Prairie Shortcuts

New Version 2.0 Crop Sequence Calculator Available

An updated version of the “Crop Sequence Calculator” CD-ROM is available free from the USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan, N.D., to help producers assess crop production options, and calculate the potential returns of ten different crops.

Information on crop production, plant diseases, weeds, water use, and surface soil properties has been expanded from last year’s version 1.0, to aid producers in their evaluation of management risks associated with different crop sequences. Another year of research data has been added, along with new information on economics and insects.

Once the previous crop (residue producing crop) and the expected crop are entered with a click of the mouse, summary statements appear regarding crop production, economics, plant diseases, weeds, insects, water use, and surface soil properties. The program can show the yield effect of ten crops (barley, canola, crambe, dry pea, dry bean, flax, safflower, soybean, sunflower, and spring wheat) grown in any two-year combination.  Expected crop prices and expected loan deficiency payments and/or crop premiums can be entered to provide rapid calculations of potential returns. 

Copies of the Crop Sequence Calculator can be obtained from the ARS website: www.mandan.ars.usda.gov, ph. 701-667-3000, or by writing: Crop Sequence Calculator, Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Box 459, Mandan, North Dakota 58554-0459.

Strategic management important for both small, large farms
Strategic management is just as important for a one-family farm as it is for a larger farm with many employees. “All farms can benefit from strategic thinking and management,” says Kent Olson, University of Minnesota extension farm management economist. “Much is written about strategic management for businesses, but very little is specifically targeted for farmers.” Olson has just completed a 47-page paper, “A Strategic Management Primer for Farmers.”  It can be found on his web site, www.apec.umn.edu/faculty/kolson.  Click on the link, “New Papers.”

FarmConnect Announces SoyLink Value-Added Venture
FarmConnect is seeking Minnesota farmers to invest in a new company called SoyLink, a joint venture with Soy Driven Enterprises. SoyLink will be a processor of food grade soybeans supplying ingredients to industrial food companies.  “The soy food category is one of the most exciting opportunities in the global food industry. U.S. sales are over $3 billion and growing at about 20% per year due to the increasingly well documented health benefits of soy-based foods,” says Don Senechal, with The Hale Group, Ltd., a strategic management consulting firm specializing in food and agribusiness industries.

A series of investor meetings were held on the venture in early February.  For more information, visit the FarmConnect website at www.farmconnect.com or call (888) 654-5077. FarmConnect is an alliance of over 650 crop and livestock producers in Minnesota, which seeks to create greater farm product value for both its members and their customers.

Clarification to Clearfield Wheat
A clarification to the article “AgriPro Wheat Postpones Release of Clearfield Spring Wheat” in the February, 2002 Prairie Grains. The article indicated that “one Clearfield line is derived from the popular AgriPro spring wheat variety Gunner, and will be adapted for production north of I-94 in the Northern Plains. The other variety AgriPro is developing for use in the Clearfield Production System is an Ivan/Russ cross, adapted for production primarily south of I-94.”  However, AgriPro spring wheat breeder Joe Smith points out that with the postponement of the release of AgriPro Clearfield varieties until 2004 or 2005, the genetic makeup of these new Clearfield varieties is likely to change.  It should also be pointed out that Beyond will be the herbicide labeled for use in the Clearfield wheat system.