
farm and you have a robot outthere either applying, you
know, like in the case we'regonna, we're gonna have a , um,
it's , it's , uh, from Yield360, it's a machine called
(12:50):
Rain. This thing walks throughthe field and waters on its
own, you know, in a field. Sowhere you wouldn't be able to
do a center pivot, those typesof things , um, to some of the
innovations that you guys have,you know, with what Topcon's
got with the OneTouch to showguys that hey, you don't, you
just program this thing and letit do some of that work so that
(13:13):
you can , uh, you know, thatthat's huge. Um Right . You
know, for the guys that have ,you know, that are bringing
that to the thing or to the, tothe table and the companies
that bring it. And then on thechemistry side , um, I mean
there's, there's nitrogenreplacement , um, type, you
know, products that are comingon board that people are
(13:34):
interested in. And the marketis kind of running that way as
well to where we're trying tojust be more conscious of the
environment and , and, and justwant to be more productive and
do it as efficiently as we can.
So there's, there's alwayssomething. Yeah .
Speaker 1 (13:50):
So , so if someone hasn't attended before and
they're gonna attend this year,what would you tell them not to
miss? Because there's a lot ofthings going on on that day and
you can get a littleoverwhelmed when you show up
Yeah . As like, but what , whatwould you say like, don't miss
these couple of things
Speaker 3 (14:08):
For the, don't miss things that I would say is
gonna be, don't miss some ofthese speaking sessions.
There's some very good growersthat are coming in. There's
some, some entertainment typepeople that are , you know ,
they're the learning aspectthat is at this field day as
compared to some of the othershows , um, I think is probably
(14:28):
what sets us apart. I can't sayenough, Dan . I don't know if
that , there's a particularthing that I would say don't
miss. What we like to see isthe guys that are leaving later
in the day that are like, I'mcoming back next year because I
couldn't take this all in. I'mdone. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Right .
Speaker 3 (14:47):
To see that guy , to see the look on people's faces
that they're kind of spent forthe day
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Is kind of what we're aiming for. We want them
to come back. And I thinkthat's what we see the most is
like , uh, folks that are like,man, I learned a lot today. I
gotta come back because I don'tthink I can absorb what I took
in. Right.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
So , and I appreciate that, that , that
about your show as well as it'snot just looking at tractors or
looking at hardware or seed,but it is the educational
aspect where you're reallyteaching people how you're
teaching farmers how to dotheir job better, how to make
more money. Right . How to savetime, how to do it in a more
effective way and make the mostof, of what they're doing. So
(15:27):
tell me a little bit about the,the yield winners, like the
contest that you have and, andhow that works each year.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
So we usually have taken guys that have been
either N C G A , um, you know,you know, either regional or
national winners, N C G A , alot of the guys were, were , we
were doing what we called firststep plots where we were doing
high yield plots mm-hmm.
from that, but yet those guyshave become such good friends
(15:56):
of ours that we like to havethose folks in because they are
always trying some of thethings that we really
highlight, you know, as tryingto do better, trying to get
more on those acres, trying to,you know, you know, be more
productive. So , um, we'rebringing those a a lot of those
guys in. And then , um, socialmedia and then just getting the
word out about agriculture ,um, the people that are, you
(16:19):
know, probably being seen alittle bit more on the, on the
social media side, just to givepeople the awareness of what
happens in the agriculturecommunity. I mean, there's be
there keeps to becoming lessand less of us out there, I
guess, if you wanna call itthat. Right. So we're trying to
kind of show the , you know,different sides of agriculture.
(16:40):
So those are the folks that aregonna be here , um, for the
most part. But I know, I think,you know, we've had many of the
guys that are here and we'vegot some new faces that are
coming in all the time justbecause we're trying to keep
things fresh all the time aswell. But I know Kevin
Matthews, Chad Henderson, MattMiles , Kelly Garrett , uh, Lee
Lou's , a lot of the guys thatare with Extreme Ag and that
(17:02):
group are gonna be here. Um, Ithink Rob Sharky , Randy the
farmer, I'm, I'm really stokedto see Randy the farmer. I've
been following Randy, thefarmer since he started. I just
kind of , I can't wait to shakehis hand myself, you know? Yeah
. So I'm looking forward tothat, you know, because it ,
there's something new for meall the time too, and I think
that's why I'm, I'm justlooking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
So. Yeah. Well that's very cool. Hey , I gotta
ask you, have you seen ourcameras out there that we
mounted in the test plot?
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Absolutely. I , I was just out around him this
morning and I , yeah. And I, Ialways laugh at my, my , one of
the young guys, Mr. Perklethat's with me and , and him
and I go back and forth all thetime and he's like , gotta be
careful what you say out here
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Cause they're listening .
Speaker 3 (17:45):
This isn't Big Brother , this is just looking
their corn plot . Yeah . We're,yeah, we , um, we're uh, pretty
neat to see that thing throughhow that's gonna play out
through the year. And I want ,it'll be interesting just to
see the time lapse of whatthat's gonna look like.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
So Yeah, for the people that are listening, I
mean, we put six LTE solarpowered cameras on, one on each
of the six plots that Topconhas out there. And , uh, they
have worked, they have workedflawlessly. We've got each of
'em grabbing TimeLapse frombefore emergence. And so I know
, um, you know, we've looked atthe footage and are able to
(18:22):
remotely look and see what'sgoing on in those plots. And
it's been pretty fun.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Yeah. And I know too , uh, Dan, you know, we're
getting to that time cuz I wasjust talking with the guys this
morning. Uh , we've got acouple of 'em that we're gonna
try and do some , um, somenitrate studies with , uh, um,
with tap and whatnot or , orthe , the program that you guys
have for the monitor , um, sothat we can see what's going on
in there. And we'll probably beputting those SRIs applications
(18:49):
on. We're gonna do our SRIsapplication a little bit
different than the farmernormally does because we're
just gonna try and put somegranules on right next to the
row , uh, you know, using urea.
Right. Um , that's just theeasiest way that we can put it
on without damaging the plot.
And then we're gonna water thatin, you know, so we don't lose
any of that. So we can try andget it as consistent as we can.
(19:11):
But yeah, I'm, I'm kind ofstoked. The thing looks pretty
darn good this year and, and ,um, I'd be really interested to
see what we're gonna see fromthe cameras , um, as it comes
out .
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Okay. Well that's really cool. All right, well
let's uh , bring in Abe, wehaven't forgot about you Abe,
but , uh, tell me a little bitabout how many years Top Keon
has been a partner with Ag PhD? Give us a little history
lesson .
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Oh , well , ag PhD and prior to that was, I think
Top Gun was done a couple yearsbefore that , I'm not really
sure. I came award for Top Gunin thousand and that was one ,
my first first events with thecompany was from Georgia ,
(19:58):
headed south for the event .
And now that was , that startedoff as just kinda , hey ,
here's who we , here's all ourproducts , demo product set .
And starting last year's whenwe lot , um, that was something
(20:18):
new for us, something new forthe company and it was, it was
a little bit sketchy to to saythe least at first cause we
were like , we put a plantogether and then we start
executing that plan comes kindawashes everything out and one
thing led to another , allkinda different things . But at
the end of the day we werestill able to pull it back
together, be able to pick apartand tell the story . And once
(20:42):
we saw the story was was stillbeing , even with all the
problems that , that we werefacing, it was a powerful story
. And we focused on the tillerdepth control as well as the
nitrogen with our crop specsensors. And for those
listeners that are listening ,if you came through the plots
last year , you know , you wereable to see that with the
(21:03):
tiller depth control, wefocused on basically three
different tillage regimes .
Either too deep, too shallow,or just right . Um , and those
numbers were, lot of peoplewere on what's too deep ,
what's too shallow, what's justright ? And it was , well
what's your area know ? So weweren't really focused on magic
number as much as we were thatthat good seed zone for that ,
(21:26):
that region. And when thoseplants started coming up, then
we, you know , the , the storytelling itself ear height
placements , that was kinda theshining star that really told
the difference in thetreatments . We flag placement
deep was all the air heightswere erratic , too shallow,
they were very erratic. But inthe zones where we were
(21:47):
shooting for that optimaldepth, they were just nice. And
even so that told a really goodpowerful story and that really
resonated with the farmers thatcame for it . Cause they were
able to look , see and visuallysee this is what we're shooting
for . It's not just a pictureon a page or , or you know , a
screen or something like that.
(22:08):
They're seeing it somethingthey can relate to . Same thing
in , in the nitrogen blocksthat that we able to our crop
spec sensors running acrossthree plots in , in a pretty
short distance, a couplehundred feet from , from start
to finish. And show that justin that little bit of a
difference , the amount ofvariability that nitrogen can
(22:31):
have . That was a powerful ,powerful visual as well . Cause
now guys were like , oh man ,oxygen's expensive. Right? So
here I would overly here Iwould under apply how much
money is that gonna cost me inthe long run ? So now we're ,
we're starting technology backto kind things . And this year,
(22:53):
you know , as we you down thisroad of , of an actual field
plot at this event, we're gonnamirror what we did last year
and showcase those, those twotechnologies. Cause given the
timing of this field day , thecrop stage that it's gonna be
in , those are the twosolutions in our portfolio that
we can really highlight and getthe best visual bang for the
(23:17):
box , so to speak. That , thatwe can.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
And you talked about the six different plots, you
know, the three with nitrogenand the three with tillage
depth control. But why wouldyou say this has been an
important show for Topcon? WhyAG PhD ? I mean why plots at Ag
PhD ? Why is that important to,to , to Topcon?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Well, for , from a brand recognition standpoint ,
they say , who are you ? Or Iknew you did something but I
really didn't know . So itgives us a chance to kinda get
out in front of those growers .
And with ag it's a very uniquefact . It's just one day . And
(24:01):
number two , it's really gearedand catered for farmers , you
know , across the year showcase. But , so you still have those
(24:23):
equipment manufacturers, butthey're also showing what that
machine does in the field. Youknow, not just here it's all
shined up nice , neat, pretty,but we're gonna put it in the
field . We're gonna show youwhat this machine is meant to
do or what this technologypackage or what this . So it's
, it's really geared forfarmers and for growers and
that's what makes the showunique. Cause you know , you
(24:46):
know that the quality of ofthose people coming through ,
they're gonna ask questions .
They're , they're there for areason . They're not just there
for , you know , have a offfarm . So speak , they're there
, they're wanting to learn ,they're looking for new , you
know , new technologies. Yousee , you know , those kinda
things. And so just a , abetter quality of of how that's
(25:07):
there .
Speaker 1 (25:09):
So unpack for me, and you mentioned this a little
bit, but unpack for me some ofthe key indicators that you
look for in these plots whenyou look at 'em. Cuz I was
there last year and it wasinteresting. I remember Glen
came out and he was pointingout some things, you know,
with, with uh, just differentparts of the , uh, the field.
And it was fascinating to hearfrom an agronomist standpoint
(25:31):
that things that agronomistsees that maybe the average
person wouldn't see. So whatare some of those things?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Yeah , so well let's , let's start with the tillage
depth control. Cause that'swhat we got in the field right
now. Um , corn was planning acouple ago , maybe at this
point . Um , but with tillagedepth May 15th . Okay , so
about a month ago . So withtillage depth , what we're
gonna look at first, and thisis where the cameras are really
(25:58):
, really proven they're worthis emergence . Not only are we
looking at ok , the comingobviously up , but how is
coming up , up even across thefield if , if we do have some
early late emergence , you know, what plots are those in ? Are
those in the shallow plots ?
(26:19):
Are the two deep plots , youknow , how is gonna , compared
to plots in primary tillagetillage range , you knows . So
how gonna compare all that ? Soin those right now it's um ,
once everything comes up andleaving out a little bit , but
(26:40):
then as we start setting years, then we're gonna come back .
We're look at tassel dates . Wehave , you know , uniform
tasseling across the field ,which is gonna more uniform
pollination, especially if weget into a hot dry summer where
moistures gonna be limited .
You know , if we plants thatare , they're gonna struggle to
(27:02):
pollinate as compared to thosethat are ahead. Um , as , as we
shift over to the , to thenitrogen to the crop spec trial
. Right now , really what we'relooking at is what visual
indicators can we see ? Arethere any color differences
between the plot, anyyellowing, any , you know , any
(27:23):
spots that are darker greenthan others that we can pick
out with our , just with nakedeye and as well . And then once
sensor across those plots ,comparing sensor data to visual
data and cause that , thatreally is what tells the story
there too . Cause when youreyes see it , then it's easier
(27:45):
to say , ok , yeah , I saw that, you know , right here in this
spot in field I saw eyes . Sothere , there's , you know ,
there's validity there . Butthen also maybe that sensors
gonna pick up on some spotsthat weaker not , it's not
enough or nitrogen becomesproblem before we start losing
(28:16):
yield at the end of the season.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Yeah. So the crop spec helps you see what your
eyes can't necessarily pick up.
Exactly. So what would you say,what have you learned that
works and doesn't work fromthese plots?
Speaker 2 (28:31):
From a plot standpoint ? The one thing I
can tell you yeah , is sit downand plan everything out that
you want. And then once you getthat plan drawn up, crumple it
up and throw it away. Causemother nature's gonna throw
curve ball after curve ballafter curve agreements there .
Um , and that , that's just thenature of , of plots. I've done
(28:55):
plots for years of previouslife. I mean , research plots
all throughout the southeasternUS and especially when when
you're trying to condenseeverything down to a small
footprint so you can reallyhave a visual that you can show
that you can be proud of . Themore concentrated you make that
the bigger the effort is that ,that you need to , to get
(29:17):
there. So number one, thebiggest thing I've learned with
this and and throughout theyears is have a plan and then
have a backup plan , and thenhave another backup plan . And
then when it all , when allthose fail , go to your last
backup floor and , and justremain flexible. Um , and then
(29:38):
the , the other big componentof that is , is , and we
(29:59):
planned it today, we made thisapplication. This is what our
plans are, you know , goingforward as we get , you know ,
a little bit closer to theshow, we'll start talking soil
samples and tissue samples,things like that. So have a
plan , have a backup , but mostof all have , have team that
you can trust . Cause if youdon't have boots on the ground
every day for , for an eventlike this, you're not gonna be
(30:21):
successful at it .
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Hmm . Those are good takeaways. So Glen , we've
talked about field day comingup here fast and your team and
all that has to happen, butwhat challenges have you guys
faced this spring? I mean,weather or has there been some
specific things you've raninto?
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Yeah, it's, it's been weather. Um ,
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Uhhuh .
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Dry. Okay. Extremely dry guys. Um, and we're, and I
, I think that was kind of whatwe're talking about. Even with
the side drift here, now we'retrying to irrigate and I I say
irrigate quote unquote rightnow because we're trying to
keep it alive. We don't have awell that we can provide enough
(31:03):
water there. So we'll keep italive. We'll make it look as be
, you know, as best we can.
We're hoping for someturnaround. But to Abe's point,
I mean we, we were dry quite abit last year and all of a
sudden on July 5th, and I, Iwon't forget that day for a
while , um, we got five inchesof rain in about two hours and
(31:25):
that washed away a lot of whatwe had started on that field
day and had to turn it around.
I don't wanna know what the ,what the , what could happen
until July 27th
Right. But we're , you alwaysgotta be prepared for it. I
know. You know, so that's been,that's been our biggest thing
is just been, yeah , it's beenhonestly dry. Um, we did plant
(31:46):
our field day this year,probably, this is the earliest,
we've planted it since probably1415. So we got things to where
everything is off the groundand it , and it , look , we've
got some nice emergence andwhatnot. Everything looks
pretty good so far right now.
We're just trying to keepthings alive and hoping that
mother nature cooperates withus a little bit. Um, but I
(32:08):
can't echo enough what , whatAbe said. Um, we put out a plan
for just this plot here, and Ithink we've got a couple of
things that are on the backsideof it that we wanna look at
from a data perspective. Um,just because we're doing stuff
with tillage depth , I wannasee just from myself , um, how
(32:28):
my planter reacted to that.
There's not too many timeswhere, you know, specifically
in this spot that I went tooshallow or this is where I
really was trying to hit thattwo to four inch mark for
tillage. Or if I tilt too deep,I wanna see how that, how did
that planter respond to that?
What does that look like?
(32:49):
Because, you know, that's theway my planter responded
because of, you know , theability now to have up and down
force on there and some ofthose things. But yeah , I mean
that that, those types ofthings are what we'd like to
really focus on for the, forthe year as to how does , how
does things react and , andwhatnot when you, when you put
(33:09):
out a plan like that. Um , butyeah , that, back to your, the
original question, that's beenthe biggest thing is, is we've
just been awfully dry mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Speaker 3 (33:19):
And to try and still make it look presentable for
the folks by the time we get tofield day will be our, our
biggest thing. So
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Now tell our listeners what kind of
equipment and technology yourteam relies on for these plots,
because it differs from what anaverage farmer's doing in their
field. Somewhat. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
We
mean, we're, most of it issprayed with a backpack. Okay .
Um , so we'll put a backpack on, um, and then I got a 10 foot
boom so I can get prettyparticular on that. We're using
three gallon canisters. Um, Mr.
Perkle and Caden , my , the twoyoung guys that are with me,
(33:58):
they like to try and show theold man up so they put a five
gallon can. I'm like, well ,you're back. I'll tell you that
in a few years. But
But yeah, we do everything.
Most of it is done by hand. Wedo some mechanically , um, with
a four wheeler sprayer if we'vegot a smaller set. But when
you've got so many differentchanges for each company's
plot, a lot of it is done byhand. Okay. You know? Yeah. Um,
(34:22):
we try and be as, as best wecan to emulate , uh, real world
activity out there, but it'sjust really hard. I mean, you
guys know as well. I mean,think about some of this stuff.
It's, it's 50 feet long andthen there's something
different to try and makeequipment work in 50 feet and
respond the way it's supposedto. You, there's a lot of
(34:44):
checks and balances that go inthere before you push in the
clutch and decide you're gonnaplant, let's put it that way.
Right.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
So , yeah. So you've been managing these plots for
several years. How , how do youincrease variation and what
does that do to your soil?
Speaker 3 (34:59):
As far as variation?
In what sense? I guess Dan ?
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah, the sense of variation in like what plot one
compared to plot two comparedto plot two three. I mean, what
variation do , do you guys tryto show in these plots? I mean,
does it like,
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Well , I , I mean like, like for Topcon here,
this will be, you know, will bethe fertility piece on it. But
it is a challenge I have, Ibasically have the map layout
from everything going backabout seven years. After seven
years. It's like your taxes,you can pretty much take that
out, right? I mean, you canthrow that away, but , um, we
(35:39):
have to be cognizant of that.
And there's some spots outthere. I mean , um, just as a
for instance, and you guysprobably , I mean, Abe's gonna
know this right off the top, wewere having trouble getting
our, our alleyways and , andour walkways for people
established. So we thoughtlet's throw some wood chips out
there so people have somewhereto walk on so they don't have a
bunch of dust to walk on. We'restill seeing the effects of
(36:02):
that because anywhere I putnitrogen where those wood chips
are at, because we got 'em outas best we could, but you ,
you're on black soil , you know, on on conventional tilt soil,
there's still some of that in,we get nitrogen tie up in those
wood chips all the time.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
So those in , in a corn scenario, all of a sudden
I'll have a little loop inthere where it's all of a
sudden it's corn. Well, we knowafter field they were going
back in there and trying topick that up. You just, when
you've got something that's onthis big of a scope
and it sounds big in , inresearch terms, but when you've
got that much scope and yougotta try and figure out what's
going on, the , the , thehiccups show themselves pretty
(36:40):
quickly. So , um, so we, wekeep trying to do that. Um, a
lot of folks have asked me, whydon't you no till it ? Um,
we've tried that in spots, butyou can't imagine what 11,000
people walking around on eightacres, how compacted Oh wow.
(37:01):
That becomes right. Because thehuman footprint just walking
around that area, it is amazingjust how compacted this gets so
that that roll , you know,rolls into what we do from year
to year to year as well.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
And then every year's different Right . Corn
and this block this year , butnext year it may be different
company . They need splitbetween corn and beans. So it's
just they're really planningjust is a crap sheet in most
days . Right. You know , youjust gotta do the best you can
(37:40):
with what you have . Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
TA's point, you know, two is like, you know,
you may have a vendor that willbe here for one year the next
year. They're not, or there'snew vendors. This year has been
tremendous that there's a , alot of vendors that want to
come in. So where we'vediscussed leaving it permanent
alleyways and separatingdifferent plots, it just hasn't
(38:03):
worked like that becausethere's so much variability.
We'd like to try and change thelayout every year. So believe
it or not, the grass that yousee every year, we replant it.
Um, and just to , I mean,everybody knows how typical it
can be to do that, counter thatwith bringing the traffic in
to, to do all the plots and laythem out exactly where they are
(38:25):
. Um, it's pretty bigundertaking and it is , but
it's still a lot of fun. So,
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Well, talk to me about how you manage irrigation
and runoff. Like you weresaying, it's, it , it ,
sometimes it's dry and then allof a sudden you get five inches
of rain. Yeah . So how do youguys manage that?
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Well, I think, and I , I , that's the, that's the
biggest thing that we've gotright now is, you know, Dan Abe
, you guys have been at thefield, they say, I think what
the one thing that people don'trealize is how much drop and
fall there is in this littlespace. This is not a flat area
whatsoever. Um, even the teamthat I work with here, we, we ,
(39:02):
we will get out a big, youknow, printout or a Google Map
image or something like that.
We'll draw the plots out andthey're like, well , we wanna
put the tent here , or abuilding, you know, that sort
of thing. I'm like, impossible.
You don't understand how muchdrop there is. Um, so we
actually drove it with ourtractor with the R T K and the
, there's over 30 feet of fallfrom one side of this to the
(39:23):
other where this goes through.
So that is no doubt, issomething that we, we really
pay attention to. Theirrigation, like I said, that
we do, is simply to keep italive. I mean, when we're put
on irrigation, we're probablyputting on a half an inch at a
time. We're doing it in smallblocks, it's literally done
with water reels. Now we'retrying to do that and some
(39:46):
small guns. Um, the wateringthat we do, we don't even do
with a very big diameter , um,orifice on the end so that we
don't , um, get big dropletsbecause I don't wanna compact
anybody's stuff, you know, withthe big droplets or for that
matter, as dry as it is rightnow. Um , I can get , um,
herbicide splash, you know,we're, so we're , we're
(40:09):
cognizant of that too. Sothere's, it's, there's all
sorts of challenges that whenyou walk out and look at it,
you go, well, that's not thatbig a deal. Um, it was the day
when you were trying to makethat application. So,
Speaker 1 (40:22):
So you had mentioned that you got the seed in the
ground on May 15th, but thentell us a little bit about when
you sprayed it and how manytimes you've sprayed the top
con plot .
Speaker 3 (40:32):
Well, the , the tough part that we had guys, so
we, we planted it, everythinglooked really good, planted
into moisture, had pretty goodemergence. Um, and then we
sprayed our pres . We waited ,I mean, got real nice , um,
conditions for planting. Sowe'll plant it and then we'll
put our pres on. Now, Topcon'snot too specific to what they
(40:56):
want us to do, so we'll doessentially what we consider a
burn down , you know, to getany , anything that's existing
there. And then we'll put aresidual herbicide on . It
hasn't rained enough toactivate that residual
herbicide. And our priests thisyear, where last year they
worked tremendously, all of thecompanies priests this year
(41:16):
have been what I would callless than average. And it
doesn't matter to thechemistry, but as we know in
Akin testified to this too, ifyou don't get moisture to
activate a pre, you got thatcontact herbicide to work. But
the pre is now allowing theweeds to come through. Um, and
believe it or not, you canprobably not get the herbicide
(41:37):
to activate, but the darn wewill come up. So , um, we've
done a secondary, what I wouldcall an early contact post
application , um, now thatwe're starting to get some that
we're starting to water , um,because we got to where we
thought Mother Nature was gonnahelp us out , we're watering
against things happening. I'vegot little weeds that are
(41:57):
trying to come back up, but youcan see now just that little
dab of water that we've donenow the pres are starting to
activate. They're still there.
So , um, it's coming around. Itlooks really, I I think it's
gonna look fantastic for thefield day. Um, the biggest
struggle that we've got rightnow is we're just, it's just a
lot more labor because we're,we're trying to keep things
(42:18):
alive.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Yeah. So, so Glen , let me ask you this. Explain to
our listeners the importance ofthe concept of seed depth . W
how would you explain that? Uh, why is that important?
Speaker 3 (42:29):
Well, I think especially in the terms of, of
the corn plant, you know, Igotta get that seed down so
that I can get better rootdevelopment and get that, you
know, so I've got my nodalroots to develop where they're
supposed to and , and give thatplant its best chance to
thrive. I mean, you can, youcan plant shallower and if
Mother Nature , um, cooperateswith you enough, you can, you
(42:53):
can get from A to B. That'snot, that's not the , the look
that myself, that's not thelook that Abe is looking for.
He wants a plant that when youput it in the ground, it's
thriving and seed depth is, isis one of the initial steps
that that comes in . You haveto have that, that good seed to
soil contact. You have to havethe proper depth. Um, otherwise
(43:16):
your plant can survive. But,you know, thriving is what
we're looking for. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
And then you're wanting it consistent too,
right? Correct.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
To be,
Speaker 1 (43:24):
Yeah , the same.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
And I , I think that's, that's the nature of,
you know, where equipment isgoing, you know, and what we're
able to do now compared to whatour dad and grandpa used to do.
Um, and what makes it, youknow, so that we can get the
yields that we are consistency,depth simulation is all part of
that, and that's why we'reworking with Topcon and doing
(43:46):
the stuff that we're
Speaker 1 (43:49):
All right . Glenn and Abe , thanks so much for
joining us on today's podcastepisode. You can find out more
about the Ag PhD Field Daycoming up by going to ww.ag
phd.com . As Glen said, you canalso find them on Facebook and
they have a daily radio showand TV show in many areas of
(44:09):
the country, as well as Acrestv, which is an online video
platform for nothing butagricultural content. So we
hope that , uh, you'll come outto the Ag PhD field Day and see
it and stop by the Topconbooth. We also want to thank
each of our listeners fortuning in today. Topcon
appreciates all of our friendsin agriculture who work so
tirelessly to put food on ourtables. If you enjoyed this
(44:32):
episode, remember to like,share and subscribe to Topcon
Talks Agriculture on Spotify,apple Podcasts, Amazon Music,
or wherever you get yourpodcasts. Please tell your
friends about us. We'd love foryou to follow Topcon
Agriculture on social media.
Thanks again for joining ustoday. See you next time and go
out and make it a great day.
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